Ark Riders must be nominated for at least this GOTY category

The distant thunk thunk thunk of an assailant's pick hacking into the sparking husk of a distant arc, or the strangled “No!” When you kick a fellow player off the side of a spaceport tower. As a snitcher summons a horde of buzzing wasps, or the Ark Probe half-crashes into otherworldly garbled marshes. Below are the steps of the dreaded attacker. They know you're there. And you do too. But who breaks first? Arc Raiders is a master class in sound design.

Every year there's some sort of discourse surrounding The Game Awards, and as our industry's biggest and most decadent event, I'm always caught up in it. This year has been a particularly bitter pill to swallow, as Arc Raiders has been completely snubbed from almost every category, including best audio design, which it might well deserve.

Arc Raiders - A bastion, fighting a giant four-legged robot.

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An eerie soundscape

Arc Raiders A raider outside the loading bay door.

Before I start comparing Arc Raiders to its must-have competitors (Clair Obscur, Battlefield 6, Ghost Of Yotei, etc.), I should appreciate the game's sound design a bit more.

From the moment you first step up into a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by roaming Arks, the game draws you in with a deep, foreboding silence. It's you, your character, and 30 minutes of endless possibilities: death and glory, loot pools, or a hopeless ending. Each round feels like its own story, and that deep silence at the start of a round, pierced only by rain, wind, or the distant clanking of a big machine, is infinitely immersive.

Much of Arc Raiders' best sound design comes from Arcs. Whether it's the aforementioned hissing snitch, or a terrifying leaper ship in the air, or a rocketeer's gut-wrenching whirr that's about to tear you to pieces, arcs become existentially more terrifying for the terrifying sounds they make. This is further enhanced by the fact that if you can hear it, so can everyone else. Arc Raiders is essentially a stealth game. Noise is your enemy.

Although Arcs makes some of the best sounds I've heard in recent games, the sound of weapons in Arc Raiders, or the sound of an opponent's shield cracking, or even the clever use of proximity chat should not be overlooked. The game is a total package where sound becomes a tool to help you analyze each given situation; It's more than just a nice thing to listen to for atmosphere, it's important to how you play and it shapes moments in powerful ways.

Competition

Arc Raiders A raider watching the sunset in the Buried City.

These are actually the games nominated for best sound design: Claire Obscur: Expedition 33, Battlefield 6, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Ghost of Yotei, and Silent Hill F. I've played all of them at least briefly, except for Silent Hill F, which is too scary for me (but I've watched a few YouTube videos to get a feel for it.) Honestly, every game has exceptional sound design.

The sounds of Claire Obscure when you attack enemies are always satisfying. Battlefield 6 is an immersive warscape, and the screech of jets flying overhead is one of the loudest sounds I've ever heard in a video game. The baby cries out of the controller in Death Stranding 2, which is at least enough to get a nod. Combat in Ghost of Yotei sounds brutal, with the lovely hiss of blades and clanking armor adding to the overall experience. Silent Hill F has some creepy sounds. I don't like them.

While all of these games undoubtedly have good sound design – and for what it's worth, I'd pick Clair Obscur as a close second to Battlefield 6 from this selection – I still don't think any of them scratch the originality of Arc Raiders' soundscape. The sound design at Clair Obscur is like a beautiful table decoration on top of an already delicious spread. In Arc Raiders, the sound design is the table, and the plates, and the cutlery. It wouldn't exist as a game – in all its fascinating oblivion – without it. I hope it's a complication of the nomination dates rather than an actual snub, because Ark Riders at least deserved it for its stellar sound.