Gordon Freeman to Remain Mute

[ntw3001]

I am sorry to hear this...


Oh well, Gordon himself is a TERRIBLE character. No personality or anything...He is the worst kind of protagonist. A silent one who everyone in-game likes for no reason as though he used to talk to them and they developed a close friendship.

Good, if over-rated, games, horrible main character. When a headcrab named Lamarr has more personality then the hero, you've got a shitty hero.

Maybe he should talk Saint's Row 1 style. Like, a single line at the end of every major landmark in the story.

Also, if they did ever give him a voice, hire Nolan North.

... Every major character likes him because he saved all their lives. Therefor since he did something good, they imprint other "good" things upon him. But no one ever references anything he said.

Hes kinda like a dog with high powered weaponry that always shows up whenever shit is bad. He is their deus ex machina.

Thing is...even in the first game, BEFORE THE LIFE SAVING, people acted like he'd spoke to them before.

He worked there. They were his coworkers. Those who didn't already know him personally had been made aware of the power-armoured scientist fighting his way through the facility because that is the sort of thing people take the trouble to mention. Play the game and take note of the number of times scientists or guards say something long the lines of 'You must be Gordon Freeman. [Someone from a previous area] told us you'd be coming. You should go this way.' They're not responding to his personality; they're responding to his actions.

I'm not interested in hearing what Valve thinks I think Gordon Freeman should be saying. He's one of the best characters in gaming because he's written by me, for an audience which consists of me. I sure as hell don't complain that I'm a lazily-made, cardboard character. Bad game writing has the player watch a character do things. Good game writing allows the player to inhabit the story in the shoes of the character.

 

[Treblaine]

I honestly like Gordon the way he is.
Plus, as others have said, if he talked now, I wouldn't know what to think.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." <= This pretty much covers my thoughts on the topic.

And as a character himself? I'm not entirely sure what to think... I like him.
If he began to talk... It would need to be done so very well at this point, so as to offset the fact that everyone's favourite mute main character... isn't so "mute" anymore.

Plus, despite some of the caps... This guy here makes some really good points, particularly in the 4th, 5th and 6th paragraph of this post.

*snipped*

I guess what I'm saying is... If he started talking, fine. But it better not be too much, and it better be done practically perfectly.
However, I'd prefer him to stay just the way it is. It's working wonders so far.

One idea I had for you to indicated Gordon to say Yes or No is quite simply to nod your head by looking up and down, or shake your head by looking side to side quickly. Circular gaze "gesture" could indicate... well what would you think if you saw someone do that, rolling their eyes, they don't like the question.

I use the gesture all the time in online games where I forgot my mic, easier to look up and down enthusiastically than look for the hot-key for yes or no.

I actually like this, it gives a feeling of control and personality you just don't get with a hot-key response. The nod speed reflects your enthusiasm and so on, even if the NPC may not even register that enthusiasm, you get the feeling you are expressing your opinions, not just the feelings of a character in the game.

And yes, I realise that is exactly how Alyx and Dog communicate, one speaking and the other depending on gestures.

 

[gamefreakbsp]

Good. Gordon Freeman is fine the way he is.

 

[T-Bone24]

I don't mind him not having a voice, it's that he doesn't have feet or a torso that annoys me.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I wish he could talk

Spoiler

when Eli his best friend from Black Mesa dies he doesn't react to it like a normal main protagonist would have done

Your reaction is his reaction.

Gordon was in tears.

 

[johnman]

Valve do an excellent job of scripting things so that Freeman doesnt really need a voice. Most game voice overs merely point out somthing you are alreay looking at, for example pointing out "Oh noes! everythings exploding!" while your running around surrounded by explosions.
The only example I can think of right now is Nomad in Crysis during the ship section.
Him: "Theres no grafity"
You: "I guessed that right back when I started floating around you nob"

I wish he could talk

Spoiler

when Eli his best friend from Black Mesa dies he doesn't react to it like a normal main protagonist would have done

So while I was sat their gapping at the scene unfold I would have some dick gobbing off in my ear about how upsetting the scene is?

 

[syndicated44]

I prefer my Freeman silent. I much prefer it over some gravely voice yelling something stupid. Plus I like to think he communicates by winking out morse code.

 

[signingupforgames]

The way it is supposed to work is that as a FPS YOUR the one who has to ascribe a personality to Gordon Freeman. Making him talk would probably break with the suspected personalities people give him. Leaving him mute means we can have the silent strong glaring type and the insane jump on everything try to shoot everyone and drive like a maniac Freeman at the same time.

 

[wildpeaks]

It's only right that he remains mute, cos really, WHO would voice him?

This may not be a perfect fit, but Morgan Freeman would give an interesting result imho:

 

[King Kupofried]

It's only right that he remains mute, cos really, WHO would voice him?

This may not be a perfect fit, but Morgan Freeman would give an interesting result imho:

...I was going to say that I didn't want Gordon to have a voice but..
Holy crap lets make that happen.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

*snip*
No, I'm going to try to be polite but I feel the rage rising because I can sense the tide and I can tell people are just gravitating towards Hollywood style conventions of protagonists, that is all right for some shallow console game like Uncharted.. but NOT HERE.

