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Good Idea, Bad Idea: The silent protagonist
NihonTiger90
\\ 02.10.2008
57 comments

[NihonTiger90 takes a look at the silent protagonist in today's contribution to the Monthly Musings. -- CTZ

One of the biggest issues in gaming that has and persists as a major debate is the nature of the silent protagonist -- the guy who doesn't speak, but still manages to get the point across anyway.

But is this a bad thing or a good thing? It's not always easy to decide, but there are strong cases for both. Hit the jump on what I think are good and bad examples of the silent protagonist. 





In many traditional franchises, the protagonist could do without voice acting. Link in Wind Waker and Paper Mario (with limited voice acting) stand out as great examples of how displaying simple emotions in place of voice can work just as effectively. With these two characters, you get a firm grasp on what's going on without them so much as muttering a word. It also lets you place your own words and voices onto the characters, giving the player freedom to dictate what exactly Mario might be saying when he's explaining something, even though we all know how his voice sounds.
Consequently, some characters who can now speak were better off silent. Sonic himself might not be the strongest case, but it's one you can make if you really try. Some of the voice acting in the Sonic series is just ... ugh. It hurts me to hear what they've done to some of the characters. I honestly wouldn't mind if Sonic went silent next time around or reverted to text-based dialog.

Other more modern franchises have taken this approach, most recently being Half-Life 2. Gordon Freeman is incredibly silent, yet the story unfolds in a way that it doesn't matter about Gordon not talking -- you feel like you are him, that you are plopped into the story. You feel like you can talk back to Alyx and G-Man, even though you're still silent and Alyx does make fun of that. Still had Gordon decided to talk, it might make you think "Oh, I'm just playing as a guy and I gotta shoot that guy over there." not as "Oh crap! Enemy! Kill it!!!!!"

Depending on how the game is structured, a silent protagonist can work wonderfully.



But it's not always great to have the quite protagonist. Sometimes, it's harmful to the game. Especially when you step out of the first-person view, or when you change characters, but keep the main player as a silent protagonist.

For example, let's look at Golden Sun. In the first one, Isaac is mute while Felix speaks. In the next game, Isaac has a voice while Felix mysteriously goes silent. Similarly, Breath of Fire went from the silent Ryu and talkative Nina to a taking Ryu and a silent-because-we-said-so Nina. These sudden changes are actually really silly. Why does one character who suddenly speak go silent, and vice versa?

One game that stands out in my mind as a game that could've used a talking protagonist is Grand Theft Auto III. While it was a truly revolutionary game, not being able to hear Claude so much as utter a word when he gets shot by Catalina or when Salvatore double-crosses him just makes him seem, well, weak. The other characters tell the story, and it's like Claude really doesn't even matter. I remember playing GTA III and feeling no connection to the main character, unlike when I was playing through GTA: San Andreas. There's a huge different between CJ and Claude. While Claude's just a run-of-the-mill thug, CJ's voice acting allows us to not only connect more with him, but understand what his main goal is: cleaning up the 'hood as an act of penance after his mother's murder. Through his voice acting, we see a change we don't see in Claude, and it's that reason why I actually completed San Andreas instead of stopping halfway through like I did with GTA III.

Voice acting does add an element to characters that doesn't always exist when they're silent. Wind Waker is something of an anomaly in my book, in that we only see Link develop as a full character because his reactions and facial expressions are so dynamic that they almost speak for him.

So that's the black and white of it all. But is there ... a gray area?



The answer is yes. Characters with limited voice acting that are generally silent may be the compromise of the future, and the chief example of this is Master Chief (no pun intended). Chief spends most of the Halo trilogy silent, speaking up only at key times, and it works beautifully. Bungie doesn't waste his words at moments when they're useless, only when they're most opportune. It not only makes Chief look like a bad-ass, but it also lets the player feel like they are in Chief's shoes. This fact is probably one of the most over-looked features of the entire Halo series. You not only feel immersed in the action, but you feel like you're a part this epic story, especially in Halo 3.

If any stance becomes the status quo in the gaming community, please let it be something like this. At least until voice recognition technology comes along that lets you put your own voice in the game.



