Half-Life and Doom. I struggle to think of two games that have influenced me more. Between the iconic, flickering corridors of Valve’s Black Mesa and the run-and-gun fury of id Software’s defining FPS, my own taste in videogames is irredeemably shaped by these giants of PC history. Without Half-Life, there would be no Counter-Strike 2, no Portal, no Left 4 Dead – maybe even no Steam. Take Doom out of the equation, and the shooter as we know it might never have existed. Now, Gordon Freeman and Doomguy are finally united, thanks to an imaginative new Doom mod that incorporates the instantly recognizable sounds and effects from Valve’s 1998 classic. It’s not exactly Half-Life 3, but it’s a heck of a substitute.
Created by modder ‘DASniperIC,’ the aptly-named ‘Doom with Half-Life sound effects’ does precisely the wonderful thing you’d expect. All weapon sounds are replaced with those from Valve’s monolithic FPS game, and all the enemies make the same grunts and noises as the inhabitants of Black Mesa. Shoot a zombie marine, and he shrieks like the Einstein/Dr. Coomer scientist. Blast an imp, and it releases the pained cackle of an unfortunate Vortigaunt. You can see the effects in the video below.
Even incidental, ambient noises get the Half-Life treatment. Elevators make that iconic Black Mesa buzz, item pickups trigger an HEV-suit-sounding alert, and the doors of the Phobos base now sound like they lead to the anomalous materials lab. There’s Half-Life music, and the Doomguy’s pain reactions have been replaced by the grunts of Barney. After years of ‘X with Half-Life sound effects’ videos, we’ve finally reached the ultimate, natural conclusion. These two titans of PC shooters go together perfectly. You can get Doom with Half-Life sound effects now.
Alternatively, give into your nostalgia and relive the PC heyday with the best old games. You might also want to find out about whatever happened to Half-Life 3, which is still going to come out, one day, I swear.