There used to be an embeded media player here, but it doesn't work anymore. We blame the Tumbeasts.
2011 was a pretty damn good year. We continued our loyal pledge to gaming and the gods served us well. Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Red Orchestra, Jamestown, the list goes on. And not only does it include AAA titles but sleepers and indie hits as well. The gaming gods were indeed good to us. Battlefield 3 didn’t just take the cake for our Best Sound category, it blew it up and made you think a war was actually going down.
The video above is a comparison of the rival military shooters that released in late 2011. You’ll only have to watch up until the RPG. The others I would understand how an ear could chalk the difference up to environment or just blatant abused love for the other game. But the RPG, that’s the difference between a lion and a cub. If you will, much like the scene from The Lion King when Simba is trying to use his “roar” to fend off the hyenas, but in the end it is Mufasa’s roar that makes the point.
The top comment on the comparison video pretty much says it all: “BF3: POW POW POW. MW3: pew pew pew.” Now there are some shooters that you can suspend belief for, but with everything need to be more realistic, 3D, life-like, but what good is seeing something real if it sounds like playtime? DICE took on the challenge of recording real world environments, multiple weapons and destruction and implementing successfully into Battlefield 3. Put on your grown up pants, it’s time to get serious.
DICE wanted to improve the quality of sound from Bad Company 2 moving forward to Battlefield 3. The audio director, Stefan Strandberg, commented that the soundscape from Bad Company 2 was a bit more exaggerated, but when it was time for the next installment it was time to improve and “paint a much more accurate portrait.” In the video below, Game Informer shows a behind the scenes with DICE. This is a glimpse into how they bring the battlefield to you, and DICE, we thank you.
