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The musical score for XCOM 2 is being composed by none other than Tim Wynn. Wynn might best be recognized for his work on Supernatural, Total War, Command & Conquer, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown.It seems as though his work will go on sale on February 5 via iTunes and as part of the XCOM 2 Digital Deluxe Edition, which includes his soundtrack as part of the cost.
The score for XCOM 2 continues the legacy sound of the acclaimed reboot and expands the franchise's sonic palette with emotional orchestral themes and synth-driven sci-fi ambience now defined by the epic fight to take back the planet. XCOM 2 marks Tim Wynn's second outing in the XCOM universe having also written music for XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
A lot of people like how this is in the style of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. As for me? It starts off perfect, where the beginning has orchestral beats expressing the dangerous fight ahead and how stressful the environment is, as our soldiers prepare for deployment. Then it jumps into happy victorious music. That confuses me and has me wondering if this song was meant to be used as endgame music, and was mistakenly thrown in as "Ready For Battle" music? Like seriously, this song makes more sense as endgame music. I'm not a fan of this, but I would say it is a lot better than Enemy Unknown's endgame music if I were to compare the two. But it's not my "Ready For Battle" music and I'll change it the moment a mod comes out to do so.
Now compare this to Michael McCann's version for Enemy Unknown/Within:
The thing I like about this song is how it consistently gives an encouraging feeling, while reminding you of how stressful the situation is, as our soldiers ready themselves for the fight of their lives, and the stakes are high. It never actually goes into "happy music" as you haven't won anything, but at the same time the string instruments give enough of a positive tune to motivate you, while the percussion instruments remain to emphasize the stressful environment. I'll admit, without the "hollow wind" sound effect this song would not stand out for me. I love how that sound effect is used in each climatic part of the song, and to me feels like it naturally does both motivating and stressing me out.
The downsides to this song are that it doesn't follow any military style whatsoever (I don't consider Deus Ex: Human Revolution to be military style music either), but rather it's more cyberpunk with orchestral instruments. Then there's the obvious fact that the sound quality is worse than the XCOM 2 example I gave with Tim Wynn. This song sounds muffled overall, yet I think that is the song in its original quality. I can see a lot of people who would choose Tim Wynn's version over Michael McCann based on how much clearer you can hear the instruments of XCOM 2. And then there's the fact that Peace Walker music ROCKS!
But overall, I say I still want Michael McCann's music (well, the small handful he did anyways; I'm aware Tim Wynn did more), and will swap the music if I ever get the chance. With that said, XCOM 2's music for your base is way better than Enemy Unknown. Tim Wynn made it really stand out, whereas the other one sounded too subtle for me to even notice, let alone enjoy.