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Thursday, August 23, 2007

Bioshock Sound

I've been playing a bit of the bioshock for the pc, and its very interesting, I'm sure I'll have a review posted somewhere in the near future, but aside from the amazing graphics of the game I'm floored by the submersive sound. I, myself, have 7.1 surround sound installed on a store bought preinstalled system, so basically imagine a car spoiler on a radio flyer. The game is set on an underwater city, built in the 1940s and not maintained because"something" happened, through out the course of the story you will find out what by collecting clues, etc..So being poorly maintained you have rooms filling with water dripping from every nook and cranny possible, and this effects the audio, imagine being in a bathroom with water running all around you, the acoustics of the room become heightened because of it. While exploring one of the first levels of the game there are other characters around you, you may call them enemies. These "enemies" will talk to themselves, or to others and will also talk to you if spotted, the thing is you don't always spot them, so imagine if you will, walking down a long corridor riddled with rooms on each side, water filling the walkway slowly, pouring from the walls and from within each room, and behind you, you hear "hey I'm gonna get your face", very freaky indeed, so you turn, no ones there, then "I'm coming for you" from yet again, behind you, so you turn again, again no one there water still running and creating a static noise, you cant see who is speaking but the sound bouncing off the walls and water instills a fear in you, this is the experience i received. I'm sure i quit the game about 3 times before i got the nerve to try again. The game itself is stunning but the sound is what brought me to my knees. I place this game along with Doom3, F.E.A.R, and Resident Evil for its use of environment in creating fear and suspense.

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