57 COMMENTS, LATEST BY Dexter345
Nice read. -    view discussion




There are 57 comments about this post:
Christiangamer's Avatar
Great Article. Agreed with all of it.
McSnow's Avatar
I never enjoyed Link being a silent protagonist, Nintendo have this habit of having NPCs reply to Link as if he just said something, eg: ....Oh so you have just come from Death Mountain you say?
Though you never saw him talk they always implied that he did and in my opinion that destroys the whole idea of having a silent protagonist.
Gordon Freeman is the true example of a silent protagonist, you can play all of the Half Life episodes without every stopping to wonder why he never opens his mouth. Because of this you find yourself deeply connected to the game and its plot line.

Good post.
notdryad's Avatar
I don't like the idea of adding voice acting to characters that pre-date voice acting in video games, which is why characters like Link should never have a voice actor. It would ruin people's perception of what Link should sound like.

I know fanboys'll jump on this like white on rice but I honestly think that silent protagonists like Crono are a bad idea. What did it honestly do for the game to make Crono into this guy who saves the world and basically says nothing? Why was he even a mute at all? SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER I think that Crono's sacrifice in the Ocean Palace would have been much more powerful if he actually talked and, you know, had a personality.
Chad Concelmo's Avatar
Great article, man. I couldn't agree with you more. :)
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
I don’t know. I kinda liked that the guy didn’t speak in GTA III; it allowed me to project my own feelings on the character. Also, since that game was the first one in full 3D (and was an unknown quantity), it didn’t have a massive budget (remember, original music only), so I’m not convinced they could’ve found someone to voice him well. You know how you read books and form an image of the character from the description, and then a movie is made from the book, and its vision is completely different from the image you had in your head? That’s kinda why I like the silent protagonist in that particular game.
mariohammer's Avatar
Silent Bob is incredibly bad ass for the same reason that Master Chief is. Haha, good read.
Petrie's Avatar
Truly depends on the character, you're right. I'm currently playing Persona 3, and I quite enjoy that I am able to sort of empathize more with the main character, thanks in part to his silence. Definitely not always a great idea though.
Necros's Avatar
The main reason why Isaac suddenly talked in Golden Sun: The Lost Age while Felix was silent is actually explained in your first section. It is meant to put you in the shoes of the main character of each game. It wouldn't make sense for Felix to continue talking in The Lost Age because you're supposed to be talking for him, making decisions and inputting your own opinions, not his. Similarly, Isaac is out of your control in The Lost Age, so it would make sense that, in the absence of player control, he would have to develop opinions independently. While you could debate about whether that is effective storytelling and whether or not it's detrimental to character development, I for one found it to be a nice touch by the developers in communicating their vision of putting you in the game.

Furthermore, I agree that Master Chief is a good middle ground, precisely because he talks. Sure, it eliminates some of the player immersion, since he is expressing his own opinions, but it really highlights what you are supposed to feel: the rush of combat. Other parts of his brain may be controlling his words, but you are the part of him concentrating on combat, making all his battle decisions that are not voiced. In effect, you might feel like an additional AI, alongside Cortana. Or maybe I'm just reading into it too much.

@ JimJamDaSnowman

I disagree with your view of Link. The purpose of the silent protagonist is to make you feel as though you were in the game. Link should not be the one telling NPCs about coming from Death Mountain, you should be. Therefore, it's assumed that you, the player, are telling them things, and the conversation progresses from there. I remember a scene in Twilight Princess where Link is asked by Telma if he will be able to protect their caravan from the goblins along the road. As the camera zooms in on his face, I mentally thought "yeah, I think I can manage," to which Telma replies "alright, good luck." If done right, the game should make the player think of the correct response without actually putting it in the game. I think that, even if Twilight Princess were fully voiced except for Link, the effect would still work.

Apologies for the super-long comment. I think about these things way too much.
Fleet3000's Avatar
agreeing in 3...

2...

