Bioshock – Creepy showcase for your home theater
May 27th, 2008 by Mike K
I finally finished Bioshock for the xbox 360 this weekend. Now that I’m a dad I have much less time for video games and this one took me quite a bit longer than my kid-free friends to get through.
The game itself is a multi award-winning masterpiece, and played on an 80-inch HD screen with 5.1 surround sound it is a truly thrilling experience.
While much can be said about playing video games on a huge high definition screen what I will really remember was the incredible soundtrack and atmosphere created by the ambient sounds of Rapture. The decaying underwater city leaks, creaks, and is inhabited by all sorts of nasty creatures that don’t take kindly to strangers.
One of my favorite parts of gaming with a 5.1 surround setup is that you can actually play the game off of what you hear. When a bad guy comes crawling up behind you and off to the left you can turn to face him accurately based on sound alone. Something is flying at you from the right? You can hear it coming and deal with it long before it’s able to get a shot off.
I can’t recommend a proper sound setup for gaming enough. Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 feature games that are mixed specifically for surround sound and many hours go into making sure things sound just right.
There may not currently be such a thing as in home Virtual Reality but a properly calibrated 5.1 system can trick your brain into thinking there is. If you’re like me and want to experience the full creative force intended by the developers you would do well to make sure you’re hearing all that’s there.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I’m getting my new surround system this week. I may need to replay this for the improved sound experience!
Would you kindly?
Would you kindly?
March 24th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Well said, finally a good report on this stuff