Best Sound Effects
Winner: NHL 98
"The graphics are stunning, the sound is crisp and clear.... EA went all out on this one, and I don't know how it's going to top this." - Bart LeDrew, GameSpot Player Review
Rarely does it seem that a sports game is recognized for achievements outside its genre. This year, however, it was difficult to overlook the accomplishments of the sound team for NHL 98. One could argue that its job is too easy: Just set up a microphone during a hockey game and hit record. That might be a part of what a sound team does, but it has to go further than that to excel. Incorporating these raw sounds into the game so that they're correct and on cue, playing the right organ music in certain stadiums, and hearing all the sounds as if you the player were actually on the ice, is no easy task.
In a game with so many other amazing qualities, the sound should not be overlooked. All of the sounds of a hockey game are there: the scratching of the steel skates on the ice, the wood of the sticks smacking for a loose puck, a heavy 200-pound body crashing into the glass, or the errant slap shot hitting hard the boards behind the goalie.
With so much attention paid to the graphics, close your eyes and listen and you'll realize that in NHL 98, it's the graphics that need to catch up.
Runner-up: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
"Stormtroopers and Imperial officers bark out commands and scream in terror as your light saber strikes, sizzling sparks. Wind whistles eerily in high places. Blaster fire reverberates all around." - Brian Bethel, GameSpot Player Review
While Jedi Knight's fantastic showing in other categories may seem like a given (you know a game's going to succeed when it lets gamers become a dark Jedi), one of the key factors in the game's movie-like presentation was its excellent sound effects. Every sound in this title, from the eerie hum of an unsheathed light saber to the ricochet of a blaster bolt is re-created with skill, speed, and obvious reverence to the Star Wars universe. What's more, the game's use of positional sound technology - the ability to make the ear think it is hearing a sound from a certain direction - allows those players with enough skill to immediately detect what direction their enemies' attacks are coming from, a feature that has led to the demise of more than one heavy-footed attacker. Jedi Knight is definitely one game to show friends when they say that sound doesn't really matter much.
Next: Best Music