1...

agreed.
king3vbo's Avatar
BRIAN MCWIERDNAME
jackdoe's Avatar
I personally don't like the idea of the silent protaganist. Developers say that having a silent or near silent protaganist brings the player closer to the character but I disagree. It brings a kind of disconnect to the game. I for one wished that there would be a voice for Link or a voice for Gordan Freeman. I want to know what they as a character think instead of what I would think if I were in their shoes. I want to know what Freeman thinks about Alyx and what Link thinks about Zelda. What are their feelings for them? I know what I would think already. I want to know what they think. I also wish MC would have a bigger voice in the Halo games, he has a lot to say in the Halo books which is partially the reason why he is so much more endearing in the novels than in the games. That is probably why I like the narrative of Uncharted so much. Nathan Drake isn't a silent protaganist. He reacts to what happens, he speaks his mind about things. I actually felt more connected because he wasn't silent. I connected with Snake because I understood him as a player. He spoke about his points of views and his past. With a silent protaganist like Gordan Freeman you have no idea what his past was like. And with a limited silent protaganist like Master Chief or Nathan Hale, you feel disconnected from the character as well. What was the Chief thinking as he inched closer and closer to Cortana in Halo 3? What did Hale do that made him so suicidal? These are the things I want characters to talk about. But silent protaganists do work when the game isn't about them. CoD 4 is a good example. The game isn't about Soap or Jackson. It is about the events happening around them. But this isn't the case for Zelda, Half-Life, Halo, Metal Gear. The games are heavily involved with their characters.
Gong's Avatar
"Wake me when you need me." is probably one of the most poignant video game quotes I've heard. For a character that says so little, that just meant so much.

Nice article. Agreed with everything you said.
drMario1337's Avatar
So yeah, I agree with all of what was mentioned. The silent protagonist is always the best of the bunch, especially in the case of Paper Mario and Wind Waker. Wind Waker would have been TOTALLY different with VO.
Holyetheline's Avatar
I would love voice recognition tech... that's a sweet idea.. Excellent points and blog.
ZombieLifeTaker's Avatar
Ha! Great article man, I also wrote a short article about this awhile ago if you want to read it I would be glad. (it didnt get much attention)

http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/ZombieLifeTaker/current-trend-in-gaming-that-bugs-me--61099.phtml
Rocknor the Bringer of Words's Avatar
Good write up. I would just like to add that another excellent example of a "middle ground" game is Shadow of the Colossus. The Wander doesn't speak much, but it is very easy to get connected to him and his quest to resurrect his fallen love.
Kryptinite's Avatar
Awesome write up!

I don't know how I feel about a silent protagonist. I mean, you pretty much nailed it :).

if done write it works wonders :)
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
I'm fully behind the idea of the silent protagonist... I think it's much more effective in many ways. I actually enjoyed "Claude" (Sorry, I'll always think of him as Fido) being mute in GTAIII, but I thought going with voices for the sequels made much more sense for those stories. Great read!
moonkid's Avatar
Great blog and well worthy of the front page.

I think I prefer the silent protagonist, it works brilliantly in HL2 especially, as you noted. I like to imagine myself as Freeman and that all Freemans being played around the world sound just like me, with a Northern English accent. To hear him speak would shatter this illusion for me.

Plus I think that the standards of voice acting in games still needs a lot of improvement overall, the majority of it is barely even competent.
Count Grishnack's Avatar
"...to get the point across anyways."
Should probably be anyway, no S.

"a silent protagonist can work wonderful."
Wonderfully.

/grammar Nazi

Anyway, very nice points. I personally don't like silent protags. I thought the main guy in Bioshock had no soul and would have benefited greatly from a Freedman-esque touch - i.e. a face and some persona.
grrza's Avatar
Good read, though I would group Mario's small bit of voice acting with Sonic. I hate what his voice has become - an embarrassing, falsetto, stereotyped Italian accent. Even though he's supposed to be a plumber from Brooklyn? Mario will always have the voice of Captain Lou Albano in my head.
e4te's Avatar
I think one other factor to consider is if your character is voice acted, but sounds like a twat. It can really turn you off to the story, and the character development if your character is has a grating voice, or a poor voice actor. I wonder if I would consider half-life in the same way if Gordon could talk, but his voice was poorly done.
Syn's Avatar
The silent protagonist is a great function, it forces the game's creators to give that particular person more character, and it also removes the possibility of the person having a suck ass voice (Tidus). Crono, Link, Ryu, Tir and Riou are my favorite silent protagonists.
IceMax's Avatar
Thought you touched on it briefly, I think that facial expressions can make a silent protagonist much better. For example, in GTA III, Claude never even moves a muscle in his face, which makes him an entirely two dimensional character. However, in the Zelda games (specifically the 3D Zelda's) Links facial expression certianly express Link's additude and feelings. I do wish that NPC's had voice acting, as it would add greatly to the games.
Dersu's Avatar
I always assumed that silent protagonists mainly existed because they were avatars. We speak and think for them and they more-or-less become the video game equivalents/extensions of ourselves. In many respects, this is a good thing, especially due to the fact that some (possibly many) video game writers don't know how to create good, believable dialogue. There have been cases where the main character in a game will say something and I'm basically thinking, "Oh shit, no, you fucking idiot, don't say that!" It takes me out of the experience because I don't want to be playing as this character anymore. In the end, it's all about execution, if the designers can make a silent character work better than a talkative one, then use the silent character, if they want a talkative character, then they'd better be able to write worthwhile dialogue.
Silverhertz's Avatar
Iread this before it was famous and still agree - glad fame hasnt changed you nihon...you roll deep boi!

