News:  December 4-10, 2000

Sunday, December 10, 2000

Utopia Live! Christmas Offer - Mark @ 22:45 EST

Roel de Wit of Utopia Sound Division dropped us a line to let us know that all orders of the Utopia Live! sound font placed by January 10 2001 will get Utopia Live! for a special Christmas price of $15. That's $5 less than normal for which you will receive a download account or a CD (all shipping and packaging costs are included). You can check out my impressions of Utopia Live in the review we did a while back.

Alice Reviews - Mark @ 09:21 EST

Two new Alice reviews. First up is one from Futurelooks.com. This is a very positive review and as with every other review I have seen those positive comments emphasize the sound quality. Here's a small piece from their sound section:

All aspects of the sound quality are exceptional.
[snip]
Last but not least, the general sound effects of the game. It isn’t enough to have a warped landscape for Alice to traipse through; there must be equally ominous soundscape. In Alice this soundscape is not lacking. From the swish of Alice’s pretty, pretty blade, to the chittering, whispering background noises in the forest area, the game is not lacking in setting the mood.

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance Reviews - Mark @ 09:11 EST

A couple of new reviews for the DS3D with EAX supporting Mechwarrior 4. First up is one from Maximum3D. Overall a very positive review where they though that sound was not quite as good as it could be (but still good). Here's a snip:

The sound is probably the weakest part of the game. It's not that it is really terrible, it just isn't as overwhelming as the rest of the game. The visuals are great, but then you hear the sound, and some of the illusion of reality fades away. FASA did throw in some nice ambient sounds, like the crunching of snow on the arctic levels. Mechanical noises inside the Mech are also done well, the cockpit is filled with the whining of servos and clanking of metal gears. The area that I found weak was the weaponry. I would have preferred to not only hear the Gauss cannon, but feel the bass rattle my chair.

The Ten Wackiest Music Games of All Time - Mark @ 08:56 EST

C/Net Gamecenter has posted an article called The Ten Wackiest Music Games of All Time. Here's a snip from their intro to set the stage:

Long live the interactive musical! Slowly but surely, the industry is taking baby steps into an unexplored universe of rhythm-based gameplay, and gamers are along for the ride. Ever since Parappa rapped his way onto the sales charts back in 1997, we've been subject to a trickle of music games from daring publishers. Now it's our turn to single out some of the more "note" worthy (groan) titles that have made us groove to the beat, and we've picked out ten games that have helped define the ever-expanding musical genre. While some of them may not be the most sterling examples of gameplay--you'll know 'em when you see 'em--the majority belongs in any hard-core gamer's collection. Some of the games you'll see listed are Japanese imports that are unavailable via traditional American retail channels. Publishing games of this caliber is a risky maneuver in the good ol' U.S. of A., and some folks find that the risk is far too great to justify the price of publishing. We can only suggest that you vote with your dollars--or modify your hardware to play foreign games--and get them through your local import store. To keep things lively, we've also included a fake game, but be warned: picking it out of this wacky batch may not be an easy task.

ABIT SP50 Dolby Digital Surround System Reviewed - Mark @ 08:45 EST

Overclockers Online has posted an overall positive review of Abit's S50 Home Theater system. We are just putting the finishing touches on the text for our own review so will offer some hands on comments. First, the review decribes the AU10 sound card as having support for "Dolby Surround 5.1 signal". In fact the card has 6 channel analog outputs and uses the bundled Win2000 2000 for Dolby Digital decoding. A couple comments on performance. I have not had a crackling problem with playback at high volumes and when it comes to their comment about resonance I agree that it can be an issue with the center channel at times. EAX support is currently limited to 1.0 but Abit has indicated that Fortemedia is looking into support for 2.0. There are some other comments I could make on performance but will hold them for our own detailed and overall positive review of the system.
News Source: Blue's News

Saturday, December 09, 2000

Music Maker eBlitz Edition From Best Buy - Mark @ 12:17 EST

If you are in the US and have access to a Best Buy store you may be interested in a low cost (US$99) MP3 player/software bundle called Music Maker eBlitz Edition. According to the announcement, enables individuals to create, publish and deliver compelling music and video content. The program features a 16-track arranger with a content library of royalty-free music and video loops in a variety of styles and genres. The eBlitz player Shuttle has direct USB connections, 8MB expandable to 72 MB, a digital EQ with 5 presents and comes with headphones. For quite a few more details you can check out the full press release.

