BEST SOUND EFFECTS

What would a game be without its sound effects? Imagine firing a gun and having it sound tinny and dull. Would a first person shooter be fun then? Excellent sound effects drive home the state of the worlds we find ourselves in – whether its a world that is slowly being reclaimed by the unforgiving ocean, or one that’s been warped into a nightmarish version of its former self or another that mimics a living, breathing forest area that continues as it was, simultaneously oblivious and extremely aware of your presence. Here are our nominees that created an atmosphere so vivid around the game that you could just close your eyes and listen to the sounds to be transported into it.

The Nominees

And the winner is…

The desolate, clanging footsteps of a Big Daddy as he shuffles amongst the ever-growing pools of water strikes requisite amount of fear, evoking memories of your past failed encounters with the beast. The piercing, droning and revolving mechanics of the out-dated security bots as they zoom into to tear into you is an ever-present annoyance. The Splicers, their sick mutated appearance aside, always convey more than a feeling of digust; sadness would be more proper, as their joints shift into clearly incorrect planes of motion. Rapture itself is one living entity, with plenty of spook to boot.

The developers bypassed the common routes always taken when going about constructing their world – everything was made to the game’s atmosphere and it shows so vividly, you could almost hear the rust forming and the sea-moss inhabiting the environments if you listen closely enough. Even more of a reason, if that weren’t enough, for BioShock to earn another accolade, this one in the Best Sound Effects category for 2007.

The Runners-Up:

Silent Hill: Origins

From the creepy, freaky aura surrounding lonely girls appearing on an abadoned highway one minute, before disappearing amidst a rapidly descending blanket of fog and then flickering back and forth between twin worlds the next ten – no question, this is Silent Hill to the bone. As if having it done on the PSP wasn’t complicated enough, what with the mobile horror genre not exactly full of shining examples, every single blood-drop, demented nurse, crackling and rippling of mirrors as you shift between alternate realms, cracking limb, swinging axe, melting fog, tormented howl, dreary rotting, and manipulative instrument is so impeccably captured and enhanced, that it’s almost surreal to accept, until you’re knee-deep in the nightmare itself. Just keep in mind for this runner-up that in terms of Best Sound Effects, it takes a BioShock to beat Silent Hill Origins. And that, by all means, is the highest praise we can give it.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is one the must-play titles for not only the PS3 but across all platforms. It also does nothing new! What sets it apart is not only the absolute refinement and perfection of each of its parts, but the incredible attention to detail given to each of its explosive sound effects, faithfully recreating the 80’s adventure climate of Indiana Jones and his multitude of escapades. The gunshots are vibrant and alive, every rumble and speedboat jetspray is accurately modelled, different degrees of soil and surface alter depending on the footing and weight of Nathan, jaws crack realistically, and you’ll actually feel like you’re on the quest for the lost treasures of El Dorado, with the steaming hot jungles and cavernous tombs coming alive on your screens. Setting himself apart as a hero may be tough for Drake, what with Lara Croft having firmly gotten her foot wedged in the door, but if his life and career can be this captivating even on an audio cassette, we’ll gladly join him for the ride. Throw him in our 2nd runner-up position for good measure, while we’re at it.

Reader’s Choice Award:

• Vaibhav Says:
  January 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 am

  Way To Go Guy !!! keep the good work up !

• Ravi Says:
  January 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 pm

  Congrats guys for bringing out this cool website!.

  The winners are as expected.heh.

• Speeder Says:
  January 7th, 2008 at 1:01 am

  Good layout and nice name. Looks like another address gonna get added to my bookmarks

• bobby sandhu Says:
  January 12th, 2008 at 6:52 pm

  It took the web server 1.54 seconds of back-breaking labor to give birth to this page.
  No computers were harmed in the making of this page, but a few hundred browsers may have been euthanised.

• V Says:
  February 20th, 2008 at 6:20 pm

  Nice results.Seems fair enough.
  Cheers!!!

• LEGEND Says:
  April 7th, 2008 at 7:35 am

  WELL TOMB RAIDER AND OTHER GAMES LIKE LOST PLANET ,SOUL CALLIBUR, SILENT HUNTERS, FIFA, FLATOUT, RED LINE ETC…….SHOULD HAVE BEEN INDUCTED.