At this point, I don’t know of anyone under 30 who does not have a favorite video game whether it be on console, computer, or mobile device. Some people like games for the visual effects, others the overall gameplay, and if you are like me, the sound design. One of my absolute favorite games for sound design is Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. It deals with schizophrenia and mental illness and if you wear headphones while playing the game, it has been said to accurately recreate some forms of schizophrenia. If you would like to learn more about the making of this game there is a great documentary you can watch here that goes into how they made it and their consulting of patients and doctors in that field.
My other favorite game in the terms of sound design is DOOM. There’s something about hearing the phrase, “Rip and Tear,” that sparks a sudden desire to annihilate demons. Between the battle sounds and dynamic music matching the carnage, the sound design is on point. This shows the 2 extremes to watch when mixing sounds in video games. You have the in your face aggressiveness of a game like DOOM and the artistic nuances in a game like Hellblade. Keep in mind the style you are going for while you look through this list of the best video game samples.
What To Look For When Choosing a Video Game Sample
When making our list we realized that there are many different types of games that you would need sounds for. To help with this we tried to find different types of sounds for games from violent first-person shooters, RPGs, mobile games, and more.
Pricing
In sample packs built for video games, there will be either a lot of samples you will use or a lot you won’t. That is the great part about subscriptions with Splice and Loopcloud, you can buy individual samples from a pack without having to take all of the ones you don’t want. You don’t always have that luxury with websites and sample packs but you can’t go wrong with having extra sounds.
Frequency of Use
If you are involved in sound design for games, trailers, videos, or whatever the platform, you can expect to use these samples more than once. If you are working on recurring projects in a series these are perfect. Luckily even if you use a sample only once, the cost of it is very low so it is worth it no matter what.
Skill Level
Luckily with these video game samples, there is not much additional work that needs to be done to get a great sound. If you are looking to make an even more unique soundscape, you will probably need to get some experience in shaping sounds and changing them to fit your idea, but if you are happy with the sounds as they are, you can add them to your session and simply adjust the faders to match your mix.
7 Best Video Game Samples
These Sample Packs are in no specific order but are all of the best quality. You will find some clear choices for your next project in these packs.
1. Bleeps & Bloops – Hardcore Arcade – Dome of Doom
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above
There are many retro game sound packs out there but this one has to be my favorite. Listening to it, you can hear how accurate and similar these sounds are to the old school Atari, Sega, and Nintendo games. There are creative sounds for jumps, hits, items, and coins that can be used as sound effects or edited to make an effective background track.
- Price: Available with Splice Subscription
- What is included? 125 Samples including sounds for
- Fx
- Leads
- Lasers
- Magic
- Mallets
2. Alchemy of Guns – A Sound Effect
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above
It is easy to see what this pack specializes in. With these weapon sounds you can create any sort of blaster and sound on this planet and across the galaxy. These samples work well on their own or in combination to create even more intricate sounds.
- Price: $50
- What is included?
- 1489 sounds
3. AAA Game Characters – Epic Stock Media
Who’s it for? Beginner and above
Don’t know any voice actors? Epic Stock Media has a list of fantastic character voices for many different genres and styles. In the AAA Game Character Packs, you can find demons to accompany the Doomslayer, elves, knights, and wizards to join your quest, and even sassy robots to lighten the mood.
- Price: Available with Splice Subscription
- What is included?
- Phrases
- Breathing FX
- Shouts
- Growls
- Laughs
4. Future Interference – PSE: The Producer’s Library
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above
If you want futuristic sounds for aliens and alien tech similar to Halo, Metroid, and Destiny, Future Interference is the place to look. There may not be as many samples as most other packs, but these fill a need that you do not find in other packs.
- Price: Available with Splice Subscription
- What is included? 48 One Shots
5. Card Game – Epic Stock Media
Who’s it for? Beginner and above
This is the perfect library of sounds for any type of card game whether it be a Gwent and Hearthstone style card game with battling or just a simple sudoku game. There are sound effects for flipping cards, magical effects, mechanical sounds, and all manner of background noises.
- Price: Available with Splice Subscription
- What is included? 503 Samples including
- Percussion
- Metallic
- Magic
- Items
- Foley
6. Cyberware – ShamanStems
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above
Just as in a previous pack, this is great for futuristic sounds as well as computers and technology. There are sound effects for many different circumstances here like walking down an empty hallway of a spaceship or an alarm going off. So many different creative sounds are available and if you listen through the sample list, you may even come up with new ideas for sound design in your projects.
- Price: Available with Splice Subscription
- What is included? 304 samples including
- Robotics
- Mechanical
- Stabs
- Drones
- Synths
7. Mobile Game and Mobile Game 2 – Epic Stock Media
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above
As cliché and repetitive as mobile games can be, they have many creative sounds within them. Epic Stock Media has created a library between these 2 packs that provide top-notch sounds that have been featured across many websites. Whether you are a puzzle game, fighting game, or RPG, there are sounds here for you.
- Price: Available with Splice Subscription
- What is included? 1,117 Samples including
- Music
- Menu sounds
- Actions
- Coins
- Health
The Final Step
Some people like to think of audio as the final step and it usually is. However, producers keep the sound design in mind for the entire creative process so they know what needs to be heard in each scene. There are so many different genres and styles of games to play that it can be hard to keep up with every sample pack there is. Luckily Splice has a great selection of not only video game samples but also Foley. And if you are looking for more sounds for ambiance and cinematics, Soundsnap is a perfect website to look at.
If you like to work with samples and are wanting to learn about other genres and instruments, we have a plethora of articles that look at many different genres and styles of samples here.
Jarrett is a hardcore Lover-Jazz Lover-Rock Lover-Blues Lover-just a music lover. He has the hair to match — Jarrett and provides in-depth insight into all things guitar and music engineering.