Excellent sound design is an essential part of crafting a tangible game world, and when it comes to the horror genre in particular, it also doubles as an effective tool with which to manipulate tension. Now, I'm betting that if I were to ask you to sit down and think back on any gaming moments that frightened you the most, chances are they'd be accompanied by the evocative SFX employed by the developers to achieve the initial shock - whether it's the sudden crash of vicious zombie-dogs bursting through a window pane, the thump of rotting flesh shuffling across a hardwood floor, or the echoing roar of mutated behemoths. Every instance carries with it a signature audio cue that's imprinted onto your memory, thus solidifying a sensory bridge between the digital world and your emotional triggers. This is something Valve took full advantage of when they unleashed the dreaded Witch on legions of Left 4 Dead fans. Few things are capable of freezing you in your tracks quicker than discovering one of these barring your way. Every second in their presence stretches into an eternity as you quietly skirt around them and try to avoid doing anything that could be considered even remotely antagonistic. And they seemed so harmless at first, didn't they?
