For me the audio is more important than great graphics in a game and many recent games do it completely wrong. They throw in some generic orchestral noise or some other prefab music where you can hear in the first minute that the developer didn't care much about the audio of the game.

Luckily there are some games that have received an excellent audio job. Check out Vampire: Bloodlines - The Masquerade for example (not the licensed music in it but the soundscapes by Rik W. Schaffer). Can it get any more atmospheric?!

If a game has poor audio it almost destroys the fun for me. Good Example: Mass Effect 2 - awesome visuals cannot make up for the (mostly) bland synth soundtrack. There are a few tracks that are alright but the bigger part of it is just soo boring. When asked about their motives with that kind of music the devs told that the music is supposed to reflect the vast coldness and loneliness of space, or something along these lines. But that's a poor excuse for me! The music is still dull and boring.

@Matt Always copy your text to the clipboard before hitting submit! ;)