@icemax:

Its all about the facials. I love it when link does his huh? face.
ZonerDude's Avatar
Silence is golden. I turned off GTA when Ray Liotta tried to add 'personality' to the game. The moment the main character started talking, I felt less connected.
Jonathan Holmes's Avatar
Nice article!

As for me, I never want voice acting in my games, ever. I want my games to be like digital, moving comic books, not like movies.

But more to the point, one really can't say if it's better or worse for a game's protagonist to have their own voice, spoken or otherwise. It totally depends on the game.
Projectexodus's Avatar
Most of the times I guess its good not give characters too much personality. Link is a perfect example of that.

@Count Grishnack: Not really. Because the main strength in Bioshock is that YOU are the protagonist.
Paroxysm's Avatar
Silent protagonists totally break immersion in a game for me most of the time because they are rarely every blank slates where we create who they are. They have set personalities that other characters respond to which you can't change yet when you're asked a question suddenly *nothing* but you can't answer everyone just pretends you've answered and you weren't even given a choice. So there's no decision making for the player but they think having the character speak will ruin things?

There's a reason you see most half life players running around during scripted conversations hitting monitors with the crowbar and jumping on top of things. They aren't playing a character. They are merely watching events they aren't involved in don't feel connected enough to behave more appropriately to the situation at hand.

I think Half life is excellent but Gordon's silence is a bad choice and damages the experience for me.
Hiltz's Avatar
Link is unique in that Miyamoto designed him in such a way that the player and Link form a special bond if I'm not mistaken. Link's experiences are the player's experiences which is why he doesn't need to actually speak and have a mind of his own or need character development. Link's reactions are supposed to mirror the player's own reactions.

Link is simply the vessel filling in the role of the mysterious hero. He's not like other characters such as Kratos from God of War or Ratchet & Clank.

Personally, most of my favorite video game characters are of the silent type.


Other characters benefit greatly from voice acting especially when the dialouge is well written like in Killer 7 for example.
Justice's Avatar
Great article, comepletely on point!
B-Radicate's Avatar
I like your article. I think there are certain games that really do simply work better because of the silence (HL2, BioShock (aside from grunts and groans), Shadow of the Colossus, and Metroid Prime 3 are amongst some of the best).

However, I think a game like Super Mario Galaxy is completely appalling to play through because of the lack of voice acting. Hearing lil smarmy verbalizations instead of words really grates on my nerves. The first thing I said when I started playing was that the game reminded me of a cartoon or Pixar film. That was also the first idea I dismissed after realizing there would be no spoken dialog throughout the adventure.

Mario is over 20 years old. He's had endless games, movies, and TV series with him in it. We know what he sounds like. God damn it, give his game some charming and deservingly high quality voice-acting. It worked for MP3, it can work for Mario.

I guess in the end it really comes down to the particular tale being told. Overall, good stuff. Keep it up.
Crumpet Lips's Avatar
The silent protagonist only works with a few gaming formula's. Having seen a great deal of Half Life 2, I know this works for this specific story, as well as the Zelda series. It also works for things such as Metroid (although they did quite a bit of voice acting work on MP3).

I agree with Sonic being done terribly, the voice acting is terrible (but so is Sonic in general when it is in 3D). Castlevania: Symphony of The Night was also a good example of TERRIBLE voice acting. The voice overs literally sounded like they were reading the script for the first time without ANY emotion in their voice at all. They all sounded like monotone robots.
DV2FOX's Avatar
AGREE...characters without voice SUCKS,like Dragon Quest VIII..u just follow orders and u kno' nothin' about the main chara...

best game that they speak: XIII
Eschatos's Avatar
I prefer silent protagonists, except in multiplayer games.
skruloos's Avatar
I'm with you Jonathan Holmes. I don't care about my games being Interactive Movies. I want my games to be games and I don't need excessive voice acting to do it. And that goes for cut scenes. I simply don't care for them.

