10 Unsettling Horror Games With TERRIFYING Sound Design

While most games use sound to help players understand the world around them, Perception took things a step further by making sound the only way to perceive your surroundings.

Developed by some of the team who worked on Bioshock, Bioshock: Infinite, and Dead Space, Perception sees players take on the role of Cassie Thornton, a blind woman who finds herself investigating a large, abandoned mansion that's been a fixture of her recent nightmares. Lacking in sight, however, the world around Cassie can be seen through the use of an echolocation mechanic in which sound uncovers the mansion in stylish monochromatic hues. The more noise that's made, the more of the environment that's visible.

But there's a catch. The more noise you make, the more likely you are to be detected by a malevolent, omnipresent force known as 'The Presence', which will appear unexpectedly and force you to try again from the last checkpoint.

Other diegetic sounds can also help shine some light in the darkness alongside heightening the creepy atmosphere. Things may not be as they seem, though, as you journey further into the mansion and its past.

In Perception, sound is your light in the darkness. But it's also your biggest enemy.