Tyll Hertsens Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 I'm just not into computer games ... I guess I spend to much time at the keyboard and really want to go ride my motorcycles. Unfortunately, I'm starting to think I need to review gaming headphones and I don't want to be completely talking out of my ass ... so I've got to get into some game or other. The one game I did like was Microsoft Flight Simulator. Well ... it's not really a game, is it. And the audio was useless for testing. So, I'm looking for recommendations for a game that's got good audio for testing gaming headphones. I like flying around, but I'm thinking not too many flight games are that interesting audio-wise. Still, that would be my preference. I tend to think a first person shooter will likely have the audio experience I need for testing, and I could go their pretty easily. It should probably be a game that has cred with gamers so that when I talk about my experience gamers don't think I'm a douche for playing something lame. Mac or PC is fine. Not really interested in gnome kings and wizards ... I'm more the hard Sci-Fi techno geek. I thought Halo wasn't too bad. Didn't like all the time below ground, though. Doesn't really have to be a shooter, but I would think that's where all the gamers want good audio. Like I said though, I don't know shit about gaming, feel free to edumacate me.
Beefy Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 The most atmospheric game with respect to audio in my recent memory would have to be Bioshock. And a bloody good game at that.
manaox2 Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 Team fortress two is very popular now and free on steam. Its a shooter and you might be able to play it with others of your skill level. Best thing is that it is free to find out if it'll work for you and people will respect the game enough while hopefully not going to diss your review because of your game playing skill. If you didn't like being underground in Halo, you are going to hate being in an overrun city under the ocean in Bioshock.
deepak Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 IMO the sound quality in TF2 isn't that great and it takes a few hours to get used to the game or it is just not fun. I would recommend a single player FPS one that has really good sound/surround effects. Off the top of my head with a sci-fi theme is Crysis 1 or 2.
HDen Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 I think Half-Life 2 had good surround sound, maybe also try Mass Effect 2, Metro 2033. You can always go with the 'popular' ones, Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, Battlefield etc.
Beefy Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) Well FWIW, this review was posted today, and will probably serve as the best example of media aimed at the hardcore gamer. Picking one or two of the games from this review would be a safe bet... http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/07/01/audiotechnica_athad900_headphones_review But I'd still put my money on Bioshock Edited July 1, 2011 by Beefy
NightWoundsTime Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) Seconded on Bioshock, or either of the Dead Space games. Actually, wouldn't be a bad idea to just go for a Call of Duty game, Black Ops being the most recent. Can't think of any situation where it's more crucial to identify spatial cues than in the Nazi Zombie mode. Added benefit that it's drop-in style play, minimal experience required to really get into the thick of it. Or one more: Crysis 2. Cutting edge in every possible way, including the most incredible 3D if you've got a capable tv or monitor. If you just want one and you don't care so much about gameplay, might as well go for the prettiest techiest thing out there. Edited July 1, 2011 by NightWoundsTime
deepak Posted July 1, 2011 Report Posted July 1, 2011 I have to agree with Matt, Bioshock and Dead Space are both great choices for headphone sound evaluation. Dead Space is creepy as shit with the environmental audio cues and such
Tyll Hertsens Posted July 1, 2011 Author Report Posted July 1, 2011 Thanks guys! I'll start looking into them. More thoughts welcome.
zippy2001 Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 I love the Call of Duty series, just finished playing some Black Ops on the PS3. BioShock is a great game with a great story, love the atmosphere and creepy creatures. My son was creeped out by the monsters and didn't want me to play the game. The last good PC game that I played was Half Life. I mainly play on the consoles these days PS3 or XBOX. When I play, I tend to not wear a headset when playing. I couldn't hear someone calling me. And I don't play with others that I know, so I don't use the mic. I did go out and buy the Astro MixAmp and Turtle Beach Ear Force HPX, but my son uses it. I did hook up my Fischer Audio FA-003 headphones to the Astro MixAmp and it worked out pretty well. A really great platform to test gaming headsets with would be the Smyth Realiser A8 to get all the surround sound cues. I believe Edwood uses that.
strid3r Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 Check out Amnesia. Even better, turn the lights off while you are playing.
