Game Title: Locoroco
Your name: Bor Walch
Pretty or ugly: pretty
Description: Loco Roco combines songs sounds and more to create a complete experience.

You just can't hate this game =) .

Game Title: Bioshock
Your name: Jochem Schut
Pretty or ugly: pretty
Description:

• good timing, every sound appears when you want them to.
• The setting is an underwater city, from time to time you will hear sounds of water trying to burst/break/slide/slip/flow into the city. You will often hear the sounds of dripping water, flowing water with or without an echo, depending on what surrounding it's in.
• Every object/character/floor etc, has his own shape and structure and surface, in this game you will hear all those differences, every sound is unique.
• The old Art Deco feeling of the years 1900 till 1940's is completely merged into this game and gives the game a deeper level of immersion.
• Old radios and record players play like they haven't been played on for years, they tend to get stuck some of the times because of their age.
• You can hear the old hollow and scratchy sound of jazz songs of the early 20's and such.
• All the voices talk like they're really from those times, with their own vocabulary.
• If you save a little sister you will hear a sound like its beamed straight down from heaven to your ears, like you're doing the ultimate good thing.
• Every sound sounds different in every other surrounding and has a different sound effect. This makes me think the game is even more believable.

Game Title: Doom 3
Your name: Richard
Pretty or ugly: Pretty
Description: Although the game itself is not that great, I find the overall audio design of the game top notch. Things that stand out, in my opinion, are the amount of variety of sounds, the dynamic mix (the sounds don't clutter, even when there is a lot of sound, everything is pretty clear) and the coherence in sound design. What I like in the audio design is the role of the radio that the main character carries which communicates the activity elsewhere, making the environment larger and more alive than just what you see. Because of many dark environments, and the fact that you can't hold a weapon together with a flashlight, you need to rely on what you hear. What Doom III does well is it adds sound which meaning is unclear. Sometimes you hear something and you don't know whether or not it is part of the environment, another foe or simply a (non-diegetic) horror-sound effect.

Game Title: Battlefield 2
Your name: Ryan Jaeger
Pretty or ugly: Pretty
Description: Although I'm not a fan of BF2, it is however one of the most dynamic, realistic and pleasant games I've heard…

Guns and such are not overly compressed or limited compared to other games, but they are limited just enough for the "reality compensation aesthetic…" (a gun firing next to you is going to sound harsh and not like a snare drum with a perfect transient.) Explosions are well varied and never feel repetitive.

Vehicles sounds are top notch and the implementation is very smooth, especially with the buggy and jets.

The ambient loops are extremely well done, not sure if they are library material, custom or a mix… Either way they are mixed well, not repetitive and set the mood. Voice overs are top notch, no complaints in this department.

p.s. The video is not mine, It's the in engine intro to the game.

Game Title: Company of Heroes
Your name: student
Pretty or ugly: Pretty
Description: What I find amazing of CoH is that almost everything seems to have its own sound. You can hear GI's walk around, there body armour moving up and down. Weapons sound incredibly lifelike and you can even hear empy-shell sounds as well as the sound of the reloading of the guns. Tanks are detailed as well (squeeky).

The impacts of bullets and grenades sound different depending on the type of material they hit.

You can also hear the muffled sounds of battle takin place somewher else. The voice-acting of the units, screaming for help as well as for victory, is excellent and really make you get sucked into the game! Small funny detail is that during night missions your units whisper :).

Of course this all is not really new to games, but not many RTS-games have such a high level of audio, in my opinion. .

Game Title: Grim Fandango
Your name: student
Pretty or ugly: Pretty
Description: Personally I find Grim Fandango a very fine example of a game with good audio. The game uses many layers of sound (like the typing on a typewriter with background music and a talking character), which makes it feel very rich and complete. (Read More…)

Game Title: Zuma
Your name: student
Pretty or ugly: Pretty
Description: Good example of adaptive music in a game! The sound effects of the balls rolling and the shooting (which are really good too) have been disabled for this example. When the balls approach the hole, the music changes from more 'relaxed' to more 'dangerous'. The music doesn't get annoying and really suits this game because of the rhythm and instrumentation.

Game Title:
Your name: PrettyUglyGameSound
Pretty or ugly: Pretty & Ugly
Description:

Good Game Audio:

1: Super Mario World

- A lot of variety in the background music.

(Read More…)

Game Title: Half-Life 2
Your name: Richard
Good or bad: Good
Description: At the end of the battle, there is a layered (musical) sound that signifies the conclusion of the battle. Since Half-Life 2 hardly features a score, such an unexpected non-diegetic sound has extra impact (compared to let's say, the End Of Battle-jingle of Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time, which you hear over and over again). I also love the layering in the sound - very tense!

Game Title: Counter Strike
Your name: HKU student
Good or bad: good
Description: Weapon sounds very powerful and gives the feeling that you are handling a powerful weapon. Repetition sounds good. Dynamics are good!