Jiggle your small change
The sonics are worth a mention as they obviously play a key part in the atmosphere of the game. The music is a dark, urban style techno track for the main, which you will need to adjust down in the options to balance out against the rest of the sounds in the game otherwise you’ll find yourself missing important sound cues that could mean the difference between a quick couple of kills or being ambushed by a dozen bad guys.
Click for larger imageWeapon sounds are a bit of a mixed bag with some weapons sounding quite weak while others sound too strong. A good example is the pistol versus the assault rifle. When you first loose off a volley with the pistol it’s lets off a deeply satisfying ‘boom’ which wouldn’t be out of place with a shotgun. But the assault rifle just lacks that deep resonance you’d expect to hear and, like Doom 3’s machine gun, sounds more like a sewing machine on steroids. Likewise, explosions lack that rumbling ‘boom’ you’d expect, be they barrels, grenades or rockets.
Click for larger imageThis lack of ‘oomph’ where you’d expect to hear it is further highlighted by the ambient sounds of the game which, with their distant rumbles of explosions and far off chattering of weapons fire, makes your own guns seem a bit weedy. One nice touch is the sound of your own breathing, which becomes harsher and faster the more you run about. Hearing your character panting as they get out of breath adds a nice touch to the realism of the game itself and at some points adds to the tension, especially if you’re low on ammo or armour and have no choice but to fight.
Click for larger imageThe dialogue from characters in game is fine, with the majority of the voice acting being passable but by no means hugely convincing. The attempts at accents to highlight the East/West sides of the conflict aren’t the best idea as they’re so stereotyped they make you laugh. Being taunted by an opposing Elite soldier who wouldn’t be out of place as Uri in the Smirnoff Ice adverts kind of takes the edge of the taunting, if you see what I mean. Another problem is the lip-synching and subtitles, both of which leave something to be desired. The lip synching is pretty much off through-out and highlighted even more by the dependence on in-game dialogue to progress.
Click for larger imageThe subtitles for the in-game cutscenes feature some strange uses of the English language which are highlighted even more so by the mission objectives. Early on in the tutorial you’ll see an example of this when you are told to ‘Go see the officer back!’, which is a little disconcerting… I know that this sounds petty, but with a game as immersive as Bet On Soldier could be, this is distracting and smacks a little of a lack of playtesting…