L.A. Noire is a new Detective game by Rockstar Games. I can say this game is very different from what I am used to playing so I am coming into this fresh. This game was a lot of fun to play albeit LONG but extremely immersive. I COULD NOT PUT the controller down. I just wanted to keep playing. Mainly because of the story line. VERY VERY Cool. Much better than L.A. Confidential. But that is not why I am here, I am going to review the sound of the game.
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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game L.A. Noire
Music: Music in this game is based on the music in the 40’s. Very trumpety (is that a word?) and orchestra like. When I hear this thrilling music type, it makes me feel like it was in the past (40’s 50’s) time frame. The music also played a very key role in when you are close to clues, when you have reviewed clues etc. A very nice spin on music usage in a game. This is something other developers should take note on putting into their games in the future. The constant music throughout the game was also nice, made me feel like I was playing a “movie-game”. Dramatic and suspenseful but not overpowering.
Music gets a 10
Ambient: The ambient sounds in this game were done extremely well. Obviously Rockstar’s focus on sound for this game was a very high priority. Everything from the wind, walking, running (both on land, water and mud), steam, flashlight clicks and other ambient sounds like doors, doorbells, knocking, creaks, placing objects on other objects, finger tapping…well just way too many to list. Distance and depth was also very noticeable to keep the game immersive. Great job on this one as well Rockstar. One of my favorite sounds of the game was when the operator/dispatch was talking to the detective as you could hear the switcher and cord pulls in the period of that system back in the day. Awesome!
Ambient gets a 10
Dialog: Dialog in this game was done very well. All the voices were unique and fit their character perfectly. Again, it made it feel very movie like as the dialog flowed with the story line. The voices also did a good job evoking the mood of a particular scene. Dialog was done very well. Some of the dialog portions that really stuck out to me was the dialog sounds over the phone, radio and such as it fit with the time period being portrayed. It didn’t sound like “Today’s” sound. Make sense? The ONLY thing that bugged me was the dialog all sounded like it was in a tunnel. Meaning the echo associated with setting didn’t seem to work well. Outside in a wide open area, there shouldn’t be noticeable echo and indoors seemed the same. Other than that, dialog was done very well.
Dialog gets a 9.5
Vehicles: This should really be under ambient but since there were so many vehicle elements I will keep it here. First, AWESOME job keeping the sounds of the vehicles accurate with the time period. Everything from the sirens, horns, trains, trolleys, doors, engines… you name it. They were all done very well. Way to go on keeping it accurate guys!
Vehicles gets a 10
Overall Sound: Overall sound design, engineering (Surround sound), and accurate elements of the time period being portrayed was done extremely well. Like I said, I am not a big fan of game types like this but this was one I couldn’t put the controller down simply because of the great awesome sound that this game has. It was a pleasure to play this game. Overall Sound rating gets a 10!
L.A Noire overall review: 10
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Trenched (XBLA Game) - Sound Review
Trenched is a new game in the Xbox Live Arcade. I saw a lot of people tweeting about it and figured I would give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised by what I experienced when I started playing this game. It is a nice change from the norm. Trenched is a 3rd person type shooter/strategy game that is developed by Double Fine games. This studio is also the one who brought the XBLA game “Stacked”.
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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Trenched
Music: Menu music has a military snare drum sound to it and that is about it. It was subtle and not too annoying. There was a low tone rumble while in game play to keep the tension and stress up but other than that, that was it when it came to music. It would have been cool to have options to play various rock music as you fight the waves of enemies. Since I use a hybrid headset system, I can plug my rock in and play with the game sound as well. (But I only did that AFTER I did a sound review.)
Music gets a 7.5 just due to lack of music throughout the game.
Ambient: Ok, what lacks in music sure makes up for in ambient. Double Fine did an awesome job handling the ambient sounds in this game. There were very diverse sounds for each unique portion of the game. Everything from being on the ship to being on the ground fighting. While on the ship, you could hear the water, the seagulls, the mechanical noise, siren/warning sounds and even the running on the deck. Menu sounds were cool with the metallic switching sounds. What I did find interesting was the subtle surround sound processing based on where you were looking to hear the appropriate sounds coming from behind you or in front of you. Good job on this for something that really didn’t need it but helps with the depth of the overall game sound design and engineering. Now while on the ground fighting, the blurping engine sound from the trench was entertaining. The walking noise of the trench was decent along with the other misc sounds that occur when you fortify/lockdown the trench. Now the one thing that I didn’t understand was the “noise” that occurred when enemies start their approach. There was no surround sound processing so you had to look around to see where they were coming from with the visual cues and their sreetching sound was very loud and the same for each enemy. It would have been better is the volume was not so loud and the noise had surround sound processing that way you had to listen to hear where they were coming from and maybe something different for each enemy. Other than that, the ambient sound did very well for this game.
Ambient gets a 9.5
Dialog: The voice overs were done very well. Kept it simple and for this type of game, it worked well. The digitized voice of “Dad” was done in a way to work with his character in the game s well as Vlad. The other voices were again simple, and kept to the overall story of the game. Good job on this one as the VO was designed and engineered well.
Dialog gets a 9
Vehicles: I won’t count the ship as it really sits in the ambient part of my review so I will focus on the Trench. The trench certainly had attention to detail to it to its fluttering engine sounds, it’s movements when you are moving about the battlefield and when it needs repair by you. J I noticed the enemies had no sounds when they moved. Is this by design? Didn’t make sense but would have been a nice detail. The weapons were all unique and reloading had some pretty cool sound but could have been a tad louder to hear the cycle of the reload. Other than that, overall a good job on the vehicles.
Vehicles get an 8.5
Overall Sound: Double Fine’s sound team headed by Brian Min did a great job with the overall sound design and engineering. There was some small issues that I wish could have had the same attention to detail as the ship got mainly the enemy sounds but all in all, no major issues with the sound. For a XBLA game, this game certainly didn’t lack in the department of producing a sound for a game that keeps me wanting to play more. There was nothing major to annoy me and I like to play this game as the sound is good and fun to listen to.
Overall sound gets an 8.5!
Trenched overall review: 8.5
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Trenched
Music: Menu music has a military snare drum sound to it and that is about it. It was subtle and not too annoying. There was a low tone rumble while in game play to keep the tension and stress up but other than that, that was it when it came to music. It would have been cool to have options to play various rock music as you fight the waves of enemies. Since I use a hybrid headset system, I can plug my rock in and play with the game sound as well. (But I only did that AFTER I did a sound review.)
Music gets a 7.5 just due to lack of music throughout the game.
Ambient: Ok, what lacks in music sure makes up for in ambient. Double Fine did an awesome job handling the ambient sounds in this game. There were very diverse sounds for each unique portion of the game. Everything from being on the ship to being on the ground fighting. While on the ship, you could hear the water, the seagulls, the mechanical noise, siren/warning sounds and even the running on the deck. Menu sounds were cool with the metallic switching sounds. What I did find interesting was the subtle surround sound processing based on where you were looking to hear the appropriate sounds coming from behind you or in front of you. Good job on this for something that really didn’t need it but helps with the depth of the overall game sound design and engineering. Now while on the ground fighting, the blurping engine sound from the trench was entertaining. The walking noise of the trench was decent along with the other misc sounds that occur when you fortify/lockdown the trench. Now the one thing that I didn’t understand was the “noise” that occurred when enemies start their approach. There was no surround sound processing so you had to look around to see where they were coming from with the visual cues and their sreetching sound was very loud and the same for each enemy. It would have been better is the volume was not so loud and the noise had surround sound processing that way you had to listen to hear where they were coming from and maybe something different for each enemy. Other than that, the ambient sound did very well for this game.
