As much as we may compliment the visuals of a particular game, one just can’t discount the effect that quality audio has on the experience. Since the days of System Shock 2, games have consistently used sound in interesting and unique ways to immerse players into their worlds. It could be sound effects that create a surreal effect of reality. It could be quality music that sets the tone while simultaneously enhancing the atmosphere. It could even be amazing voice acting that removes the boundary between character and actor. In some cases, it may even be all three and 2015 was certainly no slouch when it came to games with compelling sound. Let’s take a look at the nominees for best sound in 2015.

Nominees:

• Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
• Star Wars Battlefront
• Project CARS
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Bloodborne
• Ori and The Blind Forest

Winner: Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain

It was a close race but in the end, Kojima Productions’ Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain wins out. Amazingly, the open world action stealth doesn’t have any one element to its sound that stood out. Like a finely crafted cinematic experience that’s been agonized over for years, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain presented a compellingly beautiful soundtrack that emphasized the humanity and despair of its main cast while still embodying the pulpy spy drama that we’ve grown to love. The voice acting is similarly on point, with Kiefer Sutherland as Venom Snake and Robin Atkin Downes as Kazuhira Miller. Stefanie Joosten also deserves credit for her incredibly down-played performance as Quiet and her rendition of “Quiet’s Theme”.

Note: GamingBolt’s Game of the Year categories, nominations and awards are selected via an internal nomination, voting and debate process. You can check the rest of categories and the respective winners here.