Silent Protagonist is Garbage

[The Brown Hornet]

How do u have a completely linear game like this, npc's talking to you and the character remains a complete mute? This isn't a highly customizable RPG where mute characters make sense, you can shape them how you want, this is a simple shootem up. I just can't get into HL2 on a story or even plot level, how can you when the protagonist "Gordon Freeman" is void, empty, and uninteresting. What the heck do you all find interesting about this game? Alyx?!!

I see people constantly begging for a Half Life 3 but it's not going to happen because silent protagonist games are rotting....the use of SP is lazy writing, an excuse to not craft a better story. Valve in my opinion has backed themselves into a corner of whether to give Freeman a voice or not. Though the proper move is to give him a voice Valve knows all you fanboys will cry and complain, "oh my god why is gordon talking!!" Guess its easier to avoid a third game than to actually write a character.

HL fans claim mute freeman is immersive I respectfully disagree, anytime someone is talking to Freeman and he is just standing there with no reaction whatsoever thats immersion breaking everytime!

[Zytel]

There are many silent protagonists who don't talk yet are able to comune with their surrounding. Link for instance, we don't see him talk and yet there are choises in some dialogues. There are moments in Half Life where people react to Gordon like Alyx saying: "Man of few words, aren't you?" or when you get to Black Mesa East and poke around Elis lab to get a response from him about somethings, like the newspaper articles about Seven hour War, photo of Elis family or the thing in tube et cetera.

The point of not giving Gordon a voice is not because it would break the tradition of Half Life, but because it would break the perfect illusion that player *IS* Gordon Freeman. This seems to be a make or break characteristics for some players as they can't seem to get in the character they take control of. But having a player character in the control for the entirety of the game (minus a few points where you lose this control) is what makes for the great imerssion. It takes its limited perspective to tell its story and to show the world we find ourselves in and it is done in an excellent way.
Also, if you say this is bad story writing, may I ask what is your definition of a good story?

When NPCs talk to Freeman they are talking to you, so whatever reaction you have is basically Gordons and the game being constantly in first person never breaks the immersion. Whatever success Freeman makes is all atributed to the player, his/her skill, resourcefulness and the ability to adapt to any dangers and challenges. Half Life is scripted, but it is not overly scripted, so you can still fail. It is a good gameplay and it is what also atributes to the imerssion into Gordon Freeman and the world he finds himself in.

TL;DR version: Your mileage about silent protagonists may vary, Half Life did it good.

[Chrizie]

to some, it's the most immersive method of gameplay, because he never disagrees with the player, but others it's the least immersive, because there are no similarities with the player and gordon. i understand both sides, and though i prefer voiced characters, i also like half life, wether gordon speaks or not.

[The Brown Hornet]

Messaggio originale di Zytel:

There are many silent protagonists who don't talk yet are able to comune with their surrounding. Link for instance, we don't see him talk and yet there are choises in some dialogues. There are moments in Half Life where people react to Gordon like Alyx saying: "Man of few words, aren't you?" or when you get to Black Mesa East and poke around Elis lab to get a response from him about somethings, like the newspaper articles about Seven hour War, photo of Elis family or the thing in tube et cetera.

The point of not giving Gordon a voice is not because it would break the tradition of Half Life, but because it would break the perfect illusion that player *IS* Gordon Freeman. This seems to be a make or break characteristics for some players as they can't seem to get in the character they take control of. But having a player character in the control for the entirety of the game (minus a few points where you lose this control) is what makes for the great imerssion. It takes its limited perspective to tell its story and to show the world we find ourselves in and it is done in an excellent way.
Also, if you say this is bad story writing, may I ask what is your definition of a good story?

When NPCs talk to Freeman they are talking to you, so whatever reaction you have is basically Gordons and the game being constantly in first person never breaks the immersion. Whatever success Freeman makes is all atributed to the player, his/her skill, resourcefulness and the ability to adapt to any dangers and challenges. Half Life is scripted, but it is not overly scripted, so you can still fail. It is a good gameplay and it is what also atributes to the imerssion into Gordon Freeman and the world he finds himself in.

