Sound

The F/S … er… F/X

You know, it wasn't really until I joined FiringSquad that I learned to appreciate the importance of sound. After all, losing 60-0 to Kenn in 20 minutes on Q3Tourney says something about how shitty footsteps are and how easy it is to gain and maintain control of the map after a dominant frag.

Then there are games like System Shock 2 which simply drive you nuts with their sound. Hearing a hybrid but not being able to see him is terrifying. Same thing when you hear 4 or 5 monkeys start chattering … nasty, nasty stuff. Turn off the volume for a while in SS2 and tell me it's the same game - you can't.

So how does FreeSpace 2 do? Very well. Weapon effects and explosions are crisp and strong, without being overbearing and over the top. With the addition of both A3D and EAX support, you're in for a real treat as space is the most truly 3D gaming environment there is.

One more cutscene shot for ya

Mission briefing

Take for example an assault on some Shivan or NTF cruiser, with you in a slow, lumbering bomber. You've just started turning around after delivering 2 bombs on the cruiser and as you're preparing for another run, you hear the high pitched powering up of a beam weapon … fear it. It's behind you, it's getting louder and that beam will cut your bomber in half faster than Bill Clinton cringes at the sight of a cigar. On instinct you jam your stick down to pull up and away from the impending death… 5 feet below, where you were just a fraction of a second ago, a bright red laser beam the size of your ship is tearing through space. You made it - oh so barely.

"[…] the seven thunders answered with a roar."

(Book of Revelation, 10:3, for anyone who's curious.)
Volition has steadily been releasing MP3s containing in-game music for the past few weeks. Most of the tracks are named after a book in the Bible (hence the section heading :) The music is very good. They have a very original sound tending towards the dark and brooding or imposing and introspective (the songs fit in quite nicely with their names - check out the gloom and doom of Revelation.) Not only is it extremely well composed and executed, but it fits the game perfectly… I kind of think that they could have done a little less of that quick, raspy, mechanical clicking, but bah, it's still good.

Ah, clear space

That planet looks spiffy

Check out these super-high quality (256kbps, 44KHz) MP3s here.

One complaint I have is that after some in-game speeches, my guns and missiles sound very muted, like they were being fired from far away. During and intense battle, you can notice it and it detracts from the atmosphere a bit.

That ship is dying

Doing ok here