Ambient gets a 9.5
Dialog: The voice overs were done very well. Kept it simple and for this type of game, it worked well. The digitized voice of “Dad” was done in a way to work with his character in the game s well as Vlad. The other voices were again simple, and kept to the overall story of the game. Good job on this one as the VO was designed and engineered well.
Dialog gets a 9
Vehicles: I won’t count the ship as it really sits in the ambient part of my review so I will focus on the Trench. The trench certainly had attention to detail to it to its fluttering engine sounds, it’s movements when you are moving about the battlefield and when it needs repair by you. J I noticed the enemies had no sounds when they moved. Is this by design? Didn’t make sense but would have been a nice detail. The weapons were all unique and reloading had some pretty cool sound but could have been a tad louder to hear the cycle of the reload. Other than that, overall a good job on the vehicles.
Vehicles get an 8.5
Overall Sound: Double Fine’s sound team headed by Brian Min did a great job with the overall sound design and engineering. There was some small issues that I wish could have had the same attention to detail as the ship got mainly the enemy sounds but all in all, no major issues with the sound. For a XBLA game, this game certainly didn’t lack in the department of producing a sound for a game that keeps me wanting to play more. There was nothing major to annoy me and I like to play this game as the sound is good and fun to listen to.
Overall sound gets an 8.5!
Trenched overall review: 8.5
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
DIRT 3 (Single Player) - Sound Review
Dirt 3 is the latest racing game from Codemasters. I was really excited to see how much better they could make an already awesome sounding game. There was a lot of things in Dirt 3 that Dirt 2 had from a sound review perspective but there was a ton of detail things I noticed right away. Let’s go.
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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Dirt 3
Music: Let’s start with an easy one; menu music. Menu music should not be boring and it should never be annoying. It needs to be very subtle and somewhat mellow as there are times you need a break and for me, I like having that “white noise” going on in the background. The music choices for the game were very diverse and none were on a “stupid” scale meaning what were they thinking putting that song in here?... Anyway, music was decent for menus and replays. Just wish there was a way to change songs on the fly as I wanted to cycle through the different music choices and I am one I want the option to race with music on. (So I played my iPod in the background)
Music gets an 8.5.
Ambient: AGAIN, Codies did a great job with the ambience in this game. No trailer this time but sound engineering was dead on. All of the new environments sounded great. The snowy tracks were very cool. Makes me want to go race in the snow now. The wind, dirt, water, bushes, and other ambient was done extremely well. Nice attention to detail guys!! My only gripe was the freekin whistle blowers!!! They drove me nuts! I understand putting the crowd into it but that just was like nails on a chalkboard for me. Other than that, Ambient gets a 9.5
Dialog: The voice overs were done very well. WHY DID YOU TAKE OUT THE RACER CHATTER??? I loved that!!! Oh well. The intros and team dialog was good. Albeit basic, the voice overs gets an 7.5 rating simply because you took out a cool part of the game which made it less technical and that was the drivers voices over the radio.
Vehicles: Since this game is a racing game, this is where most of my focus will be. I am using my Dirt 2 review a little as a lot of it is the same except for a few things… Like um.. THE DETAILS!! Codies got it even better in this game. I love hearing the nitrous and little details sounds from the engine and other race cars. You can really notice this in the replay function of the game. While racing, the creaking sounds, metal bangs, acceleration sounds, gear change and especially the dirt/gravel hitting the wheel wells all were DEAD ON!! Don’t believe me, go watch the movie “Dust to Glory” and hear for yourself. AWESOME Job on this one! Rating: Big time 10!!!
Overall Sound: Overall Dirt 3 did not disappoint. They took out some fun aspects of the game like the other racer chatter and I didn’t have the ability to change the music while it is playing but as far as the overall sound, phenomenal job guys. I just hope this same sound design and engineering flows over to your other games which I have in my GameFly Q. Overall Sound rating gets a 9!
DIRT 3 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Dirt 3
Music: Let’s start with an easy one; menu music. Menu music should not be boring and it should never be annoying. It needs to be very subtle and somewhat mellow as there are times you need a break and for me, I like having that “white noise” going on in the background. The music choices for the game were very diverse and none were on a “stupid” scale meaning what were they thinking putting that song in here?... Anyway, music was decent for menus and replays. Just wish there was a way to change songs on the fly as I wanted to cycle through the different music choices and I am one I want the option to race with music on. (So I played my iPod in the background)
Music gets an 8.5.
Ambient: AGAIN, Codies did a great job with the ambience in this game. No trailer this time but sound engineering was dead on. All of the new environments sounded great. The snowy tracks were very cool. Makes me want to go race in the snow now. The wind, dirt, water, bushes, and other ambient was done extremely well. Nice attention to detail guys!! My only gripe was the freekin whistle blowers!!! They drove me nuts! I understand putting the crowd into it but that just was like nails on a chalkboard for me. Other than that, Ambient gets a 9.5
Dialog: The voice overs were done very well. WHY DID YOU TAKE OUT THE RACER CHATTER??? I loved that!!! Oh well. The intros and team dialog was good. Albeit basic, the voice overs gets an 7.5 rating simply because you took out a cool part of the game which made it less technical and that was the drivers voices over the radio.
Vehicles: Since this game is a racing game, this is where most of my focus will be. I am using my Dirt 2 review a little as a lot of it is the same except for a few things… Like um.. THE DETAILS!! Codies got it even better in this game. I love hearing the nitrous and little details sounds from the engine and other race cars. You can really notice this in the replay function of the game. While racing, the creaking sounds, metal bangs, acceleration sounds, gear change and especially the dirt/gravel hitting the wheel wells all were DEAD ON!! Don’t believe me, go watch the movie “Dust to Glory” and hear for yourself. AWESOME Job on this one! Rating: Big time 10!!!
Overall Sound: Overall Dirt 3 did not disappoint. They took out some fun aspects of the game like the other racer chatter and I didn’t have the ability to change the music while it is playing but as far as the overall sound, phenomenal job guys. I just hope this same sound design and engineering flows over to your other games which I have in my GameFly Q. Overall Sound rating gets a 9!
DIRT 3 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2010 (Single Player) - Sound Review
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (2010) was a game that was introduced at the E3 conference in 2010. I know when I saw this; I got pumped as I was an avid player of all of the NFS games throughout history. Racing or chasing is all you do and it was a lot of fun playing. Now onto the 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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (2010)
Music: There were two areas for music for this game. In game play and menus. The menu music was subtle and not annoying. How I do this is I sit in the menu area for a good amount of time. If the music doesn’t get on my nerves, then I am happy. This music certainly didn’t annoy. Now, the in game music is broken up into two parts. Cinematic and Radio music. Cinematic is when you are a cop and chasing a racer or you a racer being chased by a cop. The music choice for that part of game play was awesome. When you are just a racer, you get a choice of a few songs and frankly, I only liked two. The choices of the music for the “Radio” soundtrack when you are racing was a bit weak. I am not one to load up music on my Xbox HD so I was hoping the music would have been more of the music like there was in NFS Most Wanted. Cinematic music was good, albeit singular and the choices for the racer soundtrack was lacking.
