Whether you’re conscious of them or not, manyvideo gameshave very distinctive sound profiles. We’re not just talking about things like music or shooting noises, though those are certainly important; it’s a combination of those along with all the incidental noises and ambience that makes a game audibly distinct.
It’s easy enough to appreciate this with a pair of good speakers or a soundbar, but if you really want to immerse yourself in a game’s auditory component, the best thing to do is to plug in a pair of headphones.
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Wearing a pair of high-quality headphones while you play games puts you in a more intimate environment than just using speakers. You can hear sounds and ambience as though they were right next to you, or appreciate every single element that makes up a game’s soundtrack.
In some cases, headphones can actually help you play the game, while in other cases, it’s just about properly appreciating the vibe. Really, there aren’t any games that are made worse by headphones, but if you want a game that’s distinctly improved by them, these are the ones I’d recommend.
10Resident Evil 2 (2019)
There’s Something Around The Corner
Resident Evil 2
As far back as its very first entry, the high points of the Resident Evil series have possessed the ability to create an oppressive atmosphere. You’re all alone in dark, narrow corridors and confines, never quite sure when a zombie is going to shamble around the corner.
As the remake ofResident Evil 2represents the fusion between that classic atmosphere and modern tech, it’s one of the best games in the series to play with headphones.
Barring some big, bombastic setpieces, a large portion of Resident Evil 2 is without a soundtrack, only ambient sounds to experience. Despite being a slightly different kind of action game, it still perfectly captures that old ambience of the Raccoon City P.D. Cramped, darkened, rainy hallways with zombies strategically placed throughout provide the faintest hint that you are never as alone as you think you are.
I remember playing Resident Evil 2 with headphones on the first time a Licker appeared in the wild. I couldn’t see where it was coming from, but I heard the distinct click-clack of its claws along the ceiling, and knew I was about to be in for it.
9Metal: Hellsinger
The Metal Will Live On
Metal: Hellsinger
It shouldn’t be surprising that rhythm games are a natural fit for headphones, but it’s not just about finding the beat to follow along. InMetal: Hellsinger, the pounding metal soundtrack is both the key to the primary gameplay loop and its defining atmospheric component, and it deserves to be experienced in the highest possible fidelity.
Metal: Hellsinger utilizes dynamic music, with lyrics and additional instrumentskicking in as you raise your score and grade. Wearing headphones and following along to the beat of the track will help you maintain your score and fight off foes, which in turn will make the backing track even more awesome. It’s like a self-sustaining feedback loop of heavy metal. The best kind of self-sustaining feedback loop, of course.
It actually took me forever to get into Metal: Hellsinger, not because I didn’t like it, but because I needed to find time in my day when I had nothing else going on so I could get my headphones on and appreciate the music properly. It’s a soundtrack good enough to schedule around.
8Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Welcome To Her Mind
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
The primary thematic draw ofHellblade: Senua’s Sacrificeis that the titular protagonistsuffers from acute psychosis, which causes her to hear voices and experience hallucinations. It’s a debilitating condition to live with in real life, and if you’ve ever been curious about what it’s like for those who deal with it, playing Hellblade with headphones on will probably get you as close as realistically possible.
Hellblade’s developers worked with various neuroscientists and behavioral psychologists to make their depiction of the condition as accurate as possible, and it is, to put it concisely, brilliantly upsetting. The voices Senua hears are almost constantly babbling and whispering at her, and you, by extension.
With your headphones on, you hear these voices endlessly from all around you, chattering away during combat and trying to mislead you during exploration.
I actuallycan’tplay Hellblade with headphones on, just because I’m overstimulated very easily and find the things voices say upsetting, but that’s not a knock against the game. That’s exactly what it’s going for, and if you feel up to it, you can experience the full brunt of it yourself.
Mushy, Mechanical Noises
Dead Space (2023)
If there were two adjectives I’d use to describeDead Space’s overall sound profile, they’d be “mushy” and “mechanical.” “Mushy” from undulating, tearing flesh of Necromorphs, and “mechanical” from all the large machinery that makes up the Ishimura. Provided you’re not bothered by an abundance of those kinds of sounds, though I don’t knowwhy you’d be playing this gameif you are, it’s an experience headphones can only enhance.
In a similar vein to Resident Evil 2, Dead Space is quite good at building an oppressive ambience, albeit one that’s slightly different than that of an abandoned police station.
Rather, the corridors of the Ishimura, full of rumbling, rusty machines and punctuated by the sounds of Necromorph talons on the metal floor, presents a distinct kind of oppressive and intimidating vibe. It barely feels like a place people should live, even without the monsters.
Even in the midst of a firefight, those audible accouterments are never diminished. The fear factor of Necromorphs is only multiplied when I slice through one of their limbs with the Plasma Cutter, accompanied by the sound of tearing flesh—only for them to keep coming at me.
A Game Of Sight And Sound
Dead by Daylight
It’s standard practice to wear a headset while playing online games of pretty much any genre. Headphones help shut out intrusive noise and help you focus on competitive play, after all. In most genres, though, this is just a nice benefit. In a game likeDead by Daylight, it’s borderline required whether you’re playing as a Survivor or Killer.