It's probably why I'm not a huge fan of RPG's.
ToxinBlackheart's Avatar
Well said!

Your examples were perfect, and spot on!
falinter's Avatar
If a game has a working silent-protagonist you won't notice it for quite some time. Your brain automatically fills in the parts that your character isn't saying on screen.

I know when I first bought Golden Sun 1, I played through it in almost one sitting and it wasn't until I played Golden Sun The Lost Age did I realize that Issac never talked.

Grant it, I was younger then and I can spot it much quicker now. For example Half Life 1 when released I didn't notice for quite some time.
I remember speaking to the computer screen while I played. "Good work Gordon!"
me: "yeah your damn right! I'd like to see you do that!"
Half Life 2 though you expect Gordon to be silent.



SIDE NOTE: I am still hoping and praying for Golden Sun 3 and Golden Sun characters in Brawl.
BA Chieftain's Avatar
Super Mario RPG:

Mario having to mime all of his thoughts because even in an era where there was no real voice acting... he didn't even have speech bubbles. And showing that he was so good at mime, that his sprite would even change into the characters he was portraying.... brilliant.
hood_954's Avatar
In regards to Master Chief, i must say that in terms of character devlopment, the voice acting did nothing to help. The few lines we hear issue from his mouth are in my opinion, utter rubbish. There is only one line in the entire game which I like, and that is "Wake me when you need me", which sort of establishes him as a legend, myth and hero of earth (which he so rightfully is). Otherwise he should have stayed silent. The voice acting ruined the immersion for me, and i found that it didn't really justify and point out the entire seriousness of Master Chief and the entire earth's situation. The earth is enslaved by an alien empire and mankind is on the brink of destruction, yet the voice with what MC speaks is monotonic(?) maybe even with a hint of humour? LAME. the impact of his final line "Wake me when you need me" would have such a greater effect if he had remained silent throughout the series. I also feel it would have made him seem more humane, like through the ravages of war and the losses he had gone through seen had greatly affected him and made him into a silent protagonist.

With Claude with GTAIII, that definitely was a bad idea to mak him silent. The player has no connection really with Claude, and after a few hours of playing, I couldn't give two shits about him. I stopped playing halfway because of this. Every cutscene before a mission was like "Hey! You go have to go there, kill that guy and i'll give you money" And Claude obeys mindlessly like a robot. That's exactly what it felt like to be controlling Claude. As if you were just controlling a robot to do what everyone else wanted. Not much sense of immersion at all. San Andreas has by far, IMO, the best voice acting in the entire series, and I can only hope that GTAIV can stand up to what San Andreas brought to the series.
A Dead Moose's Avatar
I absolutely HATE silent protagonists, with the exception being Gordon Freeman. Because it's always in first person, it's immersing and not just annoying.
Where as with Link, well, he can just go fuck himself for being a mute.
Y0j1mb0's Avatar
Great read & on point..Congrats NihonTiger!!
SourGr8pes's Avatar
I don't get where this mythical fairy tale hogwash about silent protagonists comes from. "Become immersed and interactive with the character..." Whatever, have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who communicates exclusively through facial expressions? Sorry, but conversations are a two way street.

To me, a good protagonist is someone who says what they need to say, and at the right time. CJ from San Andres is a good example, and one of my personal favorites is (dare I say) Duke Nukem. Nothing to break the monotony of saving the world, like a well placed chauvinist comment.

And I wish Chrono would have said *something* during the course of the game. Like saying "Cocks" after killing Lavos or something...
Bob Arctor's Avatar
I'm really glad that Bioware finally had the main character talk in Mass Effect. I really enjoyed KOTOR and am just now going back and playing Jade Empire and it just feels like such a step backwards even though everything that I love about the normal Bioware discussion trees is there. I really like all three of the games and Mass Effect has some of the most glaring problems with it of all of them but at least they have a talking protagonist.
NightDehumidifier's Avatar
Good idea: Having a surprise party for your dad.
Bad idea: Having a surprise party...for your granddad.

