Recommendations for games where the sound takes it to the next level?

Well in terms of taking advantage of really good headphones. Senua's Sacrifice

Headphones absolutely mandatory. Hellblade is the first title that came to mind seeing this thread.
Yeah, great experience with headphones!
- That game HAS to be played with headphones or a super good surround sound. The directionality of the voices in Senua's head is next level.
This was the first thing I thought of too.

Elite Dangerous has some amazing sound design.

Not the gun sound effects, not the sound track, problably not a lot of things - but the atmosphere the sound effects in Control created, man it's like 50% of what makes the game what it is, and it's a truly great game.

I came here to say Control.
Love me some Brutalism so you might have convinced me to try it.
- Oh, if you love Brutalism, Control is definitely THE game for you
I always thought of control as "that tech demo game with DLSS". It's actually a good game?
- If you like action-adventures, the paranormal and strong audiovisuals, absolutely. If character development of the protagonist is important to you, definitely not. The storytelling is solid otherwise, though.
  But the sound and visual design work just so well to create this atmosphere or mood that let me immerse deeply but that also let me sigh in relief when I quit the game. It gave me this almost constant sense of dread even though it's not terrifying like a horror game at all (and I really hate horror games or movies) that fit the story so well. It's hard to describe, it's weirdly different but not in a bad way.
  If you have the HW power, I recommend playing with RT but without DLSS. Otherwise with RT and DLSS. DLSS does introduce some weird kind of artifacts or such sometimes. Not bad, just better without if you can.
  Edit: I guess if you're looking for epic quests, this might also not be the right game - heck, it's hard to describe or say what's good or bad about this game, it's all kind of intertwined. All I can say that I think the package is an excellent game made with a lot of attention to detail. And with that unnerving sound design, that I kinda hate to endure, but love how well it's made and fits the game.
- Control is one of my favorite games. It was a slow burn for me but it's so incredibly well done in all aspects that it becomes art.
  That being said, there's a rare bug where the character goes cross-eyed but that just seals it.
- Control is pretty great.
I think I got this for free on Epic and I haven't touched it, but this might change that.
- Yea, it was free there some time ago, and I think also in PS Plus at some point.

Hellblade was already mentioned (prime example imho), so I'd give shoutout to the entire Supergiant's game catalogue. So much time and effort went into sound design and music in all their games, it's remarkable.

Oh yes! Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice was absolutely fantastic with headphones. Probably the best audio experience I ever had in a game.

I haven't experienced anything quite like HuntShowdown. It's a slower-than-most extraction shooter with several objectives on each map.

Every sound matters. You can hear people shooting in the next compound over, but you can also hear someone crouch behind the wall next to you. You have to watch for sound traps like birds, horses, dogs, etc. Always be on the move because if you stop, someone might already be taking aim to shoot you through the wall.

This is mine too. I switched from closed back to open back headphones to better experience the sound in Hunt Showdown
Yeah it is without hyperbole the best sound engine / sound design of any game I’ve ever played.
Two moments made me fall in love with Hunt:
My first game was in the early beta when nighttime missions were legitimately dark as hell. I spawned knee-deep in the swamp. Crouchwalking around through a swamp where I couldn't see anything, hearing all sorts of weird shit everywhere and trying to avoid it like I was stuck in a horror game.
Realizing that someone was hiding in an outhouse, because I heard them breathing. Just to see if it would work, I stabbed them right through the wood with my bowie knife. Yep, it works.
- I had a solo match where I played really well, third partied a lot and almost wiped the server (before the necro change). At the end it was just me, Scrapbeak, and one guy hidden somewhere in the base. I start looking for him, going from house to house, and then I turn the corner going up some stairs and I just instantly die. Dude headshots me with a pistol at the same moment I see him and it's game over for me. All that work, all that luck, and I die just like that. Hunt giveth and hunt taketh away and god damn I am just sold

Subnautica. Sound takes you to fear:)

Scariest game I've ever played.

Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have fantastic sound design. The environmental sounds of wind, water, trees and wildlife accompanied by that understated soundtrack makes you feel out in the wilds even though the graphics are minimal.

The sound designers at Bungie deserve double their pay.

Destiny has plenty of issues but sound design is not one of them. Some of those gun sounds are orgasmically good, and so satisfying to shoot.

The feeling of guns in general is the best in any game I've ever played
- Agreed. The gunplay is magical.

STALKER (Shadow Of Chernobyl or Call Of Pripyat).

Music: off

Headphones: On

Good luck not getting spooked out of your mind by random industrial noises.

Hi-Fi Rush, Doom 2016 and Eternal, Hades, and Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus, off the top of my head. All very different games but all with exceptional music.

I'm surprised no one here has mentioned Returnal. On the PS5 with a headset it uses the "3D Audio". It's pretty amazing.

I'm not really into roguelikes, but that description intrigues me, especially because it's an included game for PS+ Extra subscribers like myself!
- It's not really a full on roguelike. You do "upgrade" weapons as you use them, so when you die it's not a complete loss. Also once you beat a boss you never have to fight them again if you don't want to. You just make it through three areas (3 bosses each), and then you unlock the next 3, but you don't have to start from the very beginning for the last 3.
  Maybe it helps if you think of it as an arcade version of a soulslike game? Play it in 30 minute increments, don't stress about beating it and naturally you'll get better enough to beat it.
  The story and setting is pretty unique and awesome as well.
- The game is absolutely amazing. It being a roguelike is really secondary. There's also decent progression, and I didn't think it was that hard, you just have to get a good loadout running. Occasionally you'll just get RNG'd within 10 minutes of a run and just start over.
I bought Returnal last week! I was loving it but I kept hitting the limit on my 8GB VRAM :( decided to put it down and wait until Nvidia VRAM consumption on Linux improves or (more likely) I upgrade my GPU.

