Forum Overview :: Article Submissions :: Even if you hated everything else about it, BioShock still wouldn't qualify...

[quote name="Jerry Whorebach"]...because its greatest strength was in the audio department. The sound design is what sold that environment, what gave it personality and made it real. From the mournful strains of Beyond the Sea, to the menacingly pathetic whale songs of the Big Daddies, to the sickeningly saccharine sales pitches of the vending machines, to every little crack and groan and drip and splash of a completely static museum of a world that nonetheless seemed to be coming apart at the seams. The audio even served critical functions in gameplay, allowing you to keep track of all those wandering enemies - a necessity, given their propensity for respawning in what should be "cleared" rooms (Jesus loves them, I gather?) - and keeping you oriented in the kind of tight, labyrinthine rat's nests required to squeeze "big" spaces into Unreal 2 engine levels (if you knew where the Circus of Values was, you always knew where you were in relation to it). If you're going to say BioShock got by on looks alone, you might as well say the same about Rez. Or Dusty Springfield. [youtube id="Fola80rQop4"][/quote]