Soundcard Central Upgrade - Mark @ 12:11 EST

James from Soundcard Central asked us to pass on the news that they have upgraded their server. For more info you can check out their article on the upgrade.

Mechwarrior 4 Review - Mark @ 11:00 EST

Thresh's Firing Squad has posted a review of the DS3D with EAX Mechwarrior 4. They thought that the game is the best robot game ever and gave it their Editor's Choice award. While they make no mention of 3D sound or EAX they did have a fair bit to say on sound and sound track. Here is a snip on sound effects:

The sound effects do a great job of illustrating the chaotic combat between 'Mechs. The sounds of missile locks, missile warnings, heat warnings, exploding rockets, autocannon assaults and lasers cutting through the air are all beautifully done. Even the stomping of an Atlas gets drowned out under the deluge of battle sounds. You can almost hear your 'Mech squeal in protest as you turn your torso back after a salvo of LRMs knock you senseless. Large explosions - like 'Mechs and certain buildings - could certainly use a bit of work. The large explosion effects just aren't convincing enough.

MechWarrior 4 demo - Mikael @ 05:06 EST

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance weaves heart-pounding BattleMech action with the continuing drama and unfolding storyline of the perpetual BattleTech universe, now in its 16th year. Developed by the creators of the BattleTech Universe and original MechWarrior game, MW4: Vengeance portrays the players' epic struggles to reclaim their birthright as they command an awesomely armed 40-foot tall, 80-ton, 90-mile per hour war machine across the remote battlefields of a hostile world.

This limited demo allows the player to use the MechLab on four different Mech types, and engage in an Instant Action wave battles. The full game supports DS3D with EAX. You can download the 69MB demo from 3dfiles

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Fallen - Mikael @ 05:04 EST

A updated demo of Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Fallen has been released. In a recent interview the audio director said that the game uses the Miles Sound System for A3D and DS3D with EAX support and uses 16 3D sound streams.

Guillemot Maxi Sound MUSE review - Mikael @ 05:01 EST

MR PC Pro has posted a review of Guillemot $30 Maxi Sound MUSE and found it to be pretty good for the price.
News Source: Blue's News

Microsoft Sidewinder Game Voice review - Mikael @ 04:57 EST

PCShooter has posted a fairly detailed review of the Microsoft Sidewinder Game Voice, a hardware voice communication, voice command system. They found it to work really well and gave it an overall score of 8.21.
News Source: Blue's News

Friday, December 08, 2000

Interview: Crimson Order and MageLords - Mark @ 21:34 EST

GA-Strategy has posted an in-depth interview with Kinesoft CEO Peter Sills, in which he answers questions about the company and their first two titles, Crimson Order and MageLords. Crimson Order is described as an action oriented tactical combat game. MageLords is described as a game of epic conquest in a fantasy world. The player takes the persona of a MageLord, a powerful wizard, trying to expand his or her empire from a small city-state to encompass an entire continent. Here's a snip on MageLords from this very interesting interview:

Q: What advanced hardware features does the game support?

A: MageLords takes advantage of almost all the hardware that the user can throw at it. Our battles consist of hundreds of fully rendered/animated figures fighting it out in real-time on the battlefield. There is bump-mapping, etc., as we fully render the world of MageLords. There is 3-D positional audio that will take you into the battle itself and provide clues to what is going on all around you.

Remember, this is all our own proprietary technology here. We have worked very closely with all of the hardware manufacturers to ensure that we will be fully taking advantage of their latest and greatest technologies when MageLords ships.

Intel to release handheld digital-audio player - Mark @ 21:07 EST

C/Net is reporting that Intel will unveil its digital-audio player, and likely other new products, at the Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas, according to sources close to the company. The player is part of Intel's connected products division, which markets digital cameras, wireless keyboards, toys and other consumer products. For more detail you can check out the full article.

