On Silent Protagonists

[Delock]

I've got to say that the voice acting in Saint's Row 2 was what allowed me to continue playing it. You see, even though I crafted the character, his personality wasn't mine to control, making him a character rather than an avatar. So of course, when he made a stupid decision or did something opposite of what I wanted at the time, it wasn't as bothersome because it felt less like my avatar suddenly sprang to life and ignored my commands.

However, for some reason, Half-Life 2's lack of voice acting felt somewhat jarring. Times when it would be pointed out, or when a character he knew would greet him, made it so that my Freeman (and let's face it, like the Wanderer from SotC, Noble 6 from Reach, and a host of other silent protagonists, everyone has a different character/avatar) was suddenly forced into a different character than the one I thought he was based on my actions controlling him as an avatar. Sure, I would eventually fill in the pieces with my mind to compensate for that, but it still made for an awkward moment (though with the old friends, maybe that was the point: have you struggle to remember someone but just come up blank).

 

[Xocrates]

First, I didn't say that. That's a quote I quoted of somebody else saying that.

Oops! Sorry, misquoted. Fixed now.

 

[GoWithDAFro]

Was I the only one expecting to see a Jak 2 reference? The voice he was given was unexpected, but it worked quite well. The world around him changed drastically, so Jak himself changed accordingly. It even made sense that he had such a dark personality after being tortured for 2 years.

 

[Petromir]

So you didn't like the game because it lacked a crappy two-way karma meter?

You're a gang leader. Good guy? Not a chance.

The game never claimed at any point that you'd make decisions.

The game can be completely linear in its actions without being disrespectful to a player's character.

Saints Rows 2 feels like you're creating a character for someone else, while being given the impression it will be your character. It's insulting and immersion breaking.

what your saying is you infered something that wasn't meant to be and got your jnickers in a twist when the dev decideded a charecter should behave a certain way?

And there are few games even amongst those all about choice that don't do that at some point.

 

[Mstrswrd]

I always thought that Samus was odd becaue of her alternating "Silent/Not Silent" status. For the record, I'm defining any game on a system where voice acting was close to impossible that has text/dialgoue boxes on screen for the character as voiced (so, be definition, Mega Man was not a silent hero, since he had dialogue with other characters).

Metroid- No Text (or a small enough amount that I can't remember it).
Metroid II- Same as above.
Super Metorid (III)- Samus now has text dialogue (the opening monologue), so is no longer a silent-hero.
Metroid Prime I and II- Silent again.
Metroid Prime III- I don't remember (I think she was primarily silent/totally silent).
Metroid Fusion- Has a voice again, though, like Super Metroid, it is only in text.
Metroid: Other M- Fully voiced, and sounds about as good as Symphony of the Night, but with far less quotable dialogue, making it far worse.

 

[Techno Destructo]

Although not entirely on Half-life 2, Metroid, or Saint's Row, there is the matter of the Upcoming Fable 3 this November. After the first two games with silent heroes (with the exception of the yells and grunts the hero's expressions gave away), Lionhead decided that the hero will have a voice in Fable 3.

I wonder how this will turn out; considering Saint's Row's customization, Fable is renown for its ability to customize your hero, either through clothing or acts of gluttony, good, or evil but will it suffer the same fate as Saint's Row? It's a topic to speculate. . .

 

[Nerf Ninja]

Actually in Saints row 1 the player character does talk, but only in the final cutscenes once each gang has been defeated. It fitted the character and worked really well.

 

[JPH330]

You have reach?
PLEASE dont rip it to shreds!

Oh, you know he will.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

When the game is character-based, full of fully-voiced non-playable characters, and when a name, personality and reputation has been assigned to the mute. And especially when the game is trying to take itself seriously. Because in a world of rounded characters, silence just makes you seem like a mental deficient or a stubborn, aloof prick.

And this, my good man, is why I felt that anyone who called Bioshock one of the greatest storytelling experiences in gaming was off their damn rocker.

 

[SturmDolch]

And this, my good man, is why I felt that anyone who called Bioshock one of the greatest storytelling experiences in gaming was off their damn rocker.

... Because he'd just talk to himself? Or what? I mean, he did in the opening sequence, but after, he picks up a one-way radio transmitting device that gives him directions.

