Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Multi Player) - Sound Review

Little disclaimer…These reviews are my opinion on sound as a player and what engages me into a game and doesn't annoy me while playing a game. I will not be one who says "Come on, that doesn't sound like a real M16!!" I will be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible. I will not rate anything on gameplay. I am just rating sound.

Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!

Multiplayer for Battlefield Bad Company 2 sound review…

Opening statement:
When Battlefield Bad Company came out, I was excited to see a studio decide to make a Funny spin on FPS games. The SP (Single Player) mode was full of fun twists and turns with the characters being hilarious at best and keeping players engaged in a fully immersive experience with a video game. The downside is that it didn’t gain the popularity that I hoped it would as BFBC2 came out, the same characters became dark and serious. But ok, it was still a blast to play. Once the SP was complete, I had a handle on the weapons and character controls to jump into MP (Multi Player). After playing it since it came out, I can now speak to the sound engineering and design of this great game. Here is my personal take on the sound design and engineering for Battlefield Bad Company 2.

Music: I am not going to review music for MP. I only do that for SP (Single Player).

Ambient:
Environments: Wind noise, water noise and wildlife sound are top notch. Levels are great and tones are right on. Fire noise, brush and tree noise was awesome.

Walking/Running/Jumping: Walking is at a good level and quiet. Running has great sound and at a not so distracting level. Jumping is in the same boat as running. Traversing over the different terrain types kept with the “close-to-real” aspect I like but DICE likes to keep it as close to real as possible. Love the fact that the ammo noise wasn’t constant like some other FPS games out there. Not all gamers will like this but the ones who do will love this game.

Physical surroundings (Buildings, Tanks, etc.): Again, when interacting with buildings and other objects, the sounds are as close-to-real as possible based on the object you are interacting with. The developers went as far as destruction in the game and they didn’t overlook the sound that goes with it either. Right on!

Non-Playable Vehicles (Airplanes, etc.): When the fighters fly over you, they certainly grab your attention. This is important to note if you have lived right next to an Air Force base like I did for years. My morning wakeup call was the A-10’s flying over my house at 6:30 in the morning.

Comms. (Radio chatter): Aside from the close-to-real swearing, the Comm. side was great in that if you listened, it helped your gameplay. Seems like DICE gets this!!!!

Projectiles (Bullets, Rockets, etc.): I love holding a sniper rifle, hearing a rocket go whizzing past me and turn to see it actually did and kept its depth and distance sound with it.

Put your headsets on folks because I give Ambient a 10.

Dialog: Dialog played a very important part of MP. For new gamers, they may find this to be distracting but to seasoned players, they find this just another tool in their tactical toolbox. Listen carefully as the dialog helps you with your gameplay in #BFBC2. The whole “How does that feel bitch” comment a sniper made me laugh out loud.

Vehicles (Playable): One thing that excited me the most in #BFBC2 was the vehicle sounds. I have been around tanks, troop vehicles and the sort and let me tell you, DICE nailed it in this one down to the creaking metal while driving. The Blackhawks mini-guns are awesome sounding and certainly make you run for cover when you hear them. Jet skis and PBR’s made me feel like I was back at my uncles house driving around all day on the river. Perfect sound for the vehicles. Tanks make you feel like you are driving the simulators at OSUT. - Rating: 10

Equipment: Equipment doesn’t play a big part in #BFBC2 but the part it does play, as subtle as it is, is great. Equipment gets an 9.

Weapons: Weapons in #BFBC2 have strong and powerful sound. When you shoot a weapon in this game, you almost feel it… (Unless of course you have vibration turned off J) The sounds are as close-to-real as I have heard video game weapons. I am very happy to see a studio like DICE place the bar high when it comes to Video game weapon sound.

Explosions are right in line with weapons except for one thing… when an explosion occurs and you are close to it, you hear it too. Well kind of…. You get that ear blown out feeling and deafening sound which all adds up to the overall experience to this game.

As far as silence weapons, I am not a fan of them in this game either. Seems like everyone is grasping at straws to get the perfect sound for a silenced weapon. Make it sound cool, but not too quiet.

Pistols were done pretty well as they had noticeable echo when shot and sounded very close-to-real. Reloading and metal sounds were done very well.

They knock it out of the park with this one…the weapons sound different based on what area you are located while on a map. (i.e.: Indoor vs. Outdoor). If you are dumb enough to fire a weapon in a closed building (like I have) you will note the only thing missing is that deafening sound that comes after along with ringing ear drums. But, DICE did it well with indoor vs. outdoor firing situations in this game.

My favorite sounding weapon in this game by far is the 870MCS Shotgun. Damn it kicks!!
My least favorite sounding weapon is the M1 Garand. Seemed weak. (Except for the DISTINCTIVE reloading clip)

WEAPONS get a: 10


Overall Sound: DICE did a fabulous job with Battlefield Bad Company 2 MP. There is not much bad I can write about it from a sound perspective. I certainly cannot wait to see how #BF3 shapes up. Guess I will need to write a blog on the 12 minute trailer.

BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2 MP overall sound review: 10

That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.

2 comments:

  1. I thought I'd comment since DICE put this blog up on their Battlefield Facebook profile. I agree. It's nice to see a person who thinks sound is important like I do. I agree with pretty much everything. BFBC2 has some really really really awesome sound design. Best in the business I think.

    One thing that I don't agree with is that the audio seemed a little bit too booming. The running, the soldiers screaming, the guns & the 50-cals were just a tad too booming. I think that there should be a greater difference between soft and loud sounds, not only due to distance. I mean seriously I've sometime wondered how much my soldier weighs because he runs like a gorilla wearing clogs. I mean sure there's equpipment but I mean why should the Recon sound so loud. He has 2 guns. Whereas the medic has a whole huge pack with an LMG.

    That's just me. DICE apparently is tuning #BF3 to fix this issue. But overall BFBC2 is one of the best sounding games ever. I really was blown away, and also upset at how little recognition the sound got from the community. Critics did recognize though. I agree with your 10/10. Keep it up.

    You already know this but (http://gunclub.ea.com/us/intel/blog/gc-artofsound)

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  2. Thanks Phillip,

    DICE is a front runner on sound being a major part of their games and like you said, they take it seriously and always refine it and make it better for each and every game they make.

    Cheers,
    Raptor Claw (CJ)

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