I'm going to start off by saying that I do like the Half-Life series for a lot of reasons, but the least one is it's protagonist. My reasons stem from a multitude of issues I have with the storyline and just so you folks don't think I'm being negative I am adding both pros, cons and my own thoughts on Dr. Freeman.
***Disclaimer #1: I'm not going to mention the void he pulls his weapons out of****
***Disclaimer #2: I know this is a game, I'm just treating it like a story with big f'n plot holes***
1. Gordon Freeman, Expert Weapons guy: This is where I feel the character of Freeman suffers most. Going by the averages, Dr. Freeman shouldn't be proficient in every weapon he comes across, including the odd experimental things. We're never really given a background on him though, so maybe he has some rudimentary training and I would assume a black research facility like Black Mesa would at least put their staff through some form of weapons training. But not to the point where he seems to just pick up any old weapon and fire it like a pro. My own counterpoint though is that in my own experience some people are natural shooters, like myself. I qualified in the US Army at 37/40 targets downed during Basic Rifle Marksmanship having never fired a rifle in my life and I missed part of that week of training due to an injury where I was being shuttled around to the hospital every day except Qualification day. A good eye and steady hands can make a difference, but its known that Dr. Freeman wears glasses so... I'm going to call this as a plot hole that is tough to fill. And even if he is a weapons expert, he'd still have to practice daily with every weapon to be remotely near as good as the game makes him out to be.
2. Gordon Freeman, Superhuman Stamina: With all the obstacles Dr. Freeman has to go through, he should be exhausted, even if he's in tip-top shape, around the middle of the game. I know humans can push themselves beyond normal limits in times of stress but there is only so much one can do before the body's nervous system shuts you down. And the HEV suit can't substitute rest. Nor can you count the time in HL1 he gets knocked out as rest. If you've ever been knocked out you'd know that its anything but restorative. Battle fatigue will set in and Dr. Freeman would most likely start to hallucinate from all the toxins not being filtered out (not to mention the fact that he's running on no food for the entire plot except maybe if he had breakfast prior to coming in to work). I've been in great shape (Military) before and there was a limit to what we could do, no matter how hard we worked on conditioning.
3. Gordon Freeman, Semi-Regenerator: Ok, the helpful cheery (sarcasm) voice attached to the HEV suit lets Dr. Freeman know if he's broken bones, had blood loss, etc. With the amount of wounds he sustains, short of miracle cures, Dr. Freeman should be a cripple if not a pile of goo. Unless the health dispensation units have some sort of limited life Wolverine-Style regenerative serum. Still I would figure that regeneration of bone and other tissues would hurt like a ***** when sped up... And since human technology and medicine is full of side-effects and hitches, shouldn't Dr. Freeman start to show some signs of overuse of said regenerative serum? Mutations or maybe an extra appendage? Shakes... queasy stomach, even dizzy spells...
Now here's where I diverge from just complaining. What I feel would have made a better game series is if those things I mentioned were addressed:
1. Dr. Freeman, weapons noob: He has poor aim, but luck may be on his side thus making the playthrough more challenging. As he uses each weapon through the course of the game his aim improves and he learns to compensate for feedback. However if he neglects to use weapons he may find himself in a bind later on because he's out of ammo for everything but that damned magnum that feels like he's going to break his wrist every time it fires.
2. Dr. Freeman, exhausted hero: Managing your energy is a tough thing, and being in a stressful environment, whether escaping (you think) Black Mesa or making your way through City 17, takes its toll. Sometimes you gotta give those dogs a break and sometimes you gotta eat. Sometimes you even have to scavenge for food... remember that sonic dog-thing you killed back in that corridor? Well... you haven't eaten in a day or so, and that alien meat looks mighty tasty... No rest? No eating? Maybe that critical jump you need to make your leg falters at the last second and you plummet to your death... maybe because you're running on no sleep you start to see things around every corner, wasting ammo on phantoms. Maybe that G-Man is all in your head.
3. Dr. Freeman, human experiment: The more you get hurt, the more you use that wonder-serum, the worse the side effects get. Legs are getting wobbly, vertigo sets in. Suddenly that sonic doggy that you ate earlier comes back up and you realize it tasted bad going down and horrible coming back up. Eyes lose focus in the middle of a firefight with Combine soldiers, you gotta keep it together Gordon!
Well by no means am I saying Half-Life is a terrible series, but I do see things if they were tweaked slightly would have made it an even more immersive, terrifying and endearing experience. Maybe its just the game I wanted to play and got stuck with this Super Freeman mute with no flaws, no humanity and no way to really relate to him as a character. Thats why I don't dig the silent protagonist, btw.