Phillips Acoustic Edge Preview - Mark @ 13:52 EST

Thresh's Firing Squad has posted a preview of the Phillips Acoustic Edge sound card. Overall a very positive preview of this new sound card. A couple of minor comments not directly related to their preview of the card. They indicate that most multimedia 5.1 speaker systems on the market today use an internal crossover to the subwoofer. If that statement is meant to include 5.1 ready systems that can be used with the 5.1 analog outputs of the Acoustic Edge then the opposite is actually true. Typically, 5.1 ready multimedia speaker systems do not have their own crossover network and depend on the connecting device for bass management. There are not a lot of 5.1 ready multimedia speaker systems on the market but the two main ones in this category are the Creative DTT2200 and MidiLand S4-7100. The speaker systems that make up the S4 MidiLand 8200 and Abit SP50 also work in this manner. The VideoLogic DigiTheatre LC is the only exception that I am aware of, with a crossover from the front left and right inputs to the subwoofer. Getting to the card itself - When it comes to their comments on 5.1 positioning for DVD I suspect that based on our own testing what they have inadvertently compared is different versions of the software DVD players. When we compared the identical software DVD players we have found no difference in positioning quality (but there can be differences in sound quality) between the various 5.1 cards. On the other hand there is a big improvement in quality when comparing the latest versions of WinDVD or PowerDVD to the prior versions. The last bit I will mention is the headphone right bias issue mentioned in the preview is a bug that has been eliminated from newer driver builds. Thanks to Collin "Boston" Schaap for the pointer.

Sacrifice review - Mikael @ 06:14 EST

Avault has posted a very postive review of Sacrifice giving it a score of 4 or more in every category with sound effects getting 4.5 and music 4:

Sound FX: The twanging of bows and crackling of mystical energies all sound skillfully conceived and implemented. EAX support is native and provides a good service in terms of letting you know via audio cues when an enemy battle group is approaching, and from what direction. The voice acting in Sacrifice is on par with the rest of the sound effects, executed for the most part with skill and emotion. There are exceptions to this, of course, with several of the wizard models; and the voice of James the Earth God needs a lot more emotion, as it doesn't sound like he really cares about much of anything during his speeches. Most of your game time will be spent listening to the words used behind the casting of each spell. The designers drew from a long list of mystical words -- including klatu, barrata, and nictu -- when creating the sounds behind the spell engine, and the result is an excellent, if random, blend of spoken words that would seem to belong in a Book of Shadows.

Musical Score: The music in Sacrifice is dark overall, no doubt with the intention of creating an ominous mood. There are points such as battles where more animated phrases play, but for the most part the music is very much in the background and difficult to notice. When you do notice the music, it will serve to intensify the feeling of urgency during a battle or dread just before an ambush. The music takes a back seat to the sound effects which is definitely a bonus since the quality of the sound effects is high enough to be of great importance in completing the excellent presentation of the game.

Gunman Chronicles reviews - Mikael @ 06:10 EST

A couple new Gun Chronicles reviews have appeared, both mixed and the sound part was not the strong part. First up this short bit from ActionTrip:

Sound effects are rather authentic, but they still suffer from some distortion and awkward echoes present ever since Half Life came out in '98.

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance review - Mikael @ 06:02 EST

3dfxgamers has posted a short but very positive review of MechWarrior 4 saying it's a great game. Here's the sound bit:

Sound is great. I’m a big fan of the machine gun, even though it’s useless. Always have been, always will. Everything you expect is there; missile launches, the sound of 80 ton footsteps, cool explosions. At scripted points during missions, Microsoft saw fit to throw in some funky-fresh hip-hop beats so you can lay the smack-down on enemy Mechs in style

Motocross Mania Review - Mikael @ 05:59 EST

Gamecenter has posted a short and mixed review of MotCross Mania but it ends on a positive note saying it offers a very enjoyable ride. Here's the limited audio coverage:

There are also nice sound effects, with satisfyingly meaty engine noises, particularly where the 250-cc bikes are concerned

Swat 3 Elite Edition Reviews - Mikael @ 05:50 EST

Avault has posted a very positive review of Swat 3 with every category getting at least 4 out of 5 stars and with both music and sound effects getting 4.5 stars:

Sound FX: The fantastic sound of SWAT 3 carries over to the add on. The new weapons, as well as some old guns, seem to have new sound effects, all of which are as realistic as the ones in the original. Atmospheric sound in the new levels, including muffled rap music, ringing phones, and various alarms, puts players solidly in the shoes of an LAPD officer. The evocative voice acting, both in briefings and in-game, is as good as ever, but the new missions contain little new dialogue.

Musical Score: As with the sound, the excellent musical score from SWAT 3 is also present in Elite Edition. Though it lacks the sweeping cinematic themes of Rogue Spear, the in-game music sets the mood almost perfectly. Instead of a digital track playing throughout the level, as is the case in many recent releases, the music is event-based, with several triggered shifts in each level. I was particularly fond of a techno track in the LA Subway that was reminiscent of a song heard during the massive gun battle in The Matrix.

