i don't mind silent protagonists as long as the game doesn't try to squeeze some emotion out of them or their situations like in Dead Space. Or when everyone around you is making dumb suggestions and you can't object to them like in F.E.A.R 2. But when you can communicate with others through text, even if you don't talk per-say like in Dragon Age or KOTOR, it's fine.
Your thoughts on 'mute' protaganists
- Thread starter Christopher Waldron
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It's dosen't actually hurt me...as long as there a dialouge option.
But I have a question..HOW COME MY DRAGON AGE CHARACTERS NEVER TALKS!? That was my first Bioware game...How come My character didn't speak like sherpard!? Sure, The Jade empire and Star wars folks never speak per se, but Man.
But I have a question..HOW COME MY DRAGON AGE CHARACTERS NEVER TALKS!? That was my first Bioware game...How come My character didn't speak like sherpard!? Sure, The Jade empire and Star wars folks never speak per se, but Man.
The important thing here is that the player is still defining Gordon Freeman, MY Gordon Freeman was a survivor who quickly adapted to his situation thus igniting the interest of the G-Man for his learning skills. If more adapt player were to go through the game and tear through the opposition like nothing then the G-Man would have an even better reason to keep his eye on Freeman as now he's observing a common scientist who already has the combat skills of a trained veteran the minute he picked up his first gun.WayOutThere said:
Again many gamers don't see that the challenges their decisions they make as a gamer to simply beat the game (what weapon the use, how to attack a certain enemy) can also be used to define their protagonist's character as well. Recently I completed a playthrough of Bioshock in which the only Plasmid I used were the ones given to me through story progression as a means of a self-handicap. However I cam to realize that this self-imposed restriction indeed makes sense within the game's universe. My Jack came into rapture and saw what sort of madness and destruction splicing had brought upon a civilization. Upon experiencing its devastating power and the physical pain that goes with wielding them he resolved to stay way from such forbidden knowledge as a way of maintaining his own code of honor and sanity. The sheer fact that my Jack was able to escape and in the process fight off several splicers and big daddies showed that regular human weaponry and a bit of cunning were just as powerful as any DNA modification you can subjugate yourself to thus showing how fruitless the research on Rapture truly was.
Actually Allen does talk. in the cutscene prior to No Russian. It's only 2 lines, so it's easy to miss, but yeah, he's a pretty unmemorable guy.lasherman said:
but while we're on the topic of MW2, it's a little silly that Soap talks throughout the entire game, until you take control of him again at the end, then all of a sudden he's back to being silent.
I can understand it on on the level that you want to be able to project your feelings and own character onto a blank canvas, but that's not generally how I like to see my games. Games are something to escape into, but to watch. We're controlling these little people, these creatures, making them do things to move the story along. Games are all big story books being read out to us, only we decide how quickly the story reaches it's end (linear gaming much?)
If I'm gonna sit through a story that'll take me days or weeks to get to the bottom of, I would love to see some interesting individuals, not just me every time I go to switch on a console.
If I'm gonna sit through a story that'll take me days or weeks to get to the bottom of, I would love to see some interesting individuals, not just me every time I go to switch on a console.
i hate them, it just shows laziness from the game creator and it only improves the game to have a character with great voice acting. However, in a game like Just Cause 2 it would have been much better to have a silent protagonist because the voice acting is horrible
thread = tl;dr, but I'm gonna challenge your "Gordon Freeman is the most famous mute protagonist" statement and say it's actually Link.
And I don't really mind him being mute, because a lot of the time his voice sounds super weird when he yells or gasps, and the other characters speak in such a way as to imply what Link said anyway.
And I don't really mind him being mute, because a lot of the time his voice sounds super weird when he yells or gasps, and the other characters speak in such a way as to imply what Link said anyway.
I noticed this too, haha. I also wondered why his hair in-game doesn't look anything like his hair on the cover art.Quixestic said:I always found Golden Sun amusing because of this - see, first game Isaac is 'mute', with only nodding or shaking his head for any form of communication, and then come The Lost Age.. and he's quite the chatterbox.
I understand WHY he didn't talk-talk at all in the first game, but it doesn't make it any less amusing.
I personally find silent protagonists annoying. I don't feel any sort of emotion if bad things happen to them and they're flat out boring.
The only time I've ever seen a silent protagonist (a little different from what you're talking about but I'll throw him out there) done well and actually cared about was Caim from Drakengard, but his mute-ness was a plot element and he still had character and personality. He wasn't a cardboard cut out.
The only time I've ever seen a silent protagonist (a little different from what you're talking about but I'll throw him out there) done well and actually cared about was Caim from Drakengard, but his mute-ness was a plot element and he still had character and personality. He wasn't a cardboard cut out.
It really does matter what kind of character it is. Like in Half Life or Chrono Trigger, where the story is mostly explained through other characters and the events that take place around them. Also, these type of characters are the "silent badass" archetype. The problem is, like in HL2: Episode 2, when these characters begin to have deep, personal relationships with people.
Two games I liked the whole mute thing in were Fable and Fable 2. I just figured that the main character stopped talking because of trauma, which made sense to me.
That and it let me make up a story about how my sociopathic pure good character drank acid as a child for a joke, my pure evil character had her tongue cut out and my second pure good accidentally bit off her own tongue while falling from a tower after being shot. Oh, and they were all telepaths like Garth, because of Will.
In general I don't mind the whole mute thing, as long as there is a reason for it. Soap McTavish not talking in MW then talking in MW2? No sense at all. Jack not talking? Giving the twists late ingame, I can see that working. I always just figured he was too terrified to say anything, not that he'd be able to get a word in edgeways on that radio even if he did.
That and it let me make up a story about how my sociopathic pure good character drank acid as a child for a joke, my pure evil character had her tongue cut out and my second pure good accidentally bit off her own tongue while falling from a tower after being shot. Oh, and they were all telepaths like Garth, because of Will.
In general I don't mind the whole mute thing, as long as there is a reason for it. Soap McTavish not talking in MW then talking in MW2? No sense at all. Jack not talking? Giving the twists late ingame, I can see that working. I always just figured he was too terrified to say anything, not that he'd be able to get a word in edgeways on that radio even if he did.
In some areas of the game silence annoys me, boss fights mostly, I'd at least expect some terrified screams and pants wetting.
I enjoy silent protagonists but on the other hand I also enjoy some voiced characters, but that depends on the VA and can go horribly wrong if you have a terrible voice actor. At least with silent protagonist you may be spared listening to an aweful voice, even if it's just a way to save some money. However in some cases it does work and Freeman is a brilliant example of it done well.
I reckon in some cases it is nice (in RPG's for example, as by not having the lead-Role(PlayingGame) being occupied by a personality, it allows the player to assume the role. I'm thinking Fable, Golden Sun 2, and games like that, just in case you were wondering.
This isn't to say I don't like vocal protagonists, like Ezio from AC2, or Sora from KH2, I just don't limit myself to one style.
This isn't to say I don't like vocal protagonists, like Ezio from AC2, or Sora from KH2, I just don't limit myself to one style.
