Conspiravision: Deus Ex Remixed Review

Front cover of CD album version of Conspiravison: Deus Ex Remixed

• Reviewed by: Mark Goninon
• Name: Conspiravision: Deus Ex Remixed
• Label: Materia Collective
• Composer(s): Alexander Brandon and Michiel van den Bos
• Number of Tracks: 17

Deus Ex, a critically acclaimed FPS/RPG hybrid from the year 2000, is a favourite game of mine and a favourite of many of my friends. While the game itself was good fun the soundtrack which used the first Unreal Engine's UMX format has also become legendary thanks to the efforts of Alexander Brandon, Michiel van den Bos, Dan Gardopée and Reeves Gabrels. It's now 20 years since the release of the original game and to commemorate this, Alexander Brandon and Michiel van den Bos have released an album containing remixes of some of the music from the original Deus Ex soundtrack.

There are 17 tracks on the Conspiravision: Deus Ex Remixed album available on Alexander Brandon's Bandcamp page. As it is Bandcamp, tracks are available in a variety of formats including MP3 V0, MP3 320, FLAC, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, ALAC, WAV and AIFF. The original game had about 30 tracks so over half of these have been remixed on this album. 9 of the tracks have been remixed by Alexander Brandon with the remaining 8 being composed by Michiel van den Bos. You're also able to purchase a CD version of the soundtrack (which is what I did) as well as a vinyl version too. The CD version basically has the same contents as the digital version except it comes in a funky case.

Opening the CD cover reveals the credits and a track list

Opening the cover on the right reveals the CD and some text

The text thanks the fans for keeping the love for the game alive

Back cover of CD album

Remixes on this soundtrack are listed roughly in the order that the original tracks appear in the game with "So It Begins" being a remix of the Main Title Theme and "The Illuminati Reborn" being a remix of the Credits theme. Generally the remixed tracks have a similar feel and style to the original tracks except with upgraded instruments and effects although there are exceptions, such as "Paris Dance" which is a serviceable jungle remix of the Paris Club music but I can't say I'm too much of a fan. Also, while simply updating the original track with better instruments and subtle changes works in favour of tracks such as "Night Assignment" (a remix of "New York Streets") and "Nicolette's Rapture" (a remix of "DuClare Chateau"), it didn't do much for tracks that I didn't really find appealing to begin with such as "A Tough Decision" (a remix of Lebedev's Airfield) and "Helios and Icarus" (a remix of "Ending 1").

What I also found interesting on this remix album is the noticeable absence of the original Deus Ex leitmotif which was found just about everywhere in the original soundtrack: you won't find it in the remix of the credits theme or even the main title theme itself. It's just as well that the remixes are still pretty damn good even if they did choose to exclude those iconic 11-notes.

The tracks I enjoyed the most were the ones that were ho-hum in the original game but have truly awesome remixes on this album to the point where I prefer the remixes over the originals. "Area 51" takes on the form of an alien rave party in "Alien Influence", "Battery Park" turns atmospheric and dreamy with awesome guitar and violin synths in "Ambrosia Hunt" and my favourite remix has to be "Reyes Gauntlet" which is based off a relatively obscure track that plays when you're in the UNATCO Training Facility: I just love all the chimes and beeping synths along with a neat synth snare march at the end. You really feel the conviction that people like Jaime Reyes have through this piece, where they believe working for UNATCO is truly a noble cause.

Score – 9/10

If you loved the music of Deus Ex you're sure to find some remixes to suit your taste in this album where two of the original composers, Alexander Brandon and Michiel van den Bos, have a go at delivering subtle and dramatic reinterpretations of iconic tracks PC gamers have grown up with. This is an album for Video Game Music fans but it does manage to touch a few genres such as synthwave, rock, Big Beat, jungle and rave.

If you're interested in purchasing the soundtrack you can purchase it off Alexander Brandon's Bandcamp page for $10 USD. The CD will set you back $15 USD and the Vinyl $50 USD. The music is also available off Spotify.