You can make a list of what makes a great horror game, and one of those would be sound design. You can have the atmosphere and enemies hunting you, but the audio is what wraps it up with a nice, gory bow.
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Whether it is about jump scares or the slower-paced horror games that burn terror into you, how the audio captures you is what makes it effective. Hearing the moaning of the undead or the rattling of an alien in the ventilation of a spaceship, your heart can be pounding even when nothing happens. Moments like that make the genre special to its fans.
10The Callisto Protocol
3D audio has been a focus for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S console generation.The Callisto Protocolnails its sound design by immersing you in this prison that has been overrun by alien mutants that have infected the people inside.
Every corner can have an enemy waiting for you. The soundscape creates paranoia as you hold up your gun or stun baton, ready to kill whatever pops out at you. When you get into the moments of action, you feel the meat and bone being exploded into bits, grounded into a paste, and smashed into a pile of body parts by the various ways you can kill or be killed.
9Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil Villagecontinued the series tradition of pushing the envelope in the horror game space with its introduction of weird baby blobs, werewolves, andbig vampire ladieswho confuse you on whether you should be scared or hot under the collar. To accomplish that, Capcom focused on how these characters and their environments should sound.
The locations that house the main bosses give various sounds that make each place stand out. When you are in the castle being hunted by vampires, you will have a different audio experience than whenlooking out for Lycanin the village.
8Alien: Isolation
The big selling point ofAlien: Isolationis theAI of the Xenomorphas it is mostly unscripted as the creature roams free to hunt you or whoever else has a heartbeat. To make you paranoid about its whereabouts, the audio encompassed this dangerous environment to make you flinch over every little noise.
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While trying to find a way to escape, you can hear the alien roaming around. Even when you don’t, you can hear the creaking of the ship and other enemies patrolling areas. Isolation truly makes you feel isolated as danger lurks around every crevice of the ship.
7Outlast
Of the horror games where you are a defenseless person who can only run or hide from the people hunting you,Outlastis one of the scariest. A part of that is its sound design while you are inside Mount Massive Asylum. The dilapidated hallways are filled with the mumblings and screams of the patients, and only some of those are the ones who want to kill you.
When in the moments of being hunted, the footsteps and ramblings of the behemoth known as Chris Walker or the insidious doctor, Richard Trager. As you have to hide, hearing their voices outside of your hiding spot will make you shake in fear. Then when in those moments when running away, you will be sweating like your character as you hear people scream after you.
6The Last of Us Part 2
Naughty Dog always knows how to push the envelope for PlayStation’s first-party studios.The Last of Us Part 2makes the infected variants more terrifying by enhancing their noises, making those moments of hearing a clicker when not seeing it that much more nightmarish.
Outside of the horror, when getting into the action, the melee and gun mechanics sound meatier than its predecessor, which packed a punch for the PS3. The sequel makes those moments of blood spattering onto walls and guts getting shredded by shotguns into a territory of feeling queasy while playing.
5PT
Although we never got theSilent Hillsgame it was meant to be, PT remains that gem that wracked people’s brains trying to solve its puzzle and gave them nightmares. With its many memorable moments in audio design decisions, it is hard to pick one between the constant banging and crying of a baby in a bloody refrigerator or the wretched breathing of Lisa.
Effectively making people on edge with little happening is tricky, but PT does too good of a job. Hearing the voice on the radio talk about a murdered family as you try to solve puzzles makes it tough to focus on puzzles and makes your skin crawl hearing his voice throughout the house you walk through.
4Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Like all Resident Evil games,Biohazardgets more action-oriented in its later hours. However, ignoring how explosive it gets later, the beginning of Ethan’s story remains the scariest experience in the series. Much of that is hearing Jack walk through the house as he tries to hunt you down, similar to the Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation.
Memorable moments in the beginning also smacked people with terror. For example, hearing that phone ring for the first time and being uncertain who was on the other end was the perfect moment to make the hair stand on the back of one’s neck. Other moments include hearing the pounding that led Ethan to open the door back to the basement, only to see his possessed wife crawl up from the shadows to attack him.
3Bloodborne
In traditional FromSoftware tradition,Bloodbornemakes you have your senses on max settings as you look out for enemies who can be the death of you. By heightening the tension, hearing the sounds of nearby enemies rumble and roar gets you on edge to start slashing and shooting what comes at you.
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The city you roam through, Yharnam, is an atmospheric gothic metropolis. It comes to life through the cawing of crows and the city’s natural hum of its wind. When entering a new area, you can sense nearby enemies from the slightest sounds they make to ensure you are ready to fight.
Taking the concise premise of the asymmetrical gameDead By Daylightmay seem like the sound is not as expansive as the juggernauts of the genre. When getting deep into its bloody waters, you pick up on the different sounds of each level, from crows cawing when someone walks past to generators motoring along.
Mostkillers in the gamehave their own sound. In some cases, it is less about the killer and more about an effect, like Michael Myers' musical cue that he has reached a one-hit capability. Other times, you can hear your predator from far away, like Huntress' humming echoing throughout the level when close enough.
1Prey
The space station inPrey, Talos I, comes to life with the humming of its machinery, the beeps and clunking of digital and analog technology, and the sounds of the aliens hunting for any signs of life.
Apart from making this space station under siege from aliens, the little details are satisfying due to the horror game’s sound design. The clicking and crunchiness of picking up items or electric beeps of menus give a euphoric boost through every minor action.