Doom 2016 - remake of a classic that everyone loved, with the soundtrack being a very large part of it.

Given that you asked for guns specifically I'll go out on a limb and say we are very different gamers!

But Subnautica would be my suggestion. Crazy good sound design.

Been meaning to pick that up for VR and literally shit my pants.
- Unrelated and this is very unlikely but is your name a reference to Deep Rock Galactic by any chance?
Interesting you bring up Subnautica, because I remember thinking when I played it "Wow, this game sounds a lot like Half Life!" And wouldn't you know it, the devs started out as Half Life modders. It goes without saying that the sound design in Half Life is impeccable, and truly iconic. Clearly they learned something!
Definitely seconding this suggestion.
- TIL! Makes sense now you mention it though!

Squad always got me with its sound design. Nothing too fancy, just guns and explosions. But they DO sound amazing.

I feel this way about Hell Let Loose sometimes

Well, there is a game that's been designed specifically for that. Metal Hellsinger, you can play a demo for free. It's a doom style shooter that rewards you for shooting and reloading to the beat of metal music, which is dynamic to how well you are doing and the situation. Really cool concept and really rewarding to get a combo going.

Never heard of it. Thanks.

Warframe has great sound design, and it's f2p. The Corinth shotgun sounds like God slamming a car door.

Both of the new Star Wars Battlefronts had me feeling like lasers were actually flying past my head.

New World has its fair share of issues, but the sound of your pickaxe hitting a rock will make it seem like the best game ever made.

I hated New Worlds, but the sound design really was top notch.

NieR:Automata and Cyberpunk 2077 have phenomenal soundtracks

Bad Company 2 always comes to mind for me whenever this question comes up

Hi-Fi rush.

Thank me later.

Absolutely magnificent game. I wish we got more mid sized games instead of every new game being a 100h+ second job.
- Do you have any suggestions for games like HiFi? I found it super comfy

Hollow Knight! The orchestral sound design is an experience in itself!

While not the greatest games, I've found that the newer Star Wars Battlefront games have some of the best sound design in any game I've ever played. Especially the thermal imploder. Definitely a highlight of an otherwise alright game.

Any Dice game, really. The Battlefield games have always had incredible sound design.
Disclaimer: I haven't played the latest one.

As much as I dislike them the gun audio on both the 2019+ call of duty modern warfare games is very well done.

I highly recommend you check out scruffy on YouTube. His channel is dedicated to awesome sound design in video games.

https://youtube.com/@ScruffyMusic

Thanks so much. I'll definitely check him out.

Tetris Effect on VR (ps/quest). think hypnotic trance

Seconding Tetris Effect. Even without vr the soundtrack is great. Ultimate "flow" game. Super chill.

The Hotline Miami series and Katana Zero really stand out to me. Hollow knight and Persona are also fantastic.

Katana Zero has a great soundtrack and fantastic gameplay.

@CosmicSploogeDrizzle@lemmy.ml, you're going to want in on this conversation.

Tarkov is known for how great the soundscape is. I highly recommend using the SPTarkov mod to play offline though.

From the top of my head: It might be mainstream, but I liked the gun sounds in battlefield 1 and 5. Also I enjoyed the slow motion gun sounds in Max Payne 2 a lot. Call of duty modern warfare was also great back in the day. Don’t know how the newer installations are holding up.

MW2019 and MW2022 have fantastic weapon sounds, but I think the MP soundscape is a bit of a tossup with the footstep sounds.

Never played it personally, but I remember being really satisfied with the sounds from Hawken watching the gameplay trailers. https://youtu.be/udEAEARD-Fo

Edit: reading up on it, the final game was pretty lame, and it’s apparently dead now.

Hawken was fun, but it was trapped in a weird position between a real "mecha game" and traditional arena shooter that didn't really satisfy either crowd.

I really really really liked the theme music and all sound design in the Red Alert 2 and Generals Zero Hour games. Those were excellent, to the point I'd listen to the theme alone when working or driving.

spoilers for the game hi fi rush but it has hands down the coolest transformation https://youtu.be/cU5utimmtkg?t=92

Max Payne 3. The soundtrack is amazing and blended perfectly into the game.

How does it compare to the first two? I loved those, but I've not tried the third yet because the cover put me off as it is a big departure from the theme of the first two.

I don't care for the Warhammer universe, or Tactics games all that much. Tactics game Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus held my attention for far longer than it should have thanks to its incredible sound design.

For a unique take... The music and background sounds in Kenshi. Music is so sparse that when it does kick in, and how it kicks in, is just really unlike any other game.

For overall sound design Prey (2017) really nails it. The stealth mechanics are also included in sound design so when you get spotted or escape there's intense auditory cues that track with the thriller/sci Fi horror vibe of the game.

If you go into it expecting a first person shooter though you'll be disappointed, it's an immersive sim for sure. Shotgun sounds really good though and there's an experimental weapon called the Q beam which has a phaser sort of sound as it fires. Also really cool.

Also, Elite Dangerous has incredible sound as well. Guns sound alright but you won't be firing them on foot as much as in space most likely.

assetto corsa competizione

or really any quality racing game. its almost like 50% of my enjoyment

Literally bought it this weekend for the awesome force feedback. Blows F1 22 out of the water.

Elite Dangerous is still the GOAT of sound design IMO. That game would be nothing without it's sound.

The modern hitman trilogy had some really good sound design from my experience. Definitely recommended with a good pair of headphones. Realistic but also crisp.

The soundscape and music of Inside is godly. Honestly I think half the game's atmosphere is the audio.