Music gets a 6
Ambient: When I was a photographer at race tracks, both dirt and tarmac, I am always listening to what is going on around me. Not much on this one, there wasn’t that much of ambient. No dirt in the fenders etc. Only sound I really noticed was the slamming of cars, tire screeches, the “swoosh’s” when you fly past something, the engine and sirens. The only thing that annoyed me was the overuse of the glass breakage, almost comical.
Ambient gets a 7
Dialog: There were limited voices in the game which only consisted of the car review VO and the Cop chatter. The thing that annoyed me was when the cops were saying they were chasing a car. Cops do not say, “I am chasing a red Alfa Romeo Spider” I mean REALLY??? Product placement on the vehicles was a bit overdone. The VO on the car review “Show Room” was done well and I learned a lot about the cars which was cool. But the cop dialog I just didn’t like all that much.
Dialog rating: 6.5
Vehicles: This was something that NFSHP got close-to-real as possible but not dead on. The various vehicles in the game had their distinct sounds but all pretty much sounded like the others in their class. Didn’t hear much on the superchargers or nitrous. It was a bit weak. Engine sounds specific to the vehicles was ok.
Vehicle rating: 6.5
Overall Sound: I know EA wanted to bring this franchise back to life and they did an ok job. For something you just want to pick up and have fun with ok. But from someone who wants more when it comes to sound, I was let down a little bit on this title. Hopefully the next one will be a bit better. I will do a review on the Shift titles to see the level of immersion on the sound for those racing games. My favorite sounds in the game were the turbo and the helicopter. Sorry guys, this one just wasn’t that strong in the sound category in my opinion.
Overall Sound rating gets a 6.5
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2010 overall review: 6.5
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (2010)
Music: There were two areas for music for this game. In game play and menus. The menu music was subtle and not annoying. How I do this is I sit in the menu area for a good amount of time. If the music doesn’t get on my nerves, then I am happy. This music certainly didn’t annoy. Now, the in game music is broken up into two parts. Cinematic and Radio music. Cinematic is when you are a cop and chasing a racer or you a racer being chased by a cop. The music choice for that part of game play was awesome. When you are just a racer, you get a choice of a few songs and frankly, I only liked two. The choices of the music for the “Radio” soundtrack when you are racing was a bit weak. I am not one to load up music on my Xbox HD so I was hoping the music would have been more of the music like there was in NFS Most Wanted. Cinematic music was good, albeit singular and the choices for the racer soundtrack was lacking.
Music gets a 6
Ambient: When I was a photographer at race tracks, both dirt and tarmac, I am always listening to what is going on around me. Not much on this one, there wasn’t that much of ambient. No dirt in the fenders etc. Only sound I really noticed was the slamming of cars, tire screeches, the “swoosh’s” when you fly past something, the engine and sirens. The only thing that annoyed me was the overuse of the glass breakage, almost comical.
Ambient gets a 7
Dialog: There were limited voices in the game which only consisted of the car review VO and the Cop chatter. The thing that annoyed me was when the cops were saying they were chasing a car. Cops do not say, “I am chasing a red Alfa Romeo Spider” I mean REALLY??? Product placement on the vehicles was a bit overdone. The VO on the car review “Show Room” was done well and I learned a lot about the cars which was cool. But the cop dialog I just didn’t like all that much.
Dialog rating: 6.5
Vehicles: This was something that NFSHP got close-to-real as possible but not dead on. The various vehicles in the game had their distinct sounds but all pretty much sounded like the others in their class. Didn’t hear much on the superchargers or nitrous. It was a bit weak. Engine sounds specific to the vehicles was ok.
Vehicle rating: 6.5
Overall Sound: I know EA wanted to bring this franchise back to life and they did an ok job. For something you just want to pick up and have fun with ok. But from someone who wants more when it comes to sound, I was let down a little bit on this title. Hopefully the next one will be a bit better. I will do a review on the Shift titles to see the level of immersion on the sound for those racing games. My favorite sounds in the game were the turbo and the helicopter. Sorry guys, this one just wasn’t that strong in the sound category in my opinion.
Overall Sound rating gets a 6.5
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2010 overall review: 6.5
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Dead Space 2 (Single 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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible on certain genres. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. I am just rating sound. If I miss anything that you would like me to review on, comment or tweet me and I will update the review accordingly.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Dead Space 2 by Visceral Games.
Music: The point of this game was to scare the hell out of you so the use of creepy and scary music in portions of the game was key. Think of it during a movie when something scary happens and you also hear the loud screech of violins to evoke the fear you just experienced. Dead Space 2 frankly scared the hell out of me. Between the critical sounds and the music inserted at the right moments is what made this game’s impact so terrifying. The cinematic music choices for the game were great.
Music gets an 8.5
Ambient: - Reviewed Sections:
Player (Ammo noise, attire, weapon carrying, breathing, injury response) – The main character has different attire throughout the game but you don’t hear much from it which is probably a good thing based on how the developers wanted you immersed into the environment and enemy noise to scare you. When the character stomps on things like bad guys, it is done with a strong thud and you feel the power behind it. Cool detail note, when the character is not in a suit, his voice is normal, when in a suit it is digitized along with the grunts and screams. – Rating: 9
People – Throughout the levels, you hear a number of people CLEARLY scared and terrified so the constant sound keep the tension and stress as you play. The non-interacting characters while they were speaking (or screaming) when doors are closed vs. when they are opened was done very well. A great attention to detail I like to see, ehm ehm, I MEAN HEAR. The developers took the time to get this right. Was that someone locked in a clothes washer/dryer? – Rating: 9
Mechanical - TV’s popping on and loudly and steam from the shower certainly made me jump and like my friend, drop my controller. Scary stuff. Small things that really didn’t bother me, because it would take away from the game, was the little mechanical sounds like flickering fluorescent lights but it was all the time. Not a big deal but I feel it adds to the ambient and tension of something is wrong in the environment. But other mechanicals did have their appropriate sounds like horizontal walking paths, elevators and doors. Rating: 8
Environment – Glass breakage, wind and other sub-ambient sound was done well. Not overpowering but did add to the overall sound placement in the game. Rating: 8
Misc Sounds: Sounds when you save the game, open crates, open devices, navigation and other miscellaneous sounds were done very well. All sounded unique and you knew what you were handling. Rating: 9
Overall Ambient - Obviously ambient played a crucial role in getting this game to deliver what its main intent was and that is to keep you scared. All in all, Visceral developers did an awesome job in getting the ambient right. I feel it is a major contributor to the game. Dead Space 2 is extremely atmospheric and engaging in a very scary way. I am not a fan of the survival horror genre but this game was fun to play and listen to. I could go on and on but you can see which area of this game got my attention.
