A rant on why I hate Silent Protagonists.

[Squilookle]

If given a choice, I'd take talking ones every time. Though my favourite GTA character is still the mute. I think it's because unlike Half Life, people bark orders at him and he goes off to do the deed: not talking makes sense. In Half Life it does not make sense- getting through all this stuff in one unbroken chain of events, having one sided conversations the entire time. No, sorry, does not work.

I actually love silent protagonists. I like being allowed to project my own thoughts, emotions, and judgments onto the situations through the character.

See, that's kind of an argument in favour of talkies. With silent protagonists you HAVE to do that. Not only is it optional with talkies, but you can have your thought train on it, and hear the character's as well. any way you look at it, it's more depth. And if you disagree with what the character is thinking/saying, it only serves to get you more engaged in the situation from a different perspective, wanting to test boundaries or act in the opposite way the character is thinking for laughs, or many other possibilities. It draws you more into enjoying the game.

 

[linwolf]

I feel that a lot of games are way better with a silent protagonist. It gives an other take on a story and makes it feel more like your are part of it.
But I do agree that not all game can benefit from this.

 

[Juraz]

I'd rather be a Freeman then a loud mouth space marine any day.

 

[AlternatePFG]

It depends on what kinda game it is. In an FPS, sometime it just seems stupid to have a silent protagonist. In an RPG, they should at least allow you to converse with people, whether you character has an actual voice actor or not. In horror games though, if the protagonist talks while exploring the game it kinda takes away from the atmosphere.

 

[GiantRaven]

The only silent protagonist I've felt to have worked was Gordon Freeman. I always prefer to play a voiced character.

edit: And by silent I should clarify that I don't mean they have to have a voice actor - just they have actual dialogue, even if this is only represented by text.