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.

@beardalaxy @beardalaxy I disagree with you on this. I find the lack of a soundtrack makes the game feel empty. Imo this is true not only for horror games but also large open world games as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sjpNSJ8ZIQ&

@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.