Dialog: Most dialog is done with cut scenes and was done in a very cinematic way. Visceral got it right and obviously have been watching their fair share of movies. Overall, the dialog was done very well. Like I said above, when non-playable characters are talking behind doors vs when they are in direct contact with you was evident and you knew where they were. Surround sound helped with this one!! Radio chatter was done well but not much dialog going on since you were pretty much alone and fighting evil during gameplay With any horror film/game the expected stong language was heard and expected. I found that the dialog flowed well with the plot of the story. Cut scenes were lengthy but did deliver properly.
Dialog gets a 9 rating.
Weapons: Since the weapons in this game were futuristic, I can only review what I thought on the choice of sounds for the weapons. Smaller weapons vs. the larger ones have a distinctive sound associated with them which means the developers were smart about the impact of each weapon. What was cool was the little sounds that occur when you changed the position of the weapon or reloaded it. It was full of different sounds in such a short period of time. The shot blasts were at a decent level and not taking away from the experience from the game. The guns in this game are not the star for sure but did their job.
Weapons gets an 8.5 rating.
Overall Sound: I know I don’t talk about gameplay but the funniest thing I had to deal with in this game is when I got scared, I didn’t know what to freekin do with the controller!!! This is where sound playing a very important part to adding stress and tension to the gameplay. Immersion was a MAJOR part of this game. If you weren’t scared playing this game, you need your head checked. The sheer number of sounds in the game and the placement of them all along with the music integration was awesome. Forget watching a horror flick. PLAY THIS GAME!!!! My favorite sound in this game was the character when he kicks something.
Dead Space 2 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Dead Space 2 by Visceral Games.
Music: The point of this game was to scare the hell out of you so the use of creepy and scary music in portions of the game was key. Think of it during a movie when something scary happens and you also hear the loud screech of violins to evoke the fear you just experienced. Dead Space 2 frankly scared the hell out of me. Between the critical sounds and the music inserted at the right moments is what made this game’s impact so terrifying. The cinematic music choices for the game were great.
Music gets an 8.5
Ambient: - Reviewed Sections:
Player (Ammo noise, attire, weapon carrying, breathing, injury response) – The main character has different attire throughout the game but you don’t hear much from it which is probably a good thing based on how the developers wanted you immersed into the environment and enemy noise to scare you. When the character stomps on things like bad guys, it is done with a strong thud and you feel the power behind it. Cool detail note, when the character is not in a suit, his voice is normal, when in a suit it is digitized along with the grunts and screams. – Rating: 9
People – Throughout the levels, you hear a number of people CLEARLY scared and terrified so the constant sound keep the tension and stress as you play. The non-interacting characters while they were speaking (or screaming) when doors are closed vs. when they are opened was done very well. A great attention to detail I like to see, ehm ehm, I MEAN HEAR. The developers took the time to get this right. Was that someone locked in a clothes washer/dryer? – Rating: 9
Mechanical - TV’s popping on and loudly and steam from the shower certainly made me jump and like my friend, drop my controller. Scary stuff. Small things that really didn’t bother me, because it would take away from the game, was the little mechanical sounds like flickering fluorescent lights but it was all the time. Not a big deal but I feel it adds to the ambient and tension of something is wrong in the environment. But other mechanicals did have their appropriate sounds like horizontal walking paths, elevators and doors. Rating: 8
Environment – Glass breakage, wind and other sub-ambient sound was done well. Not overpowering but did add to the overall sound placement in the game. Rating: 8
Misc Sounds: Sounds when you save the game, open crates, open devices, navigation and other miscellaneous sounds were done very well. All sounded unique and you knew what you were handling. Rating: 9
Overall Ambient - Obviously ambient played a crucial role in getting this game to deliver what its main intent was and that is to keep you scared. All in all, Visceral developers did an awesome job in getting the ambient right. I feel it is a major contributor to the game. Dead Space 2 is extremely atmospheric and engaging in a very scary way. I am not a fan of the survival horror genre but this game was fun to play and listen to. I could go on and on but you can see which area of this game got my attention.
Dialog: Most dialog is done with cut scenes and was done in a very cinematic way. Visceral got it right and obviously have been watching their fair share of movies. Overall, the dialog was done very well. Like I said above, when non-playable characters are talking behind doors vs when they are in direct contact with you was evident and you knew where they were. Surround sound helped with this one!! Radio chatter was done well but not much dialog going on since you were pretty much alone and fighting evil during gameplay With any horror film/game the expected stong language was heard and expected. I found that the dialog flowed well with the plot of the story. Cut scenes were lengthy but did deliver properly.
Dialog gets a 9 rating.
Weapons: Since the weapons in this game were futuristic, I can only review what I thought on the choice of sounds for the weapons. Smaller weapons vs. the larger ones have a distinctive sound associated with them which means the developers were smart about the impact of each weapon. What was cool was the little sounds that occur when you changed the position of the weapon or reloaded it. It was full of different sounds in such a short period of time. The shot blasts were at a decent level and not taking away from the experience from the game. The guns in this game are not the star for sure but did their job.
Weapons gets an 8.5 rating.
Overall Sound: I know I don’t talk about gameplay but the funniest thing I had to deal with in this game is when I got scared, I didn’t know what to freekin do with the controller!!! This is where sound playing a very important part to adding stress and tension to the gameplay. Immersion was a MAJOR part of this game. If you weren’t scared playing this game, you need your head checked. The sheer number of sounds in the game and the placement of them all along with the music integration was awesome. Forget watching a horror flick. PLAY THIS GAME!!!! My favorite sound in this game was the character when he kicks something.
Dead Space 2 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
DIRT 2 (Single 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 be rating my sound review on close-to-real as possible. I will not rate anything on gameplay like graphics or mechanics. 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!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Dirt 2 (I am rating it on the demo)
Music: Music choices for a game in this genre needs to be exciting and energetic, and the Codies didn’t fail there. The second this game starts up, you want to race! The only downside is that I couldn’t turn on music while I drive, but then again, I wouldn’t hear the awesome detail of the vehicle. The rock and techno mix choices were good. Music gets an 8.
Ambient: When I was a photographer at race tracks, both dirt and tarmac, I am always listening to what is going on around me. So, Codies did a great job with the ambients in this game all the way down to when you are in the Trailer. Looking around, the sounds STAY where they are supposed to. Great surround engineering guys! It flows extremely well when you “go outside”. Hey look! It is a wacky wavy inflatable tube man!!! Haha.. Once outside, you don’t hear too much going on except for the music in the background. And what is up with the dude in the foot locker? Onto the environment when racing. I am going to pick the West Coast Choppers Baja Champ Truck. Wind, dirt, water, bushes, fireworks and other ambient was done extremely well. Nice attention to detail guys!! Ambient gets a 9.
Dialog: The voice overs were done very well. I know the real racers provided their voice talent but the excitement wasn’t there but if you have met them, and I have, their voices are dead on. Track voices and intros were also done pretty well. Albeit basic, the voice overs gets an 8 rating.
Vehicles: Since this game is a racing game, this is where most of my focus will be. Now, if you have had the privilege to stand near a Champ Truck, you will know this is the same type of review I will give with weapons in FPS genres. Those trucks are freekin loud!!! BUT, with that said, they hit the nail on the head with these. The truck actualy sounds like a champ truck so the design and engineering that went into replicating the sound went a long way. Even down to the Chevy horn. Good job! While racing, the creaking sounds, metal bangs, superchargers/nitrous, truck on truck crashes, acceleration sounds, gear change and especially the dirt/gravel hitting the wheel wells all were DEAD ON!! Don’t believe me, go watch the movie “Dust to Glory” and hear for yourself. AWESOME Job on this one! Rating: Big time 10!!!