Dead by Daylight is, first and foremost, a game of sounds. Unless you have a very particular loadout of Perks, you don’t get much in the way of visual information. Audible information is plentiful, though, from the distinct putter of generators to the footsteps of Survivors, not to mention the heartbeat of the Killer’s Terror Radius.
Headphones keep you properly tuned into your surroundings, which both help you survive as a Survivor and hunt prey as a Killer.
I always have headphones on when I play Dead by Daylight, even just for casual play, as I can’t focus enough without them. I take a small modicum of pride in how many Survivors I’ve caught unawares as a Killer just from listening for their steps.
5Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Soundless Soldier
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
The key to being stealthy isn’t just staying out of sight, it’s also about being mindful of sound produced by both you and the world. Three-dimensional awareness is more important inMetal Gear Solid 5than its predecessors due to its open-world design, wherein threats can and will appear from almost any direction.
Getting your headphones on during a Metal Gear Solid 5 mission kind of synchronizes your own hearing with Snake’s. Opening up your ears allows you to hear incidental noises from nearby soldiers like mumbling and footsteps, which helps you to track their position relative to your own even if you can’t see them. This is vital if you missed tagging a soldier with your binoculars beforehand, as you’re less likely to be caught off guard.
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Even outside of mission objectives, it’s nifty to experience the ambience of the desert and jungle settings Snake finds himself in throughout the game. I was actually able to pin down a bird I was looking for because I could hear it chirping through my headphones.
4Alien: Isolation
In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream
Alien: Isolation
In the Alien franchise, one of thetitular extraterrestrial hunter’s greatest assets is its enhanced hunting senses. It can hear you through walls and smell your fear. If you want to survive being in its vicinity inAlien: Isolation, the best approach might be to beat it at its own game.
The best way to not get killed in Alien: Isolation is to deliberately avoid conflict, whether it be with regular human combatants, Working Joe androids, or the occasional Xenomorph. Rather than relying on gadgets, which can expose you if you’re not careful, just listening carefully can help clue you in to who’s looking where.
Used in tandem with the game’s mini-map, a pair of headphones will keep you hidden even when there are threats right on top of you.
Of course, Alien is a horror franchise primarily, so experiencing its ambience directly through headphones is an incentive in itself. I’ve had my fair share of delightful cold sweats hiding in a locker, waiting for a Xenomorph to go away.
3Melatonin
The Beat Of Your Dreams
As we mentioned, headphones always pair well with rhythm games, but not all rhythm games are about getting fully absorbed into the soundtrack and in-your-face gameplay. Some of them, such as the Rhythm Heaven-inspired Melatonin, are more about getting you into a softer, smoother, more introspective groove.
Melatonin’s various rhythmic mini-games all require you to tap one or two buttons in time with the backing track to clear them, as well as score high. Much like its primary inspiration, Melatonin doesn’t have much in the way of HUDs or overlays, requiring you to catch the beat almost exclusively through the backing track and, to a lesser extent, distinct visual elements.
It can be tricky to get on the level if you’re not hearing the track clearly enough, something which a pair of headphones can help with.
I like to play Melatonin with headphones late at night,when I’m already a little sleepy. Since there aren’t any intense songs on the soundtrack, it’s a nice way to focus my thoughts while also relaxing.
Some Sounds Were Not Meant To Be Heard
Sound work is bread and butter stuff for thesupernatural creepypastacommunity, with many classic urban legends and SCPs associated with distinct, otherworldly noises. Part of what makesControlsuch an impressive and immersive experience is that you get to experience those kinds of indescribable noises in a playable format, and wearing headphones gets you a little closer to them.
The best example of sound design in Control comes from its main antagonist, the Hiss, which is like a memetic auditory virus. As you wander through the shifting halls of the FBC and come across those infected, you can ever so subtly hear them mumbling the Hiss mantra in a distorted voice.
This is just one example of the supernatural sounds you’re able to experience in Control, with more to be sourced from its various unusual objects.
Even if weird sounds don’t do it for you, the game also has some awesome soundtrack moments, particularly the rock backing in the Cigarette Maze. When the Old Gods of Asgard kicks in, I always throw my headphones on, no exceptions. When they rock out, you listen.
1Subnautica
Darlin’ It’s Better, Down Where It’s Wetter
Subnautica
Have you ever sat at the bottom of a pool for a little while? Not actively swimming or sharing space with anyone, just floating around, surrounded by water? There’s something simultaneously calming, yet oppressive about the sound that accompanies being submerged in water.
It’s so much quieter, yet you feel its presence all around you. A game that captures that particular flavor of sound perfectly is, perhaps unsurprisingly,Subnautica.
As a game that takes place almost entirely underwater, there’s plenty of submerged ambience for you to take in with your headphones. You can hear the constant swishing and swooshing of the water, bubbles flowing up from the seafloor, schools of fish flying by, and the occasional low groan of an enormous leviathan. It’s the kind of sound that’s perfect for making hour-long ambience videos on YouTube.
Playing Subnautica with headphones on is equal parts relaxing and stressful. When I’m gathering materials and swimming around, everything’s hunky-dory. Then, suddenly, I hear a roar in the distance, and know it’s time to book it.
