One of the most immersive gaming genres has to be survival horror. While there are likely many reasons for this such as spooky atmospheres, unnerving visuals, and even mysterious narratives, the standout reason is often down to the creepy sound and audio design. A truly good horror game will set the mood with a harrowing soundscape to keep players invested.
Truly good and creepy audio design in horror games won’t just happen when there is a scary moment but also in the more mundane and even disquieting moments. Good audio design and sound cues can even make or break a horror game since tension and scares are often built up through background music or sound effects.
10 Infliction: Extended Cut
Infliction and its enhanced edition, Extended Cut, might just be one of the most overlooked and underappreciated horror games of all time, full stop. It’s a shame this first-person haunted house exploration game doesn’t get a lot of attention because its audio design and sound cues are downright terrifying.
You are tasked to explore your seemingly normal house that has been hit with tragedy after tragedy resulting in some dark and evil hauntings. You are pursued by a relentless AI ghost who just so happens to be your dead wife. From creaking floorboards to distant screams to squeaking lightbulbs to the sound of breathing, Infliction will often paralyze you with fear.
9 Until Dawn
Until Dawn’s horror goodness hardly needs any introduction considering its immense popularity as a Playstation exclusive title. For those that aren’t familiar though, Until Dawn tasks a group of friends to survive the night in a very remote mountain house while a masked killer (and other creepy denizens) stalk them.
Until Dawn’s fantastic and creepy audio design mostly comes down to the moments of solo or duo exploration. Wandering through the foggy frost-filled forest to rescue your friend brings with it howling wind, distant cries of help, and even your character’s heartbeat at times.
8 Evil Inside
The most obvious comparison to Evil Inside would be the immaculate P.T. While Evil Inside clearly takes the whole first-person hallway looping spooks of P.T. to the highest degree, it still manages to succeed in its own right. You play as Mark who must explore his house after trying to contact his deceased mother through a spiritual board. Of course, things go awry very quickly.
The audio design in Evil Inside is understated but lingers through the excellent use of ambient cues that keep you moving in the right direction. When the inevitable jump scares happen, the unnatural sounds that happen will make you jump out of your skin.
7 Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
The Fatal Frame series, which puts the literal focal point on snapping top-notch pictures of ghosts in order to exorcise them terrifies with creepy sound design. This sound design plays your fear of the unknown because you are often guided by a distant moan or howl. Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly specifically does this often enough that it can be hard to press on.
The ghosts in this game are no mere Casper either. These are malevolent beings ready to bring you harm and despair. Nothing quite beats loading up your camera in first-person as the shudder snaps with a loud click with your heartbeat racing, wondering what ethereal spook will show itself in the photo.
6 Slender: The Arrival
Good ol’ Slender, first starting in online creepypastas, and now available through all forms of media, with gaming bringing him to terrifying light. Slender: The Arrival is the follow-up and downright scary sequel to Slender: The Eight Pages, the rudimentary, yet harrowing first-person spookfest where the titular monster always stalks you.
In Slender: The Arrival, the developers upped the ante by providing some of the creepiest audio in all of gaming. The standout audio moments come when Slender can be seen in the distance and a static sound plays in your ear. Your character can be heard panting for breath as he inches ever closer. Oh, and the intense audio that emits during a jump scare is sure to keep you up at night.
5 Dead By Daylight
Dead by Daylight is a fantastic asymmetrical multiplayer game focusing on one killer facing off against four survivors who must repair five generators before escaping. It should come as no surprise that an online multiplayer game like this needs to have good audio and sound design to keep things fair and competitive.
Not only does Dead by Daylight have great audio cues, but it also features some incredibly creepy moments of audio tension. Two standout moments are when you equip a perk that plays an audio cue when the killer is nearby which stirs up immediate fear with the other moment happening when a generator breaks and causes a loud sound that alerts the killer. These two moments create unbearable tension.
4 Amnesia: Rebirth
Amnesia: Rebirth is not talked about anywhere as much as its older sibling, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. However, this series follow-up is incredibly well-balanced and produces some moments of sheer terror, albeit, in a more subtle manner. The Amnesia series has always been known for its creepy audio from the monsters’ sounds to ambient and environmental noises.
This iteration in the series focuses a lot on breathing as a mechanic. Heroine, Tasi Trianon, must explore derelict cave systems, ancient temples, and broken houses. In each of these locations her every movement produces realistic sounds which can draw the creepy aberrations her way to help her meet her demise.
3 Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 needs no introduction. This horrific psychological horror game provides some of the best sound design in the horror genre. The moments of creepy dread happen when things are at their most disquieting such as when James wanders the fog-shrouded streets to only have the radio static kick in right before a crawling monster lunges for him.
What makes Silent Hill 2 such a revelatory game in terms of creepy audio more often than non comes from the simple act of exploration. As you wander the apartment complex, for example, you constantly hear otherwordly noises from behind a door to distant screams to a musical soundscape that keeps you on edge. It’s simply creepy and sublime.
2 Resident Evil 8: Village
The most recent entry on this list, Resident Evil 8: Village has some superbly unnerving audio design, more specifically, with Beneviento’s Mansion. Beneviento’s Mansion is an utterly haunted abomination that features creepy dolls, a giant baby monster, and some of the game’s best psychological spooks.
While the whole of Village does have some great ambient sounds as well as those darn werewolves whose howl and growl will quite literally put your hairs on end, it’s the doll mansion that takes the cake. You never quite feel safe wandering its blood-tinged halls. There is a creepy disembodied, ethereal feel to each sound you experience here.
1 P.T.
P.T. or Playable Teaser if you want to get fancy about it was meant to be the Silent Hills hype demo but unfortunately was canned by Konami in their infinite wisdom. P.T. has some very terrifying and spooky sounds, full stop. There is nothing comforting about this game whatsoever.
Easily the most harrowing audio moments come from the radio blare that speaks about a brutal and heinous murder that took place in the very hallway you are wandering around in. It constantly keeps you on edge for when the inevitable Lisa jump scare makes you shut off the PS4 in sheer terror.
NEXT: The Best Survival Horror Games On Nintendo Switch