Overall Sound: The Codies put it all on the table designing and engineering the sound for this fun game. It made me want more, so time to go buy this game. I can’t wait to see what they think of next for Dirt 3.Overall Sound rating gets a 9!
DIRT 2 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the game Dirt 2 (I am rating it on the demo)
Music: Music choices for a game in this genre needs to be exciting and energetic, and the Codies didn’t fail there. The second this game starts up, you want to race! The only downside is that I couldn’t turn on music while I drive, but then again, I wouldn’t hear the awesome detail of the vehicle. The rock and techno mix choices were good. Music gets an 8.
Ambient: When I was a photographer at race tracks, both dirt and tarmac, I am always listening to what is going on around me. So, Codies did a great job with the ambients in this game all the way down to when you are in the Trailer. Looking around, the sounds STAY where they are supposed to. Great surround engineering guys! It flows extremely well when you “go outside”. Hey look! It is a wacky wavy inflatable tube man!!! Haha.. Once outside, you don’t hear too much going on except for the music in the background. And what is up with the dude in the foot locker? Onto the environment when racing. I am going to pick the West Coast Choppers Baja Champ Truck. Wind, dirt, water, bushes, fireworks and other ambient was done extremely well. Nice attention to detail guys!! Ambient gets a 9.
Dialog: The voice overs were done very well. I know the real racers provided their voice talent but the excitement wasn’t there but if you have met them, and I have, their voices are dead on. Track voices and intros were also done pretty well. Albeit basic, the voice overs gets an 8 rating.
Vehicles: Since this game is a racing game, this is where most of my focus will be. Now, if you have had the privilege to stand near a Champ Truck, you will know this is the same type of review I will give with weapons in FPS genres. Those trucks are freekin loud!!! BUT, with that said, they hit the nail on the head with these. The truck actualy sounds like a champ truck so the design and engineering that went into replicating the sound went a long way. Even down to the Chevy horn. Good job! While racing, the creaking sounds, metal bangs, superchargers/nitrous, truck on truck crashes, acceleration sounds, gear change and especially the dirt/gravel hitting the wheel wells all were DEAD ON!! Don’t believe me, go watch the movie “Dust to Glory” and hear for yourself. AWESOME Job on this one! Rating: Big time 10!!!
Overall Sound: The Codies put it all on the table designing and engineering the sound for this fun game. It made me want more, so time to go buy this game. I can’t wait to see what they think of next for Dirt 3.Overall Sound rating gets a 9!
DIRT 2 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
My Ten favorite video game trailers... so far.
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.
So, I figured I would do my ten favorite game trailers to date. I worked in Hollywood for 5 years on movie trailers as a freelancer so hopefully, you will all agree or KILL me based on these. Bottom line, I picked these for not just the gameplay aspect, but doing what trailers/previews are supposed to do.. SELL THE GAME!!! So I will give some input on why I picked these. Enjoy!
CALL OF JUAREZ: THE CARTEL:
To start it off, let’s talk about “Call of Juarez: The Cartel” – This latest version of CoJ looks to be a hit. Takes place today and is based on some rogue cops out to stop the Cartel. Check out the video and then my review on the technical aspects of the trailer.
So when “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club starts up in its instrumental form, I am instantly feeling a mellow type trailer. But the intro of voice-over sets the tone well and the trailer starts with what appears to be the lead character walking into frame. He has on a bullet proof vest on and I knew we moved to the new west and no longer in the old west. The trailer did its job in setting the scene character wise. Placement of key sound effects was great. Not overpowering and hit on the best moments for the best parts of the trailer. The trailer was fun to watch and got me interested in the game. Hope to see more videos on gameplay. This trailer certainly makes me want to play the game.
BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY:
On to a funny one. Battlefield Bad Company took a new spin on the FPS genre that I really enjoyed and I find I play to this day. The characters comedy kept me engaged throughout the entire game and made it very enjoyable to play. Shame though that didn’t follow over to the sequel. Here is the trailer:
Now, the use of gameplay footage for the entire trailer was perfect. The cinematic start with the voice-over got you peaked and even more so when the comedy came out. The action mixing in with a great music choice: “Runnin’ Wild” by Airbourne was a perfect fit for this trailer and game! Great way to sell a video game. I can tell you it was because of this trailer I bought the game hands down.
GHOST RECON FUTURE SOLDIER:
This trailer was done in full cinematic fashion as a live action. I have nothing with live action of course, but for video games, it is a tough sell sometimes. But, this trailer was done extremely well and it made me want more.
The mix of sound with visual effects was key in selling the aspect of the game. It obviously showed you what gameplay may have in terms of weaponry and special abilities via live action but not gameplay. This trailer reminded me a lot of the movie of “Behind Enemy Lines” which I loved. I certainly will be in line to get this game. Links to the behind the scenes and gameplay footage here:
CRYSIS 2:
I was a huge Crysis fan on the PC. When I heard that they were moving to the console, I was excited and couldn’t wait to see the trailer.
I love strong voice-overs for trailers. Especially with gameplay footage. It is one of my favorite ways to watch trailers about games. Crysis 2’s “Be the Weapon” trailer sure didn’t fail. The trailer starts off with mellow and dark tones, seeing New York in shambles certainly sets the tone. Then it starts to climax with louder music as the voice-over explains each part of the suit and ends up in an exciting and exhilarating ride to what the game is about. Good job Crytek!
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2:
I completely geeked out when this trailer hit the waves.
The build up style with the mix of music, gameplay, sound and Game reviews was awesome. Then to hit it off by dissolving between gameplay footage as Eminem’s song starts to play really kicked butt. Is it me or does Military comms in game trailers just give you goosebumps? Anyway, InfinityWard did an awesome job making a trailer that everyone will and did get excited about. Great piece of work!
DUKE NUKEM FOREVER:
The Duke is back and he is pissed off!! Check it out:
Duke Nukem is a welcome sight to the FPS world. Mix of comedy, sex, action and sound, you just want this game right now! Again, I love the cinematic opening with dramatic dissolves and voice-overs. Makes for a great build up…Then, when you hear good ole Duke say “Damnit, why do they always take the hot ones” I busted up laughing and couldn’t wait for more. The trailer transitions into a rock themed and comedic spin on this game and this will be another I will wait in line for. Hail to the King baby!!
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS – “There’s a soldier in all of us”
Well, I got to hand it to the marketing geniuses that Treyarch employs because this video alone, sold me on the game. It shows absolutely no gameplay, it is all live action. But it sold it for me. Nuff said:
Good job Treyarch, you always do a good job on trailers! Go Jimmy Kimmel you freekin noober!!!
BATTLEFIELD 3 “MY LIFE”:
DICE always sticks to gameplay footage when creating their trailers and that is a good thing. I am a fan of live action but if you want to see what you are going to play, then make a trailer with the gameplay in it.
This trailer of many (good thing) starts off slow, showing you reviews and game play, then transitions into a gritty world of what the soldiers endure. This fast action paced ending is nothing but cool. This trailer evokes that emotion of being pissed off and you wanting to join the fight. In other words, Join it by getting this game!
