Game sound is the focus of growing academic interest, inspiring studies which encompass multidisciplinary perspectives on the player and the role of sound and music on the game play experience. However, the focus of the majority of text books in the area is on the wide and varied practical aspects of games audio and sound design, exploring factors such as sound creation, integration, field recording, sound processing, music composition techniques, hardware issues and dialogue systems (Childs Reference Childs2007; Stevens and Raybould Reference Stevens and Raybould2011; Marks Reference Marks2013). Fewer authors have emphasised theoretical approaches to studying game sound, with notable exceptions which encompass a mixture of theory and the practical (Grimshaw 2013) and those who focus purely on the theory (Jorgensen Reference Jorgensen2009). Karen Collins has been a proponent for the study of games sound and the adoption of interdisciplinary perspectives since at least Reference Collins2008 with From Pac Man to Pop Music and Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design. The latter was a broad overview of games music and sound, ranging from hardware limitations to individual roles in the game production process. This text did, however, introduce key theoretical issues surrounding the player experience of, and interaction with, games music and sound – in particular, the non-linear characteristics of games, player interaction with game sound elements, and the player's resulting perception and experience. In Playing with Sound, Collins aims to develop a theoretical framework for the study of games sound from the perspective of the player. The approach she takes is broad, and ranges beyond the player's experience of sound and music as they are playing the game. Rather, the book encompasses in-game interaction, the interpersonal and sociocultural interactions which take place around and beyond the game play context.

Player interaction with games is multimodal in nature and involves sound, visuals and haptics. The combination of action and sound forges new meanings for game sound from the player's perspective (Collins coins the term ‘kinematic synchresis’). Thus examining sound in isolation is considered meaningless as it is not experienced by the player in isolation. This concept is extended to adopt embodied cognition and mirror neuron theory to propose mechanisms explaining why sound is important to increasing immersion in games. The player has an embodied reaction to sound in the game. They make the sounds in the game world through their actions, placing them in the game. Their self is extended into the peripersonal space which becomes an ‘audio intermediary’ between the game world and the player. Thus sound bridges the gap between the game world and the player and is key to immersion in the game and identification with the game character.

The mental and physical re-enactment of sound explained by mirror neuron theory is mooted by Collins as being a type of performative activity, where perception of sound is turned into embodied interaction with sound. This encourages role-play and enaction of the emotion behind the game action, and therefore enhances immersion. Thus the player becomes part of the game space through use of sound: through physical engagement and performance in games such as Guitar Hero, or in online multiplayer games through the use of voice to act out the identity of the game character and bring reality into the game world. In Chapter 4 the game is presented as a site of performance. This encompasses the performance of music by in-game characters and generation of music through game play; game action and visuals as machinima and as a backdrop to live electronic music performances; fan culture of covering and remixing music from games; and use of game hardware, controllers and emulators to create music (chiptunes for example). Although diverting and informative, this is perhaps the least coherent chapter of the book. The concept of interaction with game sound is stretched to some fairly tenuous lengths, and the idea that fans creating songs about games is a desire to pass information on to other game players in the ‘oral history traditions of folk songs’ is a little toe-curling. The final chapter turns to game content customisation and modding, where players play a part in creating content for the game. This is posited as another form of interacting with the game which affects player experience, is a means of collaborating with other players and as a means by which the ‘fourth wall’ between the player and the virtual world is breached. Interesting issues are raised around co-creativity and the idea that use of the player's own music means games are becoming a new way of listening to music. In the end, the argument here is that involvement in the game narrative isn't the only type of immersion. The player can also become immersed in the game in the sense of creating content and customising and personalising their game experience.

Playing With Sound is an important contribution toward the development of theory for game sound and music. The breadth of this text is simultaneously a strength and weakness. It is unique in its scope in that the broader cultural and legal implications of game music are presented alongside theories of player interaction with sound as they play the game. However, it becomes problematic when trying to present these widely dispersed topics as part of one coherent picture describing our relationship with all things sonic in games. For example the argument around liveness feels a little tacked-on and is not convincingly integrated into the ideas which precede it. As Collins points out, this is an initial step toward developing a coherent theory of game sound, and poses more questions than it answers. This is something to be expected in a text that is at the forefront of developing theory in this area. Key topics such as multimodal interaction, kinesonic synchresis and embodied cognition of sound will undoubtedly be developed and utilised by those studying the effects of sound and music on game play experience. Broader concepts of performance and co-creativity may also inform future research on player experience beyond the game play context. Overall, it is likely that Playing With Sound will influence research into game sound for years to come.