Great sound design is something that gives a game character and a unique tone that the visuals can’t. A game can look good, but sound generic and many JRPGs are a great example of this. Games like Gears of War, Halo, or Mario have great sound design as entire sound bites and effects are iconic and many people can replicate them on the fly.

Silent Hill 2 (2024)

It’s hard to replicate the soundscape that’s as iconic as Silent Hill. From the eerie and wonderfully composed industrial soundtrack to the screams, sirens, static, and wind effects even. Bloober Team pulled it off and made Silent Hill 2 and eerie place to be in. From the new effects like the weird scraping rusty metal sounds that play when enemies are nearby to the heartbeats, squishes, crunches of a pipe connecting with an enemy, and even the scraping sound of Pyramid Head’s sword. It’s haunting and incredibly well done. There’s nothing else out there like it.

Runner-Ups

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II

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Astro Bot

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Tekken 8

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Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II