 

[Lordmarkus]

I think they should give Gordon Freeman, Stephen Fry's voice in Ep3.

Then watch all the hardcore Valve fans go kill crazy!

That's one of best ideas ever, a true recipe for epicness. And that's coming from a rabid Half-Life fan.

 

[Vykrel]

i prefer for my character to have a voice.

it seriously irritates me when i play a new CoD game and dont know my own (multiple) characters names yet. then all i hear is the AI shouting my characters name and telling them to do stuff. itd be nice if my guy would say "Roger that" or SOMETHING to show that i am that character.

its also annoying in Half-Life to have everyone carrying on long conversations with your character, but Gordon isnt saying anything. its just awkward

i also hated that in Halo 3: ODST, the Rookie basically communicated by shifting his body around in cutscenes.

 

[Silver Patriot]

For some games, I don't mind having a silent protagonist. But ODST annoyed me with it. Not only did it have an awesome cast of voices, they let play as each of those characters, having their voice come out of the player. Then, after enjoying the cast of Firefly, you're thrown back into the Rookie. It's completely idiotic and jarring. Why bother saying that the Rookie is the player, but then have the player be characters with personality?
When I heard Reach would have a silent protagonist, I groaned. And then I saw that the cover doesn't even have Noble 6 on it. Why bother making the character for single player campaign if he isn't even going to be on the front cover?

Because your character could look a number of different ways depending on how you designed him. I don't know how that would work.

Also he isn't silent, but he dosen't talk that much either.

 

[tur2n]

I immediately had to think of GTA III and GTA: Vice City. They went from a mute, nameless hero to Tommy Vercetti. And I loved it.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

And this, my good man, is why I felt that anyone who called Bioshock one of the greatest storytelling experiences in gaming was off their damn rocker.

... Because he'd just talk to himself? Or what? I mean, he did in the opening sequence, but after, he picks up a one-way radio transmitting device that gives him directions.

He's a character that has nothing to say about the strange setting he finds himself in after a completely random plane crash? He has nothing to say when he feels compelled to inject himself with a lightning shot. He has nothing to say when he's led around by Atlas. He has nothing to say to Fontaine, Dr. Tenenbaum, or maybe Andrew Ryan when all is revealed?

The protagonist has nothing to say about any of the events in the story, and thus the story fails on every level. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game that's a lot of fun and the setting is fantastic, but the actual meat of the story fails due to the silent protagonist.

He didn't need a lot of lines, but keeping him quiet except for a few lines in the opening sequence was a failure on the part of the developers. It looks like they'll be fixing that with Infinite.

 

[Kais86]

Even if they had made Samus silent in this one, her turning into a child at the first sign of Ridley is freaking ridiculous. I refuse to believe that "The Hunter" that voiceless, faceless, force of nature that the Space Pirates feared like it was the bloody apocalypse is terrified, to the point of curling up into a fetal position, of a lousy space dragon, especially since she had already kicked the crap out of it twice, at minimum, by now.

 

[Ryokai]

Gordon isn't a true silent-protagonist--while we do know he's quiet, the other characters act as if he speaks, (No one's going around asking if his tongue's been cut out, they just note that he doesn't talk much)--the point is, we're supposed to imagine what he's saying, thereby heightening the immersion.

 

[HermantheGerman]

Gordon isn't a true silent-protagonist--while we do know he's quiet, the other characters act as if he speaks, (No one's going around asking if his tongue's been cut out, they just note that he doesn't talk much)--the point is, we're supposed to imagine what he's saying, thereby heightening the immersion.

QFT, as they say.

There is one related subject.
In adventure and roleplay games, when I select a dialogue option, I don't want to hear my character say what I just selected. I've obviously just read it, so it's redundant.
Any opinions about that?

 

[nub the samurai]

Was I the only one expecting to see a Jak 2 reference? The voice he was given was unexpected, but it worked quite well. The world around him changed drastically, so Jak himself changed accordingly. It even made sense that he had such a dark personality after being tortured for 2 years.

I was expecting him to bring up Jak also. Totally agree with you, the voice he got really worked out. Glad to see I wasn't the only one thinking that.