Fitz Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 (edited) It's a brilliant game, but Amnesia doesn't really have a lot of moments where positional audio is actually important. The sound is more for atmosphere than anything else, which isn't that good for testing how well headphones work for gaming in general. Edited July 2, 2011 by Fitz
Pars Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 For flight games, I used to fly Warbirds online... WWII combat simulator, pretty good. Not sure if it would be of much use for gamer headphone testing though. I haven't played it much, but Call of Duty always looked good. Warbirds
Grahame Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 (edited) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nub indeed, grandpa. Shall I get off your lawn, now? Edited July 2, 2011 by Grahame
Knuckledragger Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 I don't remember M&M III that well, but it's successor was the stuff of legend. IV: Clouds of Xeen and V: Darkside of Xeen combined into one game "World of Xeen." The CDRom edition really pushed the envelope of voice acting in games. Virtually all the major characters talked via audio tracks on the CD. It was pretty amazing stuff for the time. At the time I had a friend who had it running on a blazing fast 486, and I was jellin'. If we were in 1993, I'd seriously suggest that Tyll use it to test out gaming headphones. Here in 2011, I think the Bioshock suggestion is probably the best suggestion made here. Right now it's on sale on Steam for $13.39.
Fitz Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 Source. All the nubs play cod. 1.6, source is for scrubs.
HDen Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 I don't remember M&M III that well, but it's successor was the stuff of legend. IV: Clouds of Xeen and V: Darkside of Xeen combined into one game "World of Xeen." The CDRom edition really pushed the envelope of voice acting in games. Virtually all the major characters talked via audio tracks on the CD. It was pretty amazing stuff for the time. At the time I had a friend who had it running on a blazing fast 486, and I was jellin'. If we were in 1993, I'd seriously suggest that Tyll use it to test out gaming headphones. Here in 2011, I think the Bioshock suggestion is probably the best suggestion made here. Right now it's on sale on Steam for $13.39. Mother of God who are you?! Such great games from the olden days like Blade of Darkness, Gothic 2, etc. sadly sound isn't that good. Either way thank you, even though Bioshock isn't that great sound wise in my opinion, Assassin's Creed might be even better, Bioshock is very atmospheric, but not sure about sound evaluation, we could say the same about STALKER and others, FEAR2 is actually pretty good with sound too...
Knuckledragger Posted July 2, 2011 Report Posted July 2, 2011 I lived through the "golden era" of PC gaming, and have a trunk full of CDROMs to prove it. Sadly, I don't have copies of the M&M IV or V, but I see they are on Abandonia. Holy CRAP. The Steam daily sale just came live, and both Bioshocks are $5 each(!) If you lack them, pick them up NAO (whether or not your name is Tyll).
Salt Peanuts Posted July 3, 2011 Report Posted July 3, 2011 Holy CRAP. The Steam daily sale just came live, and both Bioshocks are $5 each(!) If you lack them, pick them up NAO (whether or not your name is Tyll). Added to the pile of games I will eventually get to, right after I finish playing the other games in the said pile.
tim22 Posted July 7, 2011 Report Posted July 7, 2011 Holy CRAP. The Steam daily sale just came live, and both Bioshocks are $5 each(!) If you lack them, pick them up NAO (whether or not your name is Tyll). Awesome thanks for the link, missed the bioshock deal but got batman arkham asylum for under $8. And still more days of sales.... Any others to watch for?
manaox2 Posted July 8, 2011 Report Posted July 8, 2011 Awesome thanks for the link, missed the bioshock deal but got batman arkham asylum for under $8. And still more days of sales.... Any others to watch for? Check the reddit frontpage. There will be a post there each day of the sale with a lot of advice on what is hot and what is not. I got audiosurf today for $1.49. Totally worth it!
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