Introduction
Michael John "Mick" Gordon (born 9 July 1985) is an Australian composer and sound designer, composing music primarily for video games.
Gordon has composed for several first-person shooters, including Lawbreakers, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Prey, the 2016 reboot of Doom and its sequel Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and Seasons 1 & 2 of the 2013 fighting game Killer Instinct.
Career
Gordon first began work as a sound designer with Pandemic Studios, where he contributed additional sound design for Destroy All Humans! 2. In 2013, he scored the first season of the fighting video game, Killer Instinct, a reboot of the original 1994 title.The following year, Gordon scored the second season of Killer Instinct and the action-adventure first-person shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order (developed by MachineGames). He returned to the Wolfenstein series in 2015 to compose the score for Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, a prequel to Wolfenstein: The New Order.
In 2016, Gordon scored the science fiction first-person shooter, Doom, a reboot of the 1993 game, developed by id Software. His score for Doom won a number of awards including a DICE Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, SXSW Gaming Award for Excellence in Musical Score, The Game Awards Best Music/Sound Design and was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award for Best Music.
In 2017, Gordon composed the score for the horror first-person shooter, Prey, developed by Arkane Studios.He also worked alongside Martin Stig Andersen to again return to the Wolfenstein series, scoring Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, developed by MachineGames.
Musical style and inspiration
According to Mick Gordon's official website, Gordon "utilises a broad range of modern musical sound design and traditional composition techniques in order to be unconstrained by any singular genre," and that it is "inspired by the connection between the audience and the experience."
Gordon's work "considers the role of music as a translation of the world in which it exists rather than a simple accompaniment."
Credits
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Hot Dog King | Music and sound design | |
| 2006 | Destroy All Humans! 2 | Additional sound design | |
| 2007 | Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots | N/A | |
| 2008 | El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera | N/A | |
| 2009 | Real Racing | N/A | N/A |
| Need for Speed: Shift | Co-composed with Stephen Baysted and Mark Morgan | ||
| Marvel Super Hero Squad | N/A | ||
| 2010 | Real Racing 2 | Game sound effects | N/A |
| The Last Airbender | N/A | ||
| Need for Speed: World | N/A | ||
| Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet | N/A | ||
| 2011 | Shift 2: Unleashed | Composed with:
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| Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat | N/A | ||
| Need for Speed: The Run | Additional music | ||
| 2012 | A Day in Pompeii | Audio Director; Museums Victoria exhibit | |
| Battle Group | Also sound designer | N/A | |
| 2013 | Real Racing 3 | Game sound effects | N/A |
| ShootMania Storm | N/A | ||
| Killer Instinct | Season One (2013) and Season Two (2014) | ||
| 2014 | Wolfenstein: The New Order | Additional music by Frederik Thordendal | |
| 2015 | Wolfenstein: The Old Blood | Additional music by Michael Tornabene and Casey Edwards | |
| Project CARS | Guitars with John J. Harvey | N/A | |
| 2016 | Doom | Additional music by Chris Hite, Ben F. Carney and Chad Mossholder | |
| 2017 | Prey | Additional music composed by Ben Crossbones, Matt Piersall, and Raphaël Colantonio | |
| LawBreakers | Composed with Jaroslav Beck, Dieselboy, Mark The Beast, Malcolm Kirby Jr. "Faust" and “Toska-9” tracks in the official album |
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| Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus | Composed with Martin Stig Andersen; additional music by Frederik Thordendal | ||
| 2019 | Doom Eternal | N/A | |
| TBA | Beautiful Desolation | N/A | |
| TBA | Routine | Audio Director |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Game Developers' Association of Australia | Best Audio | Destroy All Humans! 2 | Won |
| 2012 | Game Audio Network Guild | Best Audio, Other | A Day in Pompeii | Won |
| 2013 | Game Audio Network Guild | Best Interactive Score | Killer Instinct | Nominated |
| Game Audio Network Guild | Best Original Song, Vocal (Pop) | Killer Instinct ("Touch Me and I'll Break Your Face") | Won | |
| Game Audio Network Guild | Best Original Song, Vocal (Pop) | Killer Instinct ("I'm Back to Rise") | Nominated | |
| 2016 | The Game Awards | Best Music/Sound Design | Doom | Won |
| 2017 | Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Audio | Doom | Nominated |
| SXSW Gaming Awards | Excellence in Musical Score | Doom | Won | |
| D.I.C.E. Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition | Doom | Won | |
| British Academy Games Awards | Best Music | Doom | Nominated | |
| 2018 | New York Game Awards | Best Music in a Game | Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus |
Nominated |
| D.I.C.E. Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition | Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus |
Nominated |