What are your thoughts? Additions?
***Disclaimer #1: I'm not going to mention the void he pulls his weapons out of****
***Disclaimer #2: I know this is a game, I'm just treating it like a story with big f'n plot holes***
1. Gordon Freeman, Expert Weapons guy: This is where I feel the character of Freeman suffers most. Going by the averages, Dr. Freeman shouldn't be proficient in every weapon he comes across, including the odd experimental things. We're never really given a background on him though, so maybe he has some rudimentary training and I would assume a black research facility like Black Mesa would at least put their staff through some form of weapons training. But not to the point where he seems to just pick up any old weapon and fire it like a pro. My own counterpoint though is that in my own experience some people are natural shooters, like myself. I qualified in the US Army at 37/40 targets downed during Basic Rifle Marksmanship having never fired a rifle in my life and I missed part of that week of training due to an injury where I was being shuttled around to the hospital every day except Qualification day. A good eye and steady hands can make a difference, but its known that Dr. Freeman wears glasses so... I'm going to call this as a plot hole that is tough to fill. And even if he is a weapons expert, he'd still have to practice daily with every weapon to be remotely near as good as the game makes him out to be.
2. Gordon Freeman, Superhuman Stamina: With all the obstacles Dr. Freeman has to go through, he should be exhausted, even if he's in tip-top shape, around the middle of the game. I know humans can push themselves beyond normal limits in times of stress but there is only so much one can do before the body's nervous system shuts you down. And the HEV suit can't substitute rest. Nor can you count the time in HL1 he gets knocked out as rest. If you've ever been knocked out you'd know that its anything but restorative. Battle fatigue will set in and Dr. Freeman would most likely start to hallucinate from all the toxins not being filtered out (not to mention the fact that he's running on no food for the entire plot except maybe if he had breakfast prior to coming in to work). I've been in great shape (Military) before and there was a limit to what we could do, no matter how hard we worked on conditioning.
3. Gordon Freeman, Semi-Regenerator: Ok, the helpful cheery (sarcasm) voice attached to the HEV suit lets Dr. Freeman know if he's broken bones, had blood loss, etc. With the amount of wounds he sustains, short of miracle cures, Dr. Freeman should be a cripple if not a pile of goo. Unless the health dispensation units have some sort of limited life Wolverine-Style regenerative serum. Still I would figure that regeneration of bone and other tissues would hurt like a ***** when sped up... And since human technology and medicine is full of side-effects and hitches, shouldn't Dr. Freeman start to show some signs of overuse of said regenerative serum? Mutations or maybe an extra appendage? Shakes... queasy stomach, even dizzy spells...
Now here's where I diverge from just complaining. What I feel would have made a better game series is if those things I mentioned were addressed:
1. Dr. Freeman, weapons noob: He has poor aim, but luck may be on his side thus making the playthrough more challenging. As he uses each weapon through the course of the game his aim improves and he learns to compensate for feedback. However if he neglects to use weapons he may find himself in a bind later on because he's out of ammo for everything but that damned magnum that feels like he's going to break his wrist every time it fires.
2. Dr. Freeman, exhausted hero: Managing your energy is a tough thing, and being in a stressful environment, whether escaping (you think) Black Mesa or making your way through City 17, takes its toll. Sometimes you gotta give those dogs a break and sometimes you gotta eat. Sometimes you even have to scavenge for food... remember that sonic dog-thing you killed back in that corridor? Well... you haven't eaten in a day or so, and that alien meat looks mighty tasty... No rest? No eating? Maybe that critical jump you need to make your leg falters at the last second and you plummet to your death... maybe because you're running on no sleep you start to see things around every corner, wasting ammo on phantoms. Maybe that G-Man is all in your head.
3. Dr. Freeman, human experiment: The more you get hurt, the more you use that wonder-serum, the worse the side effects get. Legs are getting wobbly, vertigo sets in. Suddenly that sonic doggy that you ate earlier comes back up and you realize it tasted bad going down and horrible coming back up. Eyes lose focus in the middle of a firefight with Combine soldiers, you gotta keep it together Gordon!
Well by no means am I saying Half-Life is a terrible series, but I do see things if they were tweaked slightly would have made it an even more immersive, terrifying and endearing experience. Maybe its just the game I wanted to play and got stuck with this Super Freeman mute with no flaws, no humanity and no way to really relate to him as a character. Thats why I don't dig the silent protagonist, btw.
What are your thoughts? Additions?
