Why wouldn't they? It's called great sound design. Games of the 90s and early 2000s put a lot of effort in that. See Thief the dark project. Sound design can bring more immersiveness than graphics alone. It's something forgotten in many games of today that keep beating the ray traced graphics horse
I think it was a rhetorical question. I wasn't a big fan of the SS series, but those damn kamikaze still echo in my mind. I've even had nightmares about them...
Oh you can thank Creative for buying Aureal and throwing it in the trash. That crippled immersive/3D game sound design for a long time, I wouldn't be surprised if that had ripple effects l the way into today.
Also there is no need to rag on ray tracing, a nicely ray traced game look wonderful. Ideally we have a feast for eyes as well as ears though.
Huh, it didn't do anything for me, I dodged it on the first jump and caught it mid-flight baseball bat style. The pack of sonic dogs was way worse. And the beaked hydra, with the constant metal drumming, ugh.
The other thing is when it comes over the intercom: Forget about Freeman! Anyone still down there is on there own!
The worldbuilding in Half-life was so good. You weren't a character walking into rooms and enemies would attack you, like Doom and Quake. There was a big event happening, and you were just a part of it.