This has been good idea, bad idea.
Aurain's Avatar
I'd switch Gordon Freeman and GTA3 man around. HL2 is heavily story driven, so I think getting Gordon's opinion on stuff, and him saying, "Hell no, I'm not doing that, I just killed 4 striders!" would vocalise what I'm thinking IRL.

I like GTA3 Man or ( Fido if you wanna use his GTA:SA name)is better as a silent protagonist because it lets you get the feeling that you are him, which is probably what R* wanted, and achieved successfully.
Burnt Meatloaf's Avatar
The silent characters are always hard to do well. It has to do with character development and using body language to mimic what the viewer is thinking. If you have a million viewers shouting, "DON'T GO IN THERE YOU IDIOT", chances are the silent protagonist is not effective. They might, however, be significantly less annoying than the dumb blond stereotype who can't keep her mouth shut.

As for Mario, he is anything but silent. Every time he goes "WOO HOO!" I just want to wring his neck. Yeah, you jumped. Now shut up!
SubOrbital's Avatar
Silence FTW.
Winwood's Avatar
Nice article - and I agree with almost everything you said.
Happyhead's Avatar
I remember honestly thinking the Ryu character in Breath of Fire III was mute until about 20 hours in when it finally dawned on me that he wasn't mute, he just didn't have any lines. I think it's always better to have a speaking character.
It is probably not gonna win me any fans, but it really really irritates me that Gordon Freeman never speaks. I know the reasoning for it, but for every mute character ever in a game I always have in my mind them swearing thier heads off at all the NPC's and still being liked.
italianbreadman's Avatar
Some good points. Here's another article that said much the same thing a while back:

http://www.gamernode.com/columns/11-eddie-inzauto/4532-is-silence-golden/index.html
italianbreadman's Avatar
<a href="http://www.gamernode.com/columns/11-eddie-inzauto/4532-is-silence-golden/index.html">http://www.gamernode.com/columns/11-eddie-inzauto/4532-is-silence-golden/index.html</a>
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Great article dude but although you make some very good points I personally still hate the idea of silent protagonists....for me I prefer to watch a character go through a story rather than put myself through that characters shoes.. much like watching a movie
Cubilone's Avatar
I agree with hood_954, Master Chief would be better off with even less dialogue and maybe the GTA3 character could use some. Most games with silent protagonists are good but I can't say the same thing for ones with particularly talkative frontmen/women. That could be because voice acting is a feature that doesn't get the attention it deserves during game production. A game with good voice acting would be better in most cases than a game with none at all. Of course, that also depends on the mood the game wants to put you in.
puppycake's Avatar
The silent protagonist helps to immerse the player in the game world because they can then project their own desires, emotions, motivations, etc onto the avatar... What utter bullshit. A silent protagonist can work within a certain context, but not all and never really that well. The context where we've seen it work best is with Link, but even then it's a stretch. Let's look at Super Paper Mario 2 for a moment...

This game has a very involved story. Maybe not a very engaging story, but Nintendo keeps it busy and fun and often times amusing. There tends to be a lot of text as the various interactions unfold and I can say that I generally found these to be worth reading (good job on localization guys!). However, in all that story, Mario never says anything. This works in a context where there's no real story much better than a RPG one. In Paper Mario we have all these really well developed characters interacting with each other, saying funny things, expressing themselves in emotional terms, it's great. Peach frequently gets pissed at the insanity around her. Bowser is an egomaniac who can't really get what he wants cos he's too brash. These characters have well-defined personalities. All of them but Mario. As the silent protagonist, Mario is the one character who never participates in any conversations. He has no witty comeback. He has nothing heroic to say. This isn't inspiring, it's like having a developmentally disabled hero. The contrast between him and all the other characters is too jarring, they make him look boring.

For me at least, it's about the same for Gordon Freeman. He has nothing to say except for the occasional grunt. When people interact with him, it doesn't feel natural, they constantly have to answer questions for him or direct their speech at the characters around him. I don't know how most people played through Half Life 2, but I know I didn't sit there pretending to say dialogue for Gordon. That would be insane and asking the player to do so would be unreasonable. Because he has no discernible personality other than being the quiet guy who gets things done, he's not really a prevalent figure in the video game hero pantheon. Yes, I realize he's a well-known face, but in discussing various video game heroes, what would one say about Gordon Freeman in respect to say, Solid Snake? How do you compare their individual qualities as characters?

