Returnal was one of the first PlayStation 5 games to be announced alongside Sony's next-generation console, even though it won't be a part of the launch line-up. A third-person shooter with rogue-like elements, Returnal is being developed by Finnish studio Housemarque, historically known for its shoot'em up games (Resogun, Nex Machina, Matterfall just to name a few) before they decided that they had to switch from doing arcade titles to more mainstream genres.
As part of a larger interview on the PS5 appeared in the Washington Post, Game Director Harry Krueger described the most exciting part of the console's Tempest 3D AudioTech as featured in Returnal.
I think the moment that really stands out to me is a very simple one, the drops of rain falling on your head. It sounds weird and maybe too simplistic, but just standing still in the beginning sequence you can focus in on the very nuanced sounds of flames dancing by the wreckage of your ship while a slight drizzle falls from the tree canopy above.
Krueger then went on to talk about how the new audio capabilities enabled by the PS5 hardware have actually changed the studio's development approach for audio in Returnal.
The audio side is now more of a full team blending a wide range of expertise, including level and enemy design. Each sound source is recorded in relation to how a real person would hear the sound actually coming from each direction. … It’s similar to the way we have always done things, but now we simply record things many times from many directions, apply more nuanced layers, and then of course spend even more time tweaking things in the final product.
Returnal, a PlayStation 5 exclusive, doesn't have a release date yet, but we'll let you know when it does.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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