Inon Zur's previous video-game credits include Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Men of Valor, Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest, SOCOM II and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. We can agree that Zur knows how to do this stuff. There'll be no big marks handed out to him for originality on this one, but it's all polished and easy to deal with.

The disc features more than 60 minutes of original music written and conducted by Inon Zur and performed by the Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra. No indie pop tie-ins: this is all game music, all the time. There are 22 tracks here, generally pretty moody stuff, but with lots of action cues to keep things hopping. The cues are mostly fairly short, with only a couple cracking the four-minute mark. Fans of the game will probably like this more than those unfamiliar with it. The music is nicely performed and well scored, if rather unmemorable.

Music that stands on its own

In fact, the main standouts here are not Zur's trademark sweeping themes so much as the "alien" musical soundscapes, mixed with some electronica and sound effects (and even another few bits of game dialogue). These are effectively weird, as in "Infiltration," Cue 5, with its flutey whistles, heartbeat percussion and abrupt piano ostinatos. There's also a whiff of Brad Fidel's work on the Terminator flicks in this cue, as well as a few others down the pike, like Cue 15, "Guardians."

The "creepy" soundscape stuff alternates with some stirring martial music, such as Cue 6, "Strickland's March," which more or less sets the standard. With its subtle infiltration by electronics to indicate the nearness of the aliens, this one will have feet tapping. It might also be a good idea to play this nice and loud.

Cues 16 ("Undercurrent") and 17 ("Sometimes You Win") continue the pulse-thumping martial music that debuts on the disc with Cue 3, "Terminal." Drums and percussion kick this piece along, but brass and wistful strings add a slightly sad counterpoint to the forward motion. "The Nexus," Cue 4, starts off in a military mode but quickly goes spacy as we enter alien territory. Interesting percussion and sound FX usher us in more deeply, in the aforementioned Cue 5, "Infiltration," one of the most effective mood pieces here.