TL;DR version: Your mileage about silent protagonists may vary, Half Life did it good.

a perfect silent protagonist in my opinion is Amaterasu from Okami, why because of the body language, you can tell what she is thinking, feeling based on her physical reactions to people and environments. With Freeman there is no body language cause its completely first person. Maybe 10 years ago when this game came out an SP was cool but it would flop these days...

[Zytel]

Messaggio originale di Dark Magician:

a perfect silent protagonist in my opinion is Amaterasu from Okami, why because of the body language, you can tell what she is thinking, feeling based on her physical reactions to people and environments. With Freeman there is no body language cause its completely first person. Maybe 10 years ago when this game came out an SP was cool but it would flop these days...

Not neccesary. SP is still the quintessential part of the video games (except for the ones that have none, ie. TF2) and people are quick to judge that MP should be the focus. That is why we can't have good games, or let me paraphraze it like this: thats why we must have good SP campaigns.
When you look back at some games you played and ejoyed ask yourself "why did I enjoy that game?". Sure, Gordon Freeman is a silent character, he may be completely shallow for that part, but he was a guy that was in a *good* game. Nobody talks about MP in Half Life that much, there are not that many people who play it, 1% if that much. It is the engrosing and engageing SP that brought the game to life
I look at Bioshock and S.T.A.L.K.E.R., last *best* FPS I played in last several years. They have silent protagonists (or semi-silent ones) and both offered a great SP campaign based on a certain motivation for the player to press on. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has MP, but just like in Half Life's case, the majority will go for the SP. Your opinion about Amaterasu is a sound one (thou I haven't played Okami), but there is a lot more for game than you allow yourself to believe.
A video game is a virtual reality and you interact within it. In Half Life you cannot express your feeling nor can you see them, but you can feel them as you interact with other characters. You are give a certain freedom that you don't get quite often. Most of the games today will involve a linear path and NPC will tell you what you have to do in order to advance. In Half Life you are fed the information about what is happening around you, wheter it be by NPCs or the surroundings showing you the current situation and you as Gordon Freeman react to it. You go around at your own pace, people talk to you and asssist and you solve the puzzles once you figure them. That's why the tagline for original Half Life is "Run. Shoot. Think. Live."
I'm sorry if I'm being biased and defensive about it all. Maybe its just our experiences about things are very different and we each percive the term "good" in our own ways. I don't think silent protagonists are a good thing, but I don't think they are bad, if they are given a good material.

[F1st Br34k3r]

Ahem...
http://www.gamespot.com/greatest-video-game-hero/standings/index.html

[The Brown Hornet]

Messaggio originale di F1st Br34k3r:

Ahem...
http://www.gamespot.com/greatest-video-game-hero/standings/index.html

I'm going to have to disagree with anyone who voted Gordon Freeman, liking the game and liking the character is two different things.

[GrimAquatic]

Messaggio originale di Dark Magician:

In going to have to disagree with anyone who voted Gordon Freeman, liking the game and liking the character is two different things.

Yet you dislike the game solely because you dislike the character. Hypocrisy is thy name.

[The Brown Hornet]

Messaggio originale di Zytel:

Messaggio originale di Dark Magician:

a perfect silent protagonist in my opinion is Amaterasu from Okami, why because of the body language, you can tell what she is thinking, feeling based on her physical reactions to people and environments. With Freeman there is no body language cause its completely first person. Maybe 10 years ago when this game came out an SP was cool but it would flop these days...

