Cyberpunk 2077 – Original Score by P.T. Adamczyk, Paul Leonard-Morgan and Marcin Przybylowicz (computer game soundtrack review).

This is a review of ‘Cyberpunk 2077’s soundtrack, not the licensed songs that you can listen to on the game’s radio and which have been released separately as two ‘Cyberpunk 2077: Radio’ albums. Also, I’m going to stay out of any discussion of the game’s production issues and eventual release state as we’re only here for the music!

You can broadly group the soundtrack’s 37 songs into three categories: ambience, combat and the track ‘Code Red Initiated’.

The quieter ambient stuff, such as the tracks Consumer Cathedral or Tower Lockdown, make for good background music while working/gaming/playing RPGs. The mournful and vaguely ominous electronica reminds me of the ‘Tron Legacy’ or ‘John Wick’ soundtracks or from gaming, the quieter ‘Borderlands’ tracks.

The action music, such as ‘Wushu Dolls’ or ‘Cyberwildlife Park’, blend electronic and industrial sounds with a hint of metal, ending up sounding like id’s game soundtracks, particularly ‘Quake 2’. Think of early ‘Nine Inch Nails’ and you’ll have the vibe.

Finally, the track ‘Code Red Initiated’ goes into its own category of ‘never to be played’, as its annoying and atonal drumbeats might be effective in a particular scene of the game but in a playlist are guaranteed to snap you out of whatever you were doing while listening.

Perhaps aiming for the same melting pot of influences as ‘Cyberpunk’ itself, several of the tracks have an Asian sound and lean towards ‘Deus Ex’ or even the ‘Streets Of Rage’ games. As you can probably tell from the range of titles I’ve referenced here, the ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ soundtrack blends a lot of elements over its two-hour running time, but despite this it successfully manages to provide a coherent atmosphere of slightly disquieting gloom. I’m not sure about sitting down to listen to it all the way through in order, but if you’re happy to do the work of creating separate combat/ambient/Code Red Initiated playlists then the soundtrack comes recommended.

Stuart Maine

January 2021

(pub: CD Projekt Red, 2020. 2 CDs 140 minute 37 tracks. ASIN: B08QDQQKGW or as an MP3 version.

check out websites: Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/cyberpunk-2077-original-score/1544457960

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1B2QrHbMox8vPXUY7rXAFp?si=12cZ78jAQ4m15tPqJge_VA