Rune reviews - Mikael @ 03:20 EST

A couple new Rune reviews have popped up. Both think it's a good but not amazing game. Here's the sound coverage in each:

EscMag:

Sound in the game is neither spectacular nor painful. The torturous screams in the Hel levels are a nice touch, but the game lacks the ambiance in sound of a lot of games out today, and the music adds a little tension during the few times it is present. The voice acting is fair, though it seems like it’s the same two or three voices throughout the entire game recycled over and over.

Dirt Track Racing -- Sprint Cars review - Mikael @ 03:16 EST

PulsarGaming has posted a fairly negative review of Dirt Track Racing -- Sprint Cars which they think only spring cars fanatics should buy. Most other reviews have been more positive while sound got both good and bad reviews. Here's the sound bit:

The sound effects are pleasantly done, and the groans of sprint cars are very convincing, especially when a doppler effect has taken place. There is no music however, so the strained sounds of cars grows increasingly annoying after some time, if the announcer's voice does not give you a mental breakdown first.

Evolva - Mikael @ 03:11 EST

PlayDevil has posted a short review of the DS3D with EAX supporting Evolva which they think offer great graphics and sound effects but gameplay is more average. Here's the sound bit:

Same story with the sound effects and music in Evolva. They are 'kick-ass'.
Perfect sound, the background noises are very realistic and the soundtrack is addicting. The games even supports the latest sound engines like EAX2.

Blair Witch Volume 3 review - Mikael @ 03:02 EST

GamesDomain has posted a mixed review of Blair Witch Volume 3 with the following interesting bit on the sound:

I have heard reports of (and personally experienced) some performance problems, particularly with the sound. Even on a 500 MHz processor with 128 MB of RAM (I realize this is now close to obsolescence even though it was state of the art a short time ago, but I would venture a guess that a majority of folks have the same specs or less), I initially experienced extremely slow, totally unacceptable performance. The frame rate chugged along frustratingly at a snail's pace. I'm talking slide show, here. Meanwhile, the audio blurted out jerky, clipped, and practically undecipherable semi-syllables that skipped repeatedly in what seemed to be an eternal audio loop (the audio problem is a recognized problem listed in the readme file). I did a little investigation and discovered that the default 3D acceleration setting is "off." The good news is that the problems cleared right up once I went into the configuration and switched it to "on." I am still more than a little concerned, however, for anyone without a 3D accelerator card (you know who you are… go get one already).

Alice reviews - Mikael @ 02:58 EST

Plenty of Alice reviews the last couple days all very positive including the aural aspects of it, here's the audio coverage from 3 of them:

VideoGamerGuy:

One of the many things that you'll always remember about this title is the audio experience. Without great sound, an enviornment such as the one in Alice just wouldn't work quite as well. The voice-overs are one thing that help carry this game and they are very well done. I don't think the Cheshire Cat would be quite the same without a menacing voice to back up his creepy smile. And the same goes for every other character you will come across, the voices just fit perfectly. Personally one thing I'll always remember, apart from the visuals, is the music. Never before have I heard music that fit so well with a games environment. You won't hear upbeat tunes but musical scores that are even more demented than the game itself. What makes it so great is that it's unexpected just like everything in Alice. The music is just so well done for the whole game environment that it just has to be heard. Rogue Entertainment certainly wanted to immerse the player in their dark Wonderland and they have succeeded in all areas.

Sharp MD-SR60 (MiniDisc recorder) review - Mikael @ 02:01 EST

CNET has posted a short but positive review of Sharp's $200 portable MiniDisc player/recorder, MD-SR60. It features a remotecontrol on the headphone wire, rechargeable batteries and 10-second antiskip memory.

Quake III: Team Arena Gold - Mikael @ 01:48 EST

id Software's Robert A. Duffy (programmer) and Todd Hollenshead (CEO) both announced that Quake III: Team Arena has now gone gold. Todd Hollenstead also added that we should see it in shops as early as the 15th while Robert A. Duffy said we should see a new Q3 point release (1.27) released a day or two before Team Arena hits shelves. Hopefully Quake III: Team Arena and the new point release offers better working A3D but probably more likely they removed than improved it.

New GameVoice released - Mikael @ 01:41 EST

Microsoft has released version 1.1 beta of their Sidewinder GameVoice software. This release offers Enhanced performance with most sound cards (especially the Aureal Vortex sound card and chipsets), Compatibility with ICQ 2000b, Push-to-talk functionality for your control pad, Improved network connectivity for your chats, Most recently viewed list in the Find a chat window and Microphone sensitivity control from within the Sound Hardware Test Wizard.
News Source: Blue's News

New CMI-8738 WDM drivers - Mikael @ 01:32 EST

C-Media has released new WDM drivers for its CMI-8738 chip which is what Guillemot's MaxiSound Muse card uses.