MEDAL OF HONOR:
Medal of Honor came out with really great trailers for this game. They were very specific on how they wanted to seel this game. They wanted you to walk in the boots of the soliders fighting the fight on Terrorism. Watch:
Danger Close and DICE took a leap of faith on reviving the MOH franchise. This first go around did very well. I was a MOH fan and couldn’t wait to play the game after watching these trailers. Again, sticking to gameplay footage for their trailers was a smart move. Great job as always guys. Made me buy the game.
And last but certainly not least.. this is the one trailer that I have as an audio version and is part of my playlist… unfortunately, it is usually playing when I am driving. Wonder if that is when I am getting the speeding tickets??
Enjoy…
NEED FOR SPEED HOT PURSUIT (2010):
NFS raised the bar when they also revived the franchise. Criterion games did a phenomenal job making this trailer. I was extremely excited and couldn’t wait to play it. I still love playing this when I am not killing virtual bad guys. Music choice and cinematic impact using gameplay was freekin awesome!!!
And with that, I am done… If you want me to review a specific game trailer, let me know. I will give a full second by second review and give my rating on how the trailer was created. Thanks again for my followers on Twitter and for all who read my blogs.
Some music from the trailers above:
Call Of Juarez: The Cartel:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo”
Battlefield Bad Company:
Airbourne - “Runnin’ Wild”
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2:
Eminem & Nate Dogg – “Till I Collapse”
Need For Speed hot Pursuit:
Marilyn Manson – “Tainted Love”
30 Seconds To Mars - "Edge Of The Earth"
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
So, I figured I would do my ten favorite game trailers to date. I worked in Hollywood for 5 years on movie trailers as a freelancer so hopefully, you will all agree or KILL me based on these. Bottom line, I picked these for not just the gameplay aspect, but doing what trailers/previews are supposed to do.. SELL THE GAME!!! So I will give some input on why I picked these. Enjoy!
CALL OF JUAREZ: THE CARTEL:
To start it off, let’s talk about “Call of Juarez: The Cartel” – This latest version of CoJ looks to be a hit. Takes place today and is based on some rogue cops out to stop the Cartel. Check out the video and then my review on the technical aspects of the trailer.
So when “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club starts up in its instrumental form, I am instantly feeling a mellow type trailer. But the intro of voice-over sets the tone well and the trailer starts with what appears to be the lead character walking into frame. He has on a bullet proof vest on and I knew we moved to the new west and no longer in the old west. The trailer did its job in setting the scene character wise. Placement of key sound effects was great. Not overpowering and hit on the best moments for the best parts of the trailer. The trailer was fun to watch and got me interested in the game. Hope to see more videos on gameplay. This trailer certainly makes me want to play the game.
BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY:
On to a funny one. Battlefield Bad Company took a new spin on the FPS genre that I really enjoyed and I find I play to this day. The characters comedy kept me engaged throughout the entire game and made it very enjoyable to play. Shame though that didn’t follow over to the sequel. Here is the trailer:
Now, the use of gameplay footage for the entire trailer was perfect. The cinematic start with the voice-over got you peaked and even more so when the comedy came out. The action mixing in with a great music choice: “Runnin’ Wild” by Airbourne was a perfect fit for this trailer and game! Great way to sell a video game. I can tell you it was because of this trailer I bought the game hands down.
GHOST RECON FUTURE SOLDIER:
This trailer was done in full cinematic fashion as a live action. I have nothing with live action of course, but for video games, it is a tough sell sometimes. But, this trailer was done extremely well and it made me want more.
The mix of sound with visual effects was key in selling the aspect of the game. It obviously showed you what gameplay may have in terms of weaponry and special abilities via live action but not gameplay. This trailer reminded me a lot of the movie of “Behind Enemy Lines” which I loved. I certainly will be in line to get this game. Links to the behind the scenes and gameplay footage here:
CRYSIS 2:
I was a huge Crysis fan on the PC. When I heard that they were moving to the console, I was excited and couldn’t wait to see the trailer.
I love strong voice-overs for trailers. Especially with gameplay footage. It is one of my favorite ways to watch trailers about games. Crysis 2’s “Be the Weapon” trailer sure didn’t fail. The trailer starts off with mellow and dark tones, seeing New York in shambles certainly sets the tone. Then it starts to climax with louder music as the voice-over explains each part of the suit and ends up in an exciting and exhilarating ride to what the game is about. Good job Crytek!
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2:
I completely geeked out when this trailer hit the waves.
The build up style with the mix of music, gameplay, sound and Game reviews was awesome. Then to hit it off by dissolving between gameplay footage as Eminem’s song starts to play really kicked butt. Is it me or does Military comms in game trailers just give you goosebumps? Anyway, InfinityWard did an awesome job making a trailer that everyone will and did get excited about. Great piece of work!
DUKE NUKEM FOREVER:
The Duke is back and he is pissed off!! Check it out:
Duke Nukem is a welcome sight to the FPS world. Mix of comedy, sex, action and sound, you just want this game right now! Again, I love the cinematic opening with dramatic dissolves and voice-overs. Makes for a great build up…Then, when you hear good ole Duke say “Damnit, why do they always take the hot ones” I busted up laughing and couldn’t wait for more. The trailer transitions into a rock themed and comedic spin on this game and this will be another I will wait in line for. Hail to the King baby!!
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS – “There’s a soldier in all of us”
Well, I got to hand it to the marketing geniuses that Treyarch employs because this video alone, sold me on the game. It shows absolutely no gameplay, it is all live action. But it sold it for me. Nuff said:
Good job Treyarch, you always do a good job on trailers! Go Jimmy Kimmel you freekin noober!!!
BATTLEFIELD 3 “MY LIFE”:
DICE always sticks to gameplay footage when creating their trailers and that is a good thing. I am a fan of live action but if you want to see what you are going to play, then make a trailer with the gameplay in it.
This trailer of many (good thing) starts off slow, showing you reviews and game play, then transitions into a gritty world of what the soldiers endure. This fast action paced ending is nothing but cool. This trailer evokes that emotion of being pissed off and you wanting to join the fight. In other words, Join it by getting this game!
MEDAL OF HONOR:
Medal of Honor came out with really great trailers for this game. They were very specific on how they wanted to seel this game. They wanted you to walk in the boots of the soliders fighting the fight on Terrorism. Watch:
Danger Close and DICE took a leap of faith on reviving the MOH franchise. This first go around did very well. I was a MOH fan and couldn’t wait to play the game after watching these trailers. Again, sticking to gameplay footage for their trailers was a smart move. Great job as always guys. Made me buy the game.
And last but certainly not least.. this is the one trailer that I have as an audio version and is part of my playlist… unfortunately, it is usually playing when I am driving. Wonder if that is when I am getting the speeding tickets??
Enjoy…
NEED FOR SPEED HOT PURSUIT (2010):
NFS raised the bar when they also revived the franchise. Criterion games did a phenomenal job making this trailer. I was extremely excited and couldn’t wait to play it. I still love playing this when I am not killing virtual bad guys. Music choice and cinematic impact using gameplay was freekin awesome!!!
