JumpJeff84
Member
From what I understand, the Halo games have never let players adjust sound levels due to composer Marty O'Donnell's insistence that "he knew best".
He believed that he was uniquely qualified to mix the sound effects, game dialogue and soundtrack in a way that was the ONLY way. So regardless of whether you were playing the sound out of your TV speakers, on a surround sound setup or through a pair of headphones, he had it figured out. As a result, a common complaint about Halo games is "I can't hear what they're saying during the cut-scenes!"
And God forbid that you wanna turn the music off completely. No chance! Marty made this score and you'll listen to it, whether you want to or not.
Before Destiny was released, Bungie let Marty go.
I sat down to play Destiny last night and found that there are still no audio options. No way to adjust levels of anything, great, thanks! I'll just trust again that Bungie has figured out the perfect balance of sound effects, game dialogue, online voice chat and the score for my system. Sheesh.
I jumped into one of the starting areas, and there was no music. It was...nice. I enjoyed hearing the atmospheric sounds of the world, and I pulled out my sniper rifle and zoomed in on a distant target, took a shot- satisfying 'crack' of the bullet.
Then I took a few steps and the bombastic score kicked it, I dunno, kinda ruined it for me. I'm not saying the music is bad. I know people love Marty's composing, and that's cool. But I think the game works better without it. So why can't I turn it off, for fuck's sake? Bungie is the only developer, AAA or otherwise, that does this as far as I know. Why do they do it? Marty's gone, it's not his call anymore. What's the deal?
Any Bungie superfans out there know what the real story is on this? I'm honestly curious. Are basic options for audio such a bad thing?
He believed that he was uniquely qualified to mix the sound effects, game dialogue and soundtrack in a way that was the ONLY way. So regardless of whether you were playing the sound out of your TV speakers, on a surround sound setup or through a pair of headphones, he had it figured out. As a result, a common complaint about Halo games is "I can't hear what they're saying during the cut-scenes!"
And God forbid that you wanna turn the music off completely. No chance! Marty made this score and you'll listen to it, whether you want to or not.
Before Destiny was released, Bungie let Marty go.
I sat down to play Destiny last night and found that there are still no audio options. No way to adjust levels of anything, great, thanks! I'll just trust again that Bungie has figured out the perfect balance of sound effects, game dialogue, online voice chat and the score for my system. Sheesh.
I jumped into one of the starting areas, and there was no music. It was...nice. I enjoyed hearing the atmospheric sounds of the world, and I pulled out my sniper rifle and zoomed in on a distant target, took a shot- satisfying 'crack' of the bullet.
Then I took a few steps and the bombastic score kicked it, I dunno, kinda ruined it for me. I'm not saying the music is bad. I know people love Marty's composing, and that's cool. But I think the game works better without it. So why can't I turn it off, for fuck's sake? Bungie is the only developer, AAA or otherwise, that does this as far as I know. Why do they do it? Marty's gone, it's not his call anymore. What's the deal?
Any Bungie superfans out there know what the real story is on this? I'm honestly curious. Are basic options for audio such a bad thing?