SoundGood Mp3 Player for HandSpring Visor review - Mikael @ 01:28 EST

SysReview has posted a review of the $269 SoundGood MP3 Player for HandSpring's Visor. Despite complaints of poor buttons, not that great earbuds, lack of features format and expandability they still think it's pretty good and give it a score of 8 out of 10.

News Source: Anandtech

Thursday, December 07, 2000

AOpen DVD-1640 Pro review - Mikael @ 18:23 EST

ExamPC has posted a short review of AOpen DVD-1640 Pro which ships with WinDVD 2000. The review that includes a couple CD-ROM tests is very positive.
News Source: Blue's News

Diablo II MP3 of the Week - Mikael @ 18:20 EST

Blizzard has posted the Diablo II MP3 of the week.
News Source: Blue's News

Philips Acoustic Edge PSC 706 Review - Mikael @ 17:51 EST

Neoseeker has posted a very detailed review of Philips new 5.1 soundcard, the Acoustic Edge. The focus of the review is on the QMSS feature which Neoseeker found to work so well that he thinks the Acoustic Edge is the best soundcard right now. I agree that QMSS is a nice feature but would add that I think the Live 5.1 got better EAX support and that the Santa Cruz got better 3D sound with 2-speakers and headphones.

Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Review - Mikael @ 17:35 EST

FiringSquad has posted a detailed and positive review of Klipsch new $200 2.1 system, the ProMedia 2.1. I haven't heard the system but based on what Mark has said I doubt it can match VideoLogic's more expensive Sirocco (the 2.1 system that's not available in US) which this review indicates. Thanks to Kevin Liu for the pointer.

Cambridge SoundWorks FPS 1500 review - Mikael @ 16:59 EST

Avault has posted a review of Cambridge SoundWorks $80 4.1 system, the FPS 1500. Avault found them to perform quite well but still clearly behind the just $20 more expensive FPS1800 so they suggest you buy the FPS1800 instead.

Diamond Monster MX300 review - Mikael @ 03:00 EST

RoloTech has posted a positive review of Diamond's MX300. Unlike this reviewer I think future driver support is something you should be worried about. What's included in the OS is just basic drivers and the latest WDM drivers is not exactly perfect. The VXD drivers are better but only EAX 1.0 and even that is lacking, that is doesn't work well with several games. I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy a Vortex2 soundcard as their only soundcard.
News Source: Anandtech

Comparison: Pine Technology D'music SM-200C and Compro MPCD-455 MP3 CD players - Mikael @ 02:54 EST

DansData has posted a comparison of The Pine Technology D'music SM-200C and Compro's MPCD-455. Both are portable CD players that can play MP3s from the CD.

Wednesday, December 06, 2000

Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1 Review - Mikael @ 14:26 EST

TechExtreme has posted a detailed and very positive review of Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1. Maybe of special interest is that they found it to work very well in Windows 2000 including AC3 pass-thru using PowerDVD 2.55. I haven't tried PowerDVD 2.55 yet and just like TechExtreme I have been unable to get PowerDVD 3.0 to run in Windows 2000 (It worked before I installed Live 5.1 btw). If you managed to get PowerDVD 3.0 to run with the Live 5.1 installed in Windows 2000 I would be interested to know if you managed to get AC3 pass-thru to work.

DigiTheatre DTS reviews - Mikael @ 12:55 EST

GamersDepot has posted a review of VideoLogic's DigiTheatre DTS system. They found it to perform well and gave it a perfect score of 6 drips. With already 4 drips being a must have they obviously loved this system. One odd bit in this review is that they claim you can use it as a 4.1 system for gaming if you use a soundcard with SPDIF output. That's not really correct. The best you can do is to select Live!Surround as output option which is basically converting the 4-speaker output to Dolby Prologic, that is you get a center channel and mono rear channels. This will work with both the analog and digital outputs of the Live.

PlanetHardware's has also posted a review of the DigiTheatre DTS system. Just like Gamersdepot they found it to be an excellent system for music, games and movies.

