Best Sound Effects
Sound is an increasingly important element in games. As game sound effects have become more advanced, designers have started using sound as a key element. It's now more important than ever that games feature a wide variety of diverse, realistic sound effects and that game designers take advantage of the unique properties of audio in their games. Modern game hardware is capable of producing sounds as realistic as those in any movie, though the best games not only sound realistic, but also integrate their sound design directly into the actual play experience. The following finalists in the Best Sound Effects category are the games that used their aural components to the greatest effect, both in enhancing their realism and augmenting their gameplay:
 |
The best damn sound in this game is Riddick's voice, but the sickeningly wet sound of someone being shanked and the grisly crack of a neck are close runners-up. Riddick's sound design provides a cohesive and sinister aural backdrop for the game's dark storyline and brutal action.
|
 |
Valve's bleak near-future world has one of the most unique aural backdrops in gaming history, from the muted flatline of a slain Combine soldier's life support to the almost musical drone of the invaders' flying police robots.
|
 |
Since 2001, Halo's symphony of gunfire may have been the most-heard sound work ever in video gaming. Halo 2 capitalizes on the high points of the previous game's sound effects and adds some hefty new ones as well.
|
 |
Snake's first 3D mission in the jungle is underscored by exceptional, cinematic sound work in both its action sequences and its mind-blowing cutscenes. Like its forebears, this game further blurs the line between video games and film.
|
 |
With its largely static, prerendered visuals, Myst IV relies heavily on its sound design to bring its mysterious, imaginative otherworld to life. It's fortunate, then, that the game's effects are more than sufficient, and in fact are good enough to make it one of the strongest games in this category.
|
And the Winner is...
|