And with that, I am done… If you want me to review a specific game trailer, let me know. I will give a full second by second review and give my rating on how the trailer was created. Thanks again for my followers on Twitter and for all who read my blogs.
Some music from the trailers above:
Call Of Juarez: The Cartel:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo”
Battlefield Bad Company:
Airbourne - “Runnin’ Wild”
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2:
Eminem & Nate Dogg – “Till I Collapse”
Need For Speed hot Pursuit:
Marilyn Manson – “Tainted Love”
30 Seconds To Mars - "Edge Of The Earth"
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Single 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!
Ok, let's review the sound for the Single Player of Call of Duty: Black Ops
This trailer does kick butt though..
Music: Treyarch stuck with what they knew for a lot of things in the making of this game. That was the same for the music as well. Sean Murray has produced great scores over the past number of years. His work can be heard in the “True Crime” video game series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (hmm small world with SMG) and of course, Call of Duty: World at War. He did a great job composing the pieces for the SP portion of this game. His music keeps you engaged and does a good job evoking the proper feeling during the missions. I am sure it was difficult based on the period this game spans across. Music for this game (SP) gets an 8.5!!!
Get the soundtrack from iTunes – Call of Duty: Black Ops on iTunes or from Amazon – Call of Duty: Black Ops Soundtrack on Amazon
Ambient: Treyarch did a decent job with the ambient in the SP part of the game. Sparks, snowy terrains, sirens, ambient gun fire, burning fire, glass breaking and jets flying over all sounded good and pretty close-to-real. I still have an issue with the walking/running/jumping though. See my MP review on that one so I don’ t repeat myself. They also did a good job with the interview room sounding like a hospital room. My favorite ambient sound had to be the Cuban bar music. Don’t know why, but it stuck with me. Ambient gets an 7.5 for SP.
Dialog: Why oh why Ice Cube did you have to go overboard with your dialog in this game?? It sounded almost comical. Anyway, dialog was a little rough in the SP portion of the game as the main character started off pretty normal in the beginning when he was getting interrogated then when he was about to bust in on Castro, there was a hint of an accent I couldn’t make out. It sounded goofy. Woods, well I can’t help but keep thinking “Tropic Thunder” when I see him and hear him. Don’t know why, I just do. His character was a little out there but for a Black Ops operator, but you kind of have to be. All in all, the dialog was a bit rough around the edges but it did sell a good story of the SP portion of the game. Since I am commenting on the sound design of the game and not the story line, I will leave it at that. My biggest complaint on the dialog is the characters voices seem to be right next to you speaking when they are clearly a good distance away? In other words, no distance to the voice, no noticeable echo no depth. Treyarch could have done better on this one. Don’t believe me? The best voice dialog in this game was certainly Ed Harris and Gary Oldman did a great job as well and Reznov. Good choice with them guys! Check my other reviews on other games. Giving dialog an 6 rating.
Vehicles: The vehicles in the SP had great sound levels and was close-to-real as possible. Planes, cars, trucks and other vehicles fit in perfect with other elements of the game. They weren’t too overpowering and by far, probably had the best sound in the game. Vehicles gets an 8 as well.
Weapons: I have shot many weapons in my life and I will tell you right now that real life weapons and video game weapons WILL ALWAYS SOUND DIFFERENT!!! Video game weapons need to "sound" realistic and keep the player engaged with that strong, cool CHUGGA CHUGGA sound that a game weapon will make when shooting. So I will give my sound review on a close-to-real sound that I can. Weapons falls in the same rating as with the MP review I did. Weapons gets a 7.
Overall Sound: I hope Treyarch starts making the sound design a higher level priority than what it seemed to be in this game. I was a little disappointed in that it could have been done better. Sound really helps sell a story no matter what. You never go into a Summer Blockbuster hit and expect to hear “okay” sound. You expect to feel and hear the sound to where you feel like you are part of the movie. I just didn’t feel that way with this game. I expect the virtual beating for this but as always this is my opinion and they could take some notes from some other studios on how they design and engineer their sound. Overall Sound rating gets a 7.5
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS SP overall review: 7.5
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the Single Player of Call of Duty: Black Ops
This trailer does kick butt though..
Music: Treyarch stuck with what they knew for a lot of things in the making of this game. That was the same for the music as well. Sean Murray has produced great scores over the past number of years. His work can be heard in the “True Crime” video game series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (hmm small world with SMG) and of course, Call of Duty: World at War. He did a great job composing the pieces for the SP portion of this game. His music keeps you engaged and does a good job evoking the proper feeling during the missions. I am sure it was difficult based on the period this game spans across. Music for this game (SP) gets an 8.5!!!
Get the soundtrack from iTunes – Call of Duty: Black Ops on iTunes or from Amazon – Call of Duty: Black Ops Soundtrack on Amazon
Ambient: Treyarch did a decent job with the ambient in the SP part of the game. Sparks, snowy terrains, sirens, ambient gun fire, burning fire, glass breaking and jets flying over all sounded good and pretty close-to-real. I still have an issue with the walking/running/jumping though. See my MP review on that one so I don’ t repeat myself. They also did a good job with the interview room sounding like a hospital room. My favorite ambient sound had to be the Cuban bar music. Don’t know why, but it stuck with me. Ambient gets an 7.5 for SP.
Dialog: Why oh why Ice Cube did you have to go overboard with your dialog in this game?? It sounded almost comical. Anyway, dialog was a little rough in the SP portion of the game as the main character started off pretty normal in the beginning when he was getting interrogated then when he was about to bust in on Castro, there was a hint of an accent I couldn’t make out. It sounded goofy. Woods, well I can’t help but keep thinking “Tropic Thunder” when I see him and hear him. Don’t know why, I just do. His character was a little out there but for a Black Ops operator, but you kind of have to be. All in all, the dialog was a bit rough around the edges but it did sell a good story of the SP portion of the game. Since I am commenting on the sound design of the game and not the story line, I will leave it at that. My biggest complaint on the dialog is the characters voices seem to be right next to you speaking when they are clearly a good distance away? In other words, no distance to the voice, no noticeable echo no depth. Treyarch could have done better on this one. Don’t believe me? The best voice dialog in this game was certainly Ed Harris and Gary Oldman did a great job as well and Reznov. Good choice with them guys! Check my other reviews on other games. Giving dialog an 6 rating.
Vehicles: The vehicles in the SP had great sound levels and was close-to-real as possible. Planes, cars, trucks and other vehicles fit in perfect with other elements of the game. They weren’t too overpowering and by far, probably had the best sound in the game. Vehicles gets an 8 as well.
Weapons: I have shot many weapons in my life and I will tell you right now that real life weapons and video game weapons WILL ALWAYS SOUND DIFFERENT!!! Video game weapons need to "sound" realistic and keep the player engaged with that strong, cool CHUGGA CHUGGA sound that a game weapon will make when shooting. So I will give my sound review on a close-to-real sound that I can. Weapons falls in the same rating as with the MP review I did. Weapons gets a 7.
Overall Sound: I hope Treyarch starts making the sound design a higher level priority than what it seemed to be in this game. I was a little disappointed in that it could have been done better. Sound really helps sell a story no matter what. You never go into a Summer Blockbuster hit and expect to hear “okay” sound. You expect to feel and hear the sound to where you feel like you are part of the movie. I just didn’t feel that way with this game. I expect the virtual beating for this but as always this is my opinion and they could take some notes from some other studios on how they design and engineer their sound. Overall Sound rating gets a 7.5
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS SP overall review: 7.5
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Single 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 game play. 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!
