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Is it just me, or is most horror media better without a soundtrack? Silent Hill's music works HEAVILY to its advantage but every other game and movie I've played/seen either has a soundtrack that's utterly forgettable or just takes away from the horror. If the whole goal is to make it seem real to scare viewers, why add a whole ass strings section playing tense music?
Alan Wake is a pretty good example of this. The game became so much better when I turned the music off completely because I got to bathe in the atmosphere.
Good ambience is also a must for a horror game. But I do agree that movies seem to go way over board with the soundtrack.
This song is from one of the scariest segments in a game I've ever played.
Thief Deadly Shadows OST - Shalebridge Cradle.m4a
One thing that annoys me about soundtracks in Horror goes is that they tend to make a noise or a track play when you see something spooky. Now this is fine in all except for more often than not you haven't even seen the thing that was meant to "spook" you.
So based on the game it is either "Oh, the monster is here. Better move." or "Oh I missed something. Better go back and double check."
@Awoo I think silent hill is oozing with style and the horror vibe it gives off is much different from pretty much anything else I've seen. It knows how to use silence well, too. In silent hill you still get these moments of serenity to contrast against the batshit insane dentist still music, and those parts are what makes the game really sink in and tap into a weird part of the psychological horror genre where you're not being scared by the game but almost suffocated by it. I fucking love Silent Hill.
Actually, another series that does this decently well I'd say is Fatal Frame. Not as good as Silent Hill, but definitely better than many others. The sound design is pretty good, and has a similar thing going for it where there is a lot of melody in the sound to create some serenity. Honestly, if you didn't know any better you'd probably think FF was a JRPG based on the soundtrack alone, and that's what makes it unique.
@heavens_feel think of the music you typically hear in an open world game while exploring. It's usually calming and atmospheric but still has strong themes. It goes well with the task. Horror games can often feel like there is a mismatch between the music and the gameplay, as if the music is trying to build tension but it feels so forced. Silence and calm is super underrated in horror. I get that if it's a gore fest or something maybe you do want some fucked up music playing, but I mean if you're trying to really get to a viewer/player the best way to do it is to tone things down and leave them with their own thoughts. It is kind of a similar concept in an open world game, but it's the things that happen before and after these moments that really drive home the desired feelings. Even in open world games though, there are often moments of silence in between exploration tracks or within the music itself. That is certainly done on purpose.
When I was playing Alan Wake the soundtrack would randomly have these swells of violin vibrato and it just really took me out of the game. Turning it off left me with only the sounds of the world and the cold visuals, which made it way more impactful.
This post was actually the result of seeing Half Life being played with music in the levels. I had a bug or something during my playthrough so there was literally no music the whole time and honestly, that just sells the atmosphere and general vibe of the game so much more. Going to HL2 with action movie soundtrack was pretty jarring and seeing that video today was also.
@heavens_feel the theme music is pretty good. It's the exploration music that got on my nerves, and not in the good way.
Can't say I've paid too much attention to the soundtrack of horror games outside of Silent Hill (Which is brilliant).
Silent Hill 3 - Hometown Lyrics.m4a