This year, we were blessed with an inundation of a particular meme that would make anyone grateful for being alive to witness it. For some reason, people have decided it would be a worthy endeavor to dub any old videos with Half-Life sound effects (SFX), and boy are they right.
It appears as though the Meme Trail can be traced back to 2011 when some guy attempted to “bunny hop” in real life (the choice method of locomotion in many FPS games) and dubbed the experience with SFX from the original Half-Life. A few other videos of Half-Life dubs emerged thereafter, but the trend only really became a trend over the last year. People have now taken to slapping the SFX over just about anything. Here are some of the best ones.
10 Chernobyl Dubbed With Half-Life SFX
It is one of the best TV shows to grace our screens this year, and YouTuber TheMostUpset made it even greater by creating this beauty. Happily, there is also a Part 2 - Chernobyl: Unforeseen Consequences (Half-Life SFX)."
Chernobyl was an obvious candidate for this Half-Life memetic transformation, seeing as it’s all about unforeseen consequences and explosions and whatnot. It just works.
9 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim with Half-Life SFX
Here we see MaxBaik’s (very lengthy) hybridization of two legendary games that are absolutely dense with a varied assortment of incredibly meme-friendly content. They literally dubbed the entire Helgen sequence. It’s an actual and total masterpiece.
The introductory “you’re finally awake” sequence of the insanely successful Skyrim has itself become a bountiful source for memes (indeed, the entire game has in many ways). So this dub manages to hit two memes with a singular stone.
8 “Steamed Hams” But It’s Half-Life 1
We have another delightfully dank collision of two memes, the other being the infamous “Steamed Hams” scene from The Simpsons, which has itself gained an inexplicable amount of attention from the internet.
This single scene has been subjected to countless re-workings over recent months and has reached a rather legendary status among people who for some reason care about these things. This one features bonus visuals too: a floaty Gordon Freeman head and the classic HEV recharging station thing. The little things matter.
7 Gaben Plays Half-Life Dubbed With Half-Life SFX
TheMostUpset strikes again with this beaut. Half-Life designer and co-founder of Valve Software Gabe Newell - otherwise known simply as Gaben - is seen here back in ye olden days playing the original Half-Life on some monstrosity that would appear to be an ancient computer. He must surely be proud of where his and his colleagues’ own creation has taken us.
For the longest time, it was assumed that Gaben was doing literally anything besides making a new Half-Life game. In attempts to fill their Half-Life voids, some fans spent far too much time making this form of high art. The artiste behind this vid is evidently one of said fans, always doing their part in adding to this “mythical Tier 4” of memes, as one commenter puts it. We thank you for your service.
6 Cooking With Half-Life SFX: Pelmeni
Why not spice up the menial domestic chore of cooking with some super sick Half-Life effects? That’s what our serial dubber TheMostUpset did, and now it’s difficult to imagine ever being subjected to watching someone cook pelmeni without the accompanying whooshing and whirring sounds native to Black Mesa.
The footage here is so authentically Half-Life in nature that one snarky commenter stated: “I thought this was in-game footage of Half-Life: Alyx.” But of course, we can all likely agree Alyx couldn’t possibly be as scintillating as this.
5 “That’s The Wrong Number” But It’s Half-Life SFX
“You got the wrong airlock Mr. Freeman” says Barney, that overly sassy security guard. What nerve, telling the Gordon Freeman what airlock is what. Like he even knows.
The lip-synching might not be all there with this one, but the screaming takes the cake. Also, “extreme heat damage detected.” Absolutely perfect.
4 Jurassic Park Dubbed With Half-Life SFX
Everything about this one is just so funny. It’s also one of the more skilfully-executed Half-Life dubs. The creator, Cremator, did us a great service indeed. The scientist’s voice fits Dennis Nedry uncannily.
Also, as pointed out in the comment section, the fact that Dennis here looks just a wee a bit like Gabe Newell himself really just adds to the humor.
3 The Black Mesa Incident
This is obviously high-definition footage of what really happened on that fateful day at Black Mesa Research Facility. Frightening stuff indeed.
The original video of some guy chucking a brick into a running washing machine was more than enough on its own, and now we have this. “Half-Life memes are back. This is the best time to be alive,” says Smoll, a commenter on the video. And we couldn’t agree more.
2 Star Wars Dubbed With Half-Life SFX
It’s difficult to decide which part of this one is the best. Darth Vader’s labored breathing, Princess Leia’s Barney voice, Obi-Wan Kenobi as The G-Man; it’s all totally brilliant.
One has to stop and admire the effort and commitment that comes with creating videos like this. Most of us get to sit back and enjoy the meme-coaster ride, while AtikinMod and others do all the hard work. And we’re entirely thankful for that.
1 Half-Life: Alyx But With Half-Life 1 SFX
What did you expect? Half-Life dubbed with Half-Life is exactly the kind of totally redundant and unnecessary twaddle that we need in order to keep going until the next Alyx finally arrives in March 2020. And that’s only if they don’t end up delaying it.
Whilst trawling for all these videos we noticed one particular comment: “Is this new meme a protest for Valve to give us hl2.5.” Obviously it worked.
NEXT: 10 Games That Revolutionized First-Person Shooters