Ok, let's review the sound for the Single Player of Modern Warfare 2
Great video on the mix of sound with the soundtrack.
Music: What can I say about Hans Zimmer… He is the ultimate composer when he creates a score. Whether it is for film or HIS FIRST VIDEO GAME score!!!, he kicks butt. As the SP starts up, the credits with the dramatic music and voice-overs from the first Modern Warfare gets you excited to want to play this game. It was a nice “review” of where you left off with and what you are about to endure. The vocals with the percussion and strings gets right to the bone and you feel the Honor and Duty that you are about to feel as you play the first mission. – The music during this intro is cool and gets you pumped up. I could go on and on about the music throughout the entire game but let’s just say. WAY TO GO!! Music for this game (SP) gets a big time 10!!!
Get the soundtrack from iTunes – Modern Warfare 2 on iTunes or from Amazon – Modern Warfare 2 Soundtrack on Amazon
Ambient: The ambient in this game works extremely well with the soundtrack. Blowing sand, wind, water and other small sounds worked very very well with the SP campaign. Nothing was overpowering but sometimes distracting in small parts. Ambient gets an 8.
Dialog: This was a great part of the SP campaign. Voice over’s were done extremely well. General Shepherd’s voice was full of bass and drama. You certainly knew were you stood with his voice. Soap, Price and the others sounded great and full of suspense. Having named cast on to do the voice overs was awesome. Names like Barry Pepper, Keith David, Kevin McKidd and of course Billy Murray as Price. The one character I wish we could have heard more was Makarov. Roman Varshavsky’s voice was full of evil and with no remorse to his role in this game. It was exciting to hear it in the latest trailer of Modern Warfare 3. But the one unforgettable voice that did it for me was General Shepherd. When Shepherd’s voice kicks in, I was like… WOW.. GOOD Pick for a General’s voice. I still this day use the line to my friends and colleagues “Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it.” Great line! I was very pleased when I heard Lance Henriksen speaking in this game as he kills it! InfinityWard did a phenomenal job with the dialog in this game. Giving dialog a 10 rating.
Vehicles: The vehicles in the SP had great sound levels and was close-to-real as possible. Planes, cars, trucks and other vehicles fit in perfect with other elements of the game. Vehicles gets an 8 as well.
Weapons: (Detailed sound on weapons in later posts) I have shot many weapons in my life and I will tell you right now that real life weapons and video game weapons WILL ALWAYS SOUND DIFFERENT!!! Video game weapons need to "sound" realistic and keep the player engaged with that strong, cool CHUGGA CHUGGA sound that a game weapon will make when shooting. So I will give my sound review on a close-to-real sound that I can. In Modern Warfare 2, the weapons in the SP sounded great. The snap, bang and punch of each weapon fit well with the ambient and overall sound. They didn’t overpower the music and the dialog as well. My favorite weapon in the SP campaign has to be the Dragunov. Yes, it is a sniper rifle but any chance I could use it, I did. It sounds so cool and was missed very much in MP. Weapons gets a 9.
Overall Sound: InfinityWard obviously took the time to make sound an important part of this game. The mix was great and everything flowed well together. The music with the settings was a perfect fit (Right on Hans!!!) and the dramatic music with the game play certainly evokes the overall sound of war. Or, at least War to come… The best part of this game HAS to be the Soundtrack. I still listen to it every day as it is part of my mix on my music player. Overall Sound rating gets a 9!
MODERN WARFARE 2 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
Rating is as follows: 1 through 10
1 Being BAD, what were you thinking, horrible sound.
10 Being the Best sound element ever!
Ok, let's review the sound for the Single Player of Modern Warfare 2
Great video on the mix of sound with the soundtrack.
Music: What can I say about Hans Zimmer… He is the ultimate composer when he creates a score. Whether it is for film or HIS FIRST VIDEO GAME score!!!, he kicks butt. As the SP starts up, the credits with the dramatic music and voice-overs from the first Modern Warfare gets you excited to want to play this game. It was a nice “review” of where you left off with and what you are about to endure. The vocals with the percussion and strings gets right to the bone and you feel the Honor and Duty that you are about to feel as you play the first mission. – The music during this intro is cool and gets you pumped up. I could go on and on about the music throughout the entire game but let’s just say. WAY TO GO!! Music for this game (SP) gets a big time 10!!!
Get the soundtrack from iTunes – Modern Warfare 2 on iTunes or from Amazon – Modern Warfare 2 Soundtrack on Amazon
Ambient: The ambient in this game works extremely well with the soundtrack. Blowing sand, wind, water and other small sounds worked very very well with the SP campaign. Nothing was overpowering but sometimes distracting in small parts. Ambient gets an 8.
Dialog: This was a great part of the SP campaign. Voice over’s were done extremely well. General Shepherd’s voice was full of bass and drama. You certainly knew were you stood with his voice. Soap, Price and the others sounded great and full of suspense. Having named cast on to do the voice overs was awesome. Names like Barry Pepper, Keith David, Kevin McKidd and of course Billy Murray as Price. The one character I wish we could have heard more was Makarov. Roman Varshavsky’s voice was full of evil and with no remorse to his role in this game. It was exciting to hear it in the latest trailer of Modern Warfare 3. But the one unforgettable voice that did it for me was General Shepherd. When Shepherd’s voice kicks in, I was like… WOW.. GOOD Pick for a General’s voice. I still this day use the line to my friends and colleagues “Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it.” Great line! I was very pleased when I heard Lance Henriksen speaking in this game as he kills it! InfinityWard did a phenomenal job with the dialog in this game. Giving dialog a 10 rating.
Vehicles: The vehicles in the SP had great sound levels and was close-to-real as possible. Planes, cars, trucks and other vehicles fit in perfect with other elements of the game. Vehicles gets an 8 as well.
Weapons: (Detailed sound on weapons in later posts) I have shot many weapons in my life and I will tell you right now that real life weapons and video game weapons WILL ALWAYS SOUND DIFFERENT!!! Video game weapons need to "sound" realistic and keep the player engaged with that strong, cool CHUGGA CHUGGA sound that a game weapon will make when shooting. So I will give my sound review on a close-to-real sound that I can. In Modern Warfare 2, the weapons in the SP sounded great. The snap, bang and punch of each weapon fit well with the ambient and overall sound. They didn’t overpower the music and the dialog as well. My favorite weapon in the SP campaign has to be the Dragunov. Yes, it is a sniper rifle but any chance I could use it, I did. It sounds so cool and was missed very much in MP. Weapons gets a 9.
Overall Sound: InfinityWard obviously took the time to make sound an important part of this game. The mix was great and everything flowed well together. The music with the settings was a perfect fit (Right on Hans!!!) and the dramatic music with the game play certainly evokes the overall sound of war. Or, at least War to come… The best part of this game HAS to be the Soundtrack. I still listen to it every day as it is part of my mix on my music player. Overall Sound rating gets a 9!
MODERN WARFARE 2 overall review: 9
That is all for now, Raptor Claw 141 out.
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