Really think about this, what attributes do you assign to Solid Snake or Cloud Strife or Kratos or Tommy Vercetti or Dante or whatever character has stood out to you as you played through a game. Would these characters have had the same effect on you if they had never uttered a single word over the course of their games? I really don't think so.

In the same way that telling a story via a book or movie format with a silent protagonist wouldn't work, neither does it work in video games. I would argue that it's a very rare game (if not non-existent) that would actually be able to immerse to the point where you forget you're a gamer sitting on his couch, holding a controller. If this eventually happens, then maybe the Jack Thompsons of the world will have a valid point, but for now, let's not pretend that game immersion is something more than it is and let's not pretend that having a silent protagonist can fool you into thinking you're the savior of the universe.
Dexter345's Avatar
Nice read.

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Reminder: PS3 and Deca Sports contests ending, get your entries in!
Contest: Win a chance to play Assault Heroes 2 with the game's developers!
Big fat raffle: Win one of 100 Deca Sports demo discs for the Wii
Win a PlayStation 3 and Casino Royale on Blu-Ray by playing Bond: Top Agent
The winners of the Insecticide contest announced
MORE CONTEST ALERTS

DTOID PODCASTS
Podtoid 53: The Blogocube
No RetroforceGO! this week, you make Mikuru cry
Podcastle: Dtoid's UK video game podcast
download back episodes


LATEST GAME REVIEWS
SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1
Boom Blox
Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 2
Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys!
R-Type Command [update]
NBA Ballers: Chosen One
Persona 3: FES
Mario Kart Wii
all Dtoid reviews

ORIGINAL COLUMNS
Games Time Forgot by Anthony Burch
Bargain Bin Laden by Jim Sterling
The Memory Card by Chad Concelmo
Indie Nation by Anthony Burch
Friday Night Fights by Grim
An RPG draws near by Colette Bennett
You're the man now dog by Hamza Aziz
Nerdcore Culture by Dtoid Staff
Debate to the death by Tom Fronczak
Monday mind teasers by Tom Fronczak
Miniboss Monday by Mike Ferry
Art Attack Friday by Tiffany Chow
Best of the week by Hamza Aziz
Weekend reading by Brad Rice

XBOX 360 NEWS
The week in Rock Band DLC: European bonus tracks come to North America
LucasArts says no Force Unleashed PS3/360 multiplayer, I practice my Force choke
The Protector: Generic-looking and -sounding action comes to PC and 360
Beyond Good & Evil 2 for Xbox 360 and PS3
Xbox 360 Spring Showcase: Hands-on with Too Human
Developer game notes: Top Spin 3
2K Sports reveals Rick Nash to be NHL 2K9 cover athlete
Too Human demo in the works? You better believe it
more Xbox 360 games, news and reviews


NINTENDO WII NEWS
Sega Gamer's Day 2008: new Samba De Amigo screenies
Capcom reveals Ken and Morrigan costumes for Western We Love Golf!
Wii Fit tells a 10-year-old that she's fat, Nintendo responds
MadWorld: The most awesomely violent Wii experience yet
Taiko no Tatsujin coming to the Wii, I take off my pants
Nintendo ordered to pay $21 million for patent infringement
Fun for the whole family: Cornholing comes to the Wii
Lil' Sims returning to Wii and DS with MySims Kingdom
more Wii games, news and reviews


PLAYSTATION 3 NEWS
The week in Rock Band DLC: European bonus tracks come to North America
LucasArts says no Force Unleashed PS3/360 multiplayer, I practice my Force choke
PlayStation Network Update: double bogey edition
Beyond Good & Evil 2 for Xbox 360 and PS3
Developer game notes: Top Spin 3
2K Sports reveals Rick Nash to be NHL 2K9 cover athlete
New Madden 09 trailer is painful to watch...because it's all about tackles
Sony adds YouTube support for developers
more PS3 games, news and reviews


PC NEWS
The Protector: Generic-looking and -sounding action comes to PC and 360
WoW expansion coming this year...polar bear mounts included?
Velvet Assassin slated for release this fall on Xbox 360, PC
She hasn't put clothes on yet: New X-Blades screenshots
BioWare removes 10-day validation from Mass Effect PC due to backlash