For more about DigiTheatre DTS you can check out my review.
News Source: Blue's News

The FrontX Multimedia Ports review - Mikael @ 12:38 EST

EXHardware has posted a review with plenty of pictures of the FrontX Multimedia Ports, a system to relocate your sound card inputs such as gameport, microphone and line-in to the front of the PC. As other reviews they found it to be well designed.

MaxiSound MUSE review - Mikael @ 01:53 EST

3DAI has posted a short and mixed review of Guillemot's $30 MaxiSound MUSE.

Nascar 4 demo and review - Mikael @ 01:50 EST

Whether it's the arcade mode, the simulation mode, or the multiplayer mode, NASCAR Racing 4 has something to offer every kind of racing fan. If you're not interested in realistic driving conditions and only prefer worrying about placing first, then the arcade mode is a perfect opportunity to test your racing skills. If you're a gearhead who likes to customize different parts of the car and you prefer a more realistic experience overall, then the simulation mode is for you. The variety of modes, the revamped graphics and physics engine, and the addition of the Daytona license all point to NASCAR Racing 4 taking the checkered flag when it's released early next year. You can download the demo from 3dfiles.

For more about the demo you can check out SimHQ's demo review where they mention it has an option for 3D sound.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen patch - Mikael @ 01:46 EST

A new patch for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen has been released. You can find more details at 3dfiles.

Deus Ex patch - Mikael @ 01:28 EST

A new (1.009f) patch for Deus-Ex has been released. You can find links and list of fixes at 3dfiles.

Tuesday, December 05, 2000

Alice demo reviews - Mikael @ 15:24 EST

Plenty of new reviews of the recently released Alice demo. So far all of them very positive, here's the audio coverage from 4 of them:
Intelligamer:

Actually, all the voices, as well as the music, are professional and very well done. The music sets a great mood with what sounds, on the surface, like something you may have heard in a childhood nursery rhyme. However, it also has an undertone of impending evil and doom. A lot of games, I just turn the annoying music off.

4x4 Evolution reviews - Mikael @ 14:55 EST

Hardnews has posted a review of 4x4 Evolutions. It's not a negative review but the reviewer doesn't think anything stands out so suggest you wait until it hits the bargain bin. When it comes to sound it has the following interesting bit:

What can I say? It's a racing game, so I'm really not concerned about sound nearly as much as I would be in an FPS game... it's not like I'm going to die if I can't hear exactly how much mud is being churned up by my lower-right tire. I don't really play racing games all that much, so I don't have a basis for comparison. The music's not too bad, although I found the engine noises to be a bit muted.. might've just been the radioactive garden gnomes sitting on my speakers though. Nothing really stood out.. they didn't even have an annoying-as-hell announcer person to laugh at me for being in last place all the time! Bah.

Gunman Chronicles reviews - Mikael @ 14:33 EST

Gunman Chronicles continues to get rather mixed reviews. First up a short one at GamePro who thinks it's fun but nothing amazing. When it comes to sound effects they offered the following:

The audio backing the visuals has good fidelity with deep bass and solid mid tones, and overall the sound has a very dense feel to it. All is not well in the Gunman Chronicles however, there were quite a few times when the game would stutter and hang for a few seconds before resuming normally. A couple of unexpected crashes (which weren't repeatable) and two minor clipping problems are the only dings against the production quality.

Metal Gear Solid review - Mikael @ 14:25 EST

PlayNow has posted a short but positive review of the 3D sound supporting Metal Gear Solid where they foound the music and sound effects to be the best aspect of the game:

Suspense and small sounds which could give away your mission and end your life are what this game is all about – brilliant!/em>

Soldier of Fortune review - Mikael @ 14:22 EST

Gaming Orgy has posted a detailed review of Soldier of Fortune which he offers perfect gameplay with pretty good visuals and aurals, here's a couple snips from the sound coverage:

For this game, I HIGHLY recommend a surround sound system. It supports EAX, so you get the advantage of knowing almost exactly where the enemies are, because you can hear the sound coming from whichever direction *gasp*.
[snip]
The guns sound good to me. I'm not really a huge gun buff or anything, but the rate of fire was... adequate. I felt that some of the guns would fire faster in actuality, but it didn't really matter once somebody turned realistic damage on. Again, the sound overall was pretty good, the soundtrack was nothing particularily special, after a while, I turned it off and was listening to James Bond soundtracks and the original composed music for The Saint (which, IMHO, actually added to the feel of the game.) Here's a tip, if you're lanning without headphones and have nice speakers, play David Bowie music (from the early glamrock days until his "Changes" album). It can really throw other gamers for a loop.

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