“[It] gives you a real-time, total awareness of the battlefield,” explains Loic Couthier. Returnal’s Audio Lead outlines how the Tempest tech communicates essential info to the player. Be it dictating enemy positions (“it tells you what is above, below, behind you”) or where sounds are layered in the audio mix (“enemies you cannot see are given a higher priority than the ones you can”).
One aspect of 3D audio is the ability to emphasize depth in a 3D space through noise. Returnal’s a great showcase for it, with every weapon discharge sounding distinct, based as it is on your position and the 3D space around you.
Couthier details the technical science behind the wizardry. When you pull the R2 trigger on the DualSense controller, the game fires three dimensional sound rays from your weapon. When those rays hit an obstacle, be it a wall or other physical shape, a unique reflection sound is played back at you. As an example, blast off in a tunnel that opens up into a larger chamber, and you’ll hear that echo continue to cascade around that larger space. Those positional sounds are generated in real time, all in the split second it takes you to fire. It’s a lot of work, and all because of 3D audio. “It would not be worth the effort without it,” he concludes.
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