Music and new talent
Now I’ve banged on about every facet of the game except the sound, so that had to come next but trust me, it’s place just above the conclusion is no reflection of its stature. It has to be said that the in-game sound effects are pretty much as we’ve come to expect from racing games. Engines sound as you’d expect them to with the racing cars’ waspy rasp through to the 4x4’s throaty rumble… tyres squeal, cars make a metallic thunk as they land… all as it should be.
Am I making that sound like nothing special? I suppose so, because it is pretty much standard stuff now and anything less would’ve been worth a mention. It is noticeable that when you’re in a massed raced, the volume goes up considerably and does sound like there’s loads of cars around you and belting through a tunnel the environmental effects kick in nicely, but that’s all in a day’s work for a soundcard now, isn’t it?
What is worth a mention is the music, which, to be honest, is something else entirely. You can forget your irritating ditty from a bored session group. Forget the annoyingly hard to get out of your head tinkling tune thrashed out on a 16 key Bontempi. Forget the pseudo-mid Atlantic rock or corporate take on hip hop… DJ have taken a route altogether.
Digital Jesters and Nadeo have teamed up with the Academy of Contemporary Music to bring some of the finest tunes to a game since I played Quake with an Oasis CD in the drive. This really is good stuff with a whole range of tunes and styles, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the artists featured here don’t break big really soon. I’ve found myself reloading levels just to get the game playing a particular track I like. You’ve got everything here from contemporary rocking guitar tunes to Kraftwerk-like synthesised beats to pure dance track heaven. Classic stuff and something I’ve not enjoyed so much since GTA:Vice City’s inspired ‘radio station’ soundtracks.
