Summary
As the video gaming industry continues to grow, more games are looking to give players freedom in an open world that they can explore in a non-linear fashion. Many games have also been attempting over the past few years to improve what a video game can do, and how cinematic they can become, leading to a lot of studios beginning to focus more heavily on cinematic features such as sound design.
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Gaming has evolved from the simplistic style of arcade games in the 80s to sweeping stories about great heroes, diabolical questions of morality, and some of the greatest stories ever told. Games are only becoming bigger in scale and sound design has had to catch up to help with making newer games as immersive as possible, leading to some of the biggest and best open-world games being filled with a great quality sound design system.
8The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Much has been made over the years sinceSkyrimwas first released about the voiceover work and how repetitive some of them can be, however, when that is stripped back and players merely think about the sounds of Tamriel, from the bards singing in every tavern to people trying to sell wares on the streets or children begging for money,Skyrimis filled with amazing sound design.
Not to mention the many sounds of enemies, from dragons diving in from overhead with a roar that warns the Dragonborn at the last moment, to the buzzing of insects surrounding an approaching Spriggen, not to mention the sounds ofmany other powerful creatures. The sound design is incredible, and that’s without even mentioning the wonderful, expansive soundtrack that brings many players back to the game even now just to hear parts of it again.
7The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3is a very serious open-world game, and for players to be thrown into a fantasy realm as dark as the Continent in nature, immersion is key. The developers knew this and made sure that the Continent sounded alive around Geralt as he continued his adventures. UnlikeSkyrim,the voiceover work has been praised for quality and quantity in this game, and the many sounds of creatures and the world itself are fabulously executed.
Not to mention that, likeSkyrim,The Witcher 3has an incredible soundtrack. From the music that plays while the game is paused to thein-world songs played by bardsand the general soundtrack that plays while Geralt adventures,The Witcher 3is a complete experience in terms of sound for a video game.
6Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
TheAssassin’s Creedfranchise has always had such a focus on character and story, as well as having had amazing soundtracks since the very beginning, that it is no surprise to find one of the newer entries,Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, among the best sound designs in open-world games.
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Valhallawas a shift for the franchise into the role of a Viking, and while the sound design of the franchise has been great before, nothing has managed to feel quite so immersive across parties, villages, frozen wastelands, and otherworldly realms thatValhallafeaturesacross its elongated runtime. Much of this is due to the incredible sound that helped world-build in the background to a high level.
5Hunt: Showdown
It is unusual to find a multiplayer FPS game among the best sound designs in open-world games, however,Hunt: Showdownispart of the new extraction shooter craze, and sound design is a hugely important part of the game because it seeks to allow players to use it in such valuable manner.
The open-world bounty-hunting game encourages players to go after one of the various boss creatures in a level, carefully hunting them down and killing them in order to collect the bounty on them. After this,Hunt: Showdownplayers have to reach an extraction point to escape, but the accuracy of sound is a huge part of the game, as players can detect precisely where an enemy is due to the amazing sound design.
4Horizon Forbidden West
Horizonis avery cinematic franchise, to begin with, and it has sought so far to bring a great deal of immersion to the world of Aloy and the animalistic machines she faces off against. Everything from the sounds of the various ecosystems that are visited to valuable background dialogue that is easy to miss helps the game become more immersive.
Sound is hugely important inHorizon:Forbidden West, as there could be battles avoided by listening out for nearby creatures and traversing the long way around them. More than that, the detail to sound design throughout the game feels impressive, and hugely cinematic.
3Subnautica
Setting an open-world game in an almost completely underwater map was a bold move from the beginning, butSubnauticapulled it off by being incredibly well-made. Players crash-land on an alien planet and have to survive by gathering materials while seeking a way to escape the planet eventually. Between the beautiful design of the underwater world and the sound design, immersion is amazing inSubnautica.
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Due tobeing almost always underwater, players feel a lot of trepidation about exploring inSubnauticabecause it is so silent so much of the time, making the various noises of the ocean itself terrifying. From the roars of leviathan creatures to the underwater implosions of volcanoes and even the hum of a Cyclops engine as players scout out new areas,Subnauticais a great example of how sound design can be immersive but also sometimes chilling, making amazing use of silence.
The Wild West is another bold setting for an open-world game, withmuch about Westernsas a genre having been played out in movies decades ago. That didn’t stop Rockstar from creating theRed Dead Redemptionfranchise, andRed Dead Redemption 2is as ambitious as they come for open-world sound design.
1Elden Ring
One of the most cinematic, wide-reaching, ambitious games of all time,Elden Ringput an even more cinematic polish on the From Software “Soulsborne” franchise which was already ridiculously good to begin with, and much of this is due to the next-level sound design.
From simple spell sounds to the weather and the variety of sounds that feel unique to each creature and boss,Elden Ringchecks every box for being a giant in the world of gaming, and sound design is just one of the aspects that makes it truly spine-tinglingly good.
