10 Unsettling Horror Games With TERRIFYING Sound Design

Set aboard a claustrophobic, monster-infested space station, Dead Space is as about as intense as a sci-fi horror game can get.

Proudly wearing its horror influences on its sleeve, this game sees players investigate a distress signal from the the seemingly abandoned USG Ishimura mining ship as engineer Isaac Clarke. Upon arrival, however, Isaac and his surviving crew find themselves surrounded by a swarm of monstrous creatures known as Necromorphs while the ship's systems start to fail.

With audio director Don Veca wanting to squeeze every ounce of terror from the sound, Dead Space is another example of a game that knows the importance of great sound design in horror. Through the combination of a dynamic audio design (dubbed "fear emitters") that emphasises an enemy as you get closer to it alongside the creatures' inhuman cries, the audio of the Necromorphs are enough to make Dead Space terrifying.

However, it's the ambient sound effects that give the world its dreadful atmosphere. Using plenty of contrast and moments of silence - especially during the exterior Zero-G sections, the sound of Dead Space underscores the feeling of being utterly alone and helpless in space. And it's all the better for it.