Not neccesary. SP is still the quintessential part of the video games (except for the ones that have none, ie. TF2) and people are quick to judge that MP should be the focus. That is why we can't have good games, or let me paraphraze it like this: thats why we must have good SP campaigns.
When you look back at some games you played and ejoyed ask yourself "why did I enjoy that game?". Sure, Gordon Freeman is a silent character, he may be completely shallow for that part, but he was a guy that was in a *good* game. Nobody talks about MP in Half Life that much, there are not that many people who play it, 1% if that much. It is the engrosing and engageing SP that brought the game to life
I look at Bioshock and S.T.A.L.K.E.R., last *best* FPS I played in last several years. They have silent protagonists (or semi-silent ones) and both offered a great SP campaign based on a certain motivation for the player to press on. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has MP, but just like in Half Life's case, the majority will go for the SP. Your opinion about Amaterasu is a sound one (thou I haven't played Okami), but there is a lot more for game than you allow yourself to believe.
A video game is a virtual reality and you interact within it. In Half Life you cannot express your feeling nor can you see them, but you can feel them as you interact with other characters. You are give a certain freedom that you don't get quite often. Most of the games today will involve a linear path and NPC will tell you what you have to do in order to advance. In Half Life you are fed the information about what is happening around you, wheter it be by NPCs or the surroundings showing you the current situation and you as Gordon Freeman react to it. You go around at your own pace, people talk to you and asssist and you solve the puzzles once you figure them. That's why the tagline for original Half Life is "Run. Shoot. Think. Live."
I'm sorry if I'm being biased and defensive about it all. Maybe its just our experiences about things are very different and we each percive the term "good" in our own ways. I don't think silent protagonists are a good thing, but I don't think they are bad, if they are given a good material.

You mentioned Bioshock and I have the same problem with that game, again I find the Silent Protagonist dull as it denies character depth and development. I have STALKER but havent played it yet, here's the thing, I dont remember the protagonist name in Bioshock or FEAR (another dull silent protagonist game) yet Freeman has a name, a background, even a face as seen on promotional material...even the powersuit he wears is a focal point, yet like Freeman himself you never see it in game. Fallout 3 has a protagonist with no voice but he's not silent, you can choose dialog during conversations, even that much alone would help make Half Life more immersive for me. But when I play Half Life I dont feel like Gordon Freeman, its a complete disconnect, I just was hoping to see a great interactive story unfold but Half Life 2 feels like your just going from point A to B while not accomplishing or learning anything (you didnt already know) along the way.....basically if Gordon is so smart then why is he so dumb? He doesn't think or do anything an NPC doesn't tell him do, thats not a character, thats a blank slate.

[The Brown Hornet]

Messaggio originale di GrimAquatic:

Messaggio originale di Dark Magician:

In going to have to disagree with anyone who voted Gordon Freeman, liking the game and liking the character is two different things.

Yet you dislike the game solely because you dislike the character. Hypocrisy is thy name.

I dont dislike the game, I just dont find it deep or anything amazing, its pretty basic, linear, and predictable. Nothing fascinating happens in this game but the shooting is fun...

[Zytel]

Messaggio originale di Dark Magician:

I dont dislike the game, I just dont find it deep or anything amazing, its pretty basic, linear, and predictable. Nothing fascinating happens in this game but the shooting is fun...

Did you finish the game?

[The Brown Hornet]

Messaggio originale di Zytel:

Messaggio originale di Dark Magician:

I dont dislike the game, I just dont find it deep or anything amazing, its pretty basic, linear, and predictable. Nothing fascinating happens in this game but the shooting is fun...

Did you finish the game?

Haven't started Episode 2 yet

[Zytel]

Then you are in for a surprise.

[the tickle monster]

Messaggio originale di Dark Magician:

I hate videos games with great immersion.

lol ok

[SOBRII]

The thing is, Gordon is saying what YOU are thinking or saying, technically. He also is "a man of few words" And in Blue Shift Barney says something that the player can't hear, but he says it anyway. So why not Gordon doing the same thing?

[The Brown Hornet]

Messaggio originale di Kurt the Celt:

The thing is, Gordon is saying what YOU are thinking or saying, technically. He also is "a man of few words" And in Blue Shift Barney says something that the player can't hear, but he says it anyway. So why not Gordon doing the same thing?

I dont see that, this isn't an RPG, I dont feel like Freeman at all, his character should of simply been developed in game, heck who wouldn't want to actually see or witness real interaction with Alyx? The only SP I can remember enjoying in a game was Dead Space but thats due to it being a survival horror in the vaccum of space! Playing Half Life I just see no point in Freeman being silent, there's plenty of people to meet, talk with, create intrigue, drama, etc... Its no surprise that the majority of what people know from this game comes from wikipedia, nothing is explained or interpreted in game!