Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden Soundtrack Interview

A good soundtrack, and sound design in general, can greatly enhance any gaming experience. With that in mind, the folks over at OnlySP had a chat with Robert Lundgren, the composer responsible for Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden’s soundtrack. The interview covers the differences between TV and video game soundtracks, the software required to do the job, and more. Here are a few paragraphs, and you take it from there:

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden (MYZ) is not a game that could have released if it dealt in half-measures. All aspects of this lovingly crafted XCOM-inspired adventure is touched with a sense of appreciation for pen-and-paper RPGs and RTS games alike. From its mature amalgamation of dystopian sci-fi and buddy drama meta-narrative to its tight controls and intuitive AI, MYZ oozes attention to detail. Unsurprisingly, the soundtrack inspires the same sense of rebellious design and polish, all thanks to the game’s composer: Robert Lundgren.

MYZ’s soundtrack needed to be designed around two of the MYZ’s defining features, those being the very 1980s pen-and-paper source material and the game’s fluctuating pace as an RTS. “[The] music has sort of laid the foundation for the whole sonic atmosphere of the game,” says Lundgren, who sat down with OnlySP to discuss the creation of the game’s soundtrack. Lundgren had the benefit of being involved early in development, which, in his words, benefitted his score and the title itself:

“I got involved quite early in the prototyping process and started out making some musical drafts for the game back at that time. The project eventually grew big, so one could say my work grew along with it.”

“I have always been very interested in interactive and adaptive music, so my knowledge of it has been very useful in this project since I’m the one who not only composed the music but also implemented it in the game, along with most of the sound effects as well.”