And sorry, you may be able to control conversation trees of Shepard in Mass Effect but you don't inhabit the character, at best you feel just like a director of a film, you are just controlling someone else's performance. It ends up more like and Real-Time-Strategy, you just get disconnected.

I mean just consider the more "hard-core" Bioware titles like Dragon age, which although giving you conversation trees keep your character mute.

This is SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT for Role Playing Games where the entire purpose is feeling like you inhabit the character and the only way to achieve that is to have as much control if not absolute control over every DEFINITIVE thing they do.
See when characters speak, even with the control you have in Mass Effect, there is so much in precisely how and what you say which you cannot control, the more automatic thing your character does the less it becomes you being the character and more you just observing them. And talking from a 1st person perspective is just WEIRD! A voice coming out of our own head that isn't yours, saying things, not necessarily the way you want them said.

Dragon Age Origins has a good compromise, you can control what you said but it is mainly short, direct and objective questions purely for the purpose of getting the NPCs to say the things you are interested in and not to force any characteristics on your own playable avatar.

I'm not saying Mass Effect is a terrible game because it gave Commander Shepard a soul, it's there isn't room for two.

One thing I wished they'd do with the GTA series is since they have taken to giving the protagonist really interesting characteristics they should address how they say and do a lot of things to other NPCs yet when the cutscenes end they may do something completely contradictory once the player is given control again.

I'd love it if Nico Bellic admitted in cutscenes he didn't know why he did some things, like as if something else was controlling his compulsions. The story could hint that the old career criminal has gone quite insane, with a split personality partially taking over that did not care who dies, if Nico dies and sees death and destruction as a game with no consequences... and it would be implied that this psychotic alternate personality is YOU the player.

Of course to you the player it is all just a game, but imagine what the characters in the game would think, this guy ploughs through pedestrians as if they are just straw men, they talk compassionately on one hand then go on a killing spree just to see the blood splatter.

Well that's the way I see it, the GTA series is quite literally schizophrenic insanity, I'd just love it if the games plot could explore that.

You might want to look at Alpha Protocol. I believe they had you select a tone of voice and the dialogue. I'm not sure. Haven't heard much on the game in a while.

And for GTA, the missions are canon. Not your mindless killing rampages. Besides, what if you, the player, never go on said rampages? The story would be REALLY fucked up. GTA keeps its story and its sandbox violence separate, for the most part. And it works.

 

[Dannyboy1186]

I think its quite a talent to make a slient protagonist likable but its seems Valve have done that. Good work.

 

[Fightgarr]

I hear a lot of people talking about Dr. Freeman as an empty vessel to put yourself in. If that's true then he wouldn't have a face. A faceless character such as Bioshock's character or even someone like Master Chief are much easier to imagine as oneself. Valve have clearly given him a face, despite never seeing it whilst playing. And as much as they might want you to project yourself into the character, you are still going to be a bespectacled guy with a beard. If you feel that you are Gordon Freeman when you play, that's fine but I must agree with people who think it's not the best method of doing things. I feel the same way about your ability to run into a corner, crouch and hide while people are still talking to you as if you were right in front of them. Sure you never leave your perspective, but it certainly is immersion breaking as all hell. As much as Gabe Newell might think they should stick to their guns, it seems archaic and lazy from my perspective.

 

[StriderShinryu]

My one big issue with the people who insist not making Gordon Freeman speak makes him, in essence, us: He has a visual design. Slightly Nerdy Guy #17 in a HEV suit isn't me, whether he speaks or not. If they wanted me to "be" Gordon Freeman then why did they create him and put his picture on the box.

 

[DoctorWhat]

Has anyone thought that perhaps he is an autistic savant? He is really smart and dealing with insane physics and such as his old job. And generally autistic people do not have strong communication skills.

Or maybe he is a mute and has always just been doing sign language.

Or maybe he is just fine the way he is and people should leave him alone.

Sign language with crowbars... It could work!

When asked for a comment, Gordon Freeman declined to answer.

In other news... Half-Life: Episode 3 will be released tomorrow. APRIL FOOLS!!! [small]wait... What do you mean I'm four days late?[/small]

 

[Corn Cutter]

Oh well, your choice. When Alyx asked Gordon a question in that elevator, I thought it was pretty immersion-breaking when he didn't even say "I don't wanna talk now".

the advantage of a not speaking hero is IMO the better immersion.
When playing Halflife I was the hero and when Alyx was asking me in the elevator then it was me who answered. yes, literally, in front of my screen.

You are the one who is walking through the world and deciding what to do. A heroic, sarcastic or macho comment at the wrong time can destroy this immersion when you are not in the same mood.

In other games you have to put yourself into somebody else for a working immersion and often you would act totally different, in HL you are the hero.

 

[shwnbob]

Gordan can't talk. He's awesome just the way he is! Mute but bad ass!