I recently ran a 10 lap ADAC GT Masters 2013 race around Bathurst in the Nissan GTR GT3 against 35 AI. It was fantastic. Why? Well, believe it or not, it was in no small part due to the sound. I'm fortunate enough to have played most of the PC and console racing games currently available, but nothing compares to R3E when it comes to sounds and since discovering R3E I've come to appreciate just how important the sound is in racing sims. Pretty much all of the other games have sounds ranging from fairly good to down right awful and in the worst cases they are one dimensional, bland, mind-numbingly repetitive and often fatiguing. Even within each game the sound quality can vary considerably from car to car. Because of this, I sometimes find that anything other than short sprint races can be quite tiring and even after those I often don't want to race in the same car again - my ears need a change. In complete contrast, R3E produces sounds that are exceptional. They are realistic, immersive and full of nuance. In my 10 lap race around Bathurst the sound of the Nissan seemed to urge me on and I never grew tired of it. Every car in R3E has it's own particular sound and the subtle addition of creaks, rattles, transmission whine and chatter, brake squeals and overrun pops and crackles in some cars are the icing on the cake. The overall quality of the sound is excellent across the board and is also incredibly well mixed. It never seems to grow old. People often talk about how important 'immersion' is in driving sims, however they mostly seem to refer to the graphics or the lighting or VR. Imagine watching a movie without the carefully constructed musical score in the background. It's massively influential in setting the mood for each scene. Consider too the outcry over the current F1 season's engines. Take away that much loved ear-splitting scream and some of the thrill and excitement is lost. Sound plays an incredibly important role in the atmosphere and immersion of any video game. Thankfully the R3E Devs know this and their game is all the richer for it.