Poll: Gordon Freeman: Does he need to talk?

[Clirck]

No it would ruin the franchise.

 

[huntedannoyed]

Filling in Freemans voice with mine own is more satisfying than any dialouge could ever be. By the way, Gordon is very profane and rude at times that do not call for it.

 

[Aedwynn]

I believe Freeman is a blank slate that let's you, the player add in his speech for him, if you feel it necessary. In this way, Gordon can react to strange situations exactly how the player thinks he would. I found this added to my immersion, personally.

 

[Sewblon]

If Gordon spoke it would detract from the rest of the game.

 

[Strong Intelligent]

I want all of you to watch Freeman's Mind on youtube, that should answer your question.

 

[R4GNOR0K]

no he doesn't need to talk, if he did talk they would probably give him a gay ass voice.
Edit: Unless they get the guy from Freeman's Mind

 

[clicketycrack]

I don't think he needs to talk, but it would be interesting if he did. He is from Seattle though so his accent could be a little off.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I voted No, but my mind has changed. Characters that previously didn't have a personality develop one as they speak, see Jak. Gordon Freeman isn't special until he develops a personality. Right now, he's just a guy going from point A to B doing what he's asked. He could be anybody...

We can't pretend to be Gordon for immersion's sake, because they gave him a face that we now know. Green eyes, etc.

So, unless you don't know what the character looks like, they need to talk.

 

[jboking]

Does anybody need to talk... Think about that...

Yes. We do. Of course.

But Gordon needs to talk just about as much as link does. And that's not much.

That was the exact same example I was going to use.
"Does Link need to speak?"
No. He's a badass - he doesn't need words.

though, link has the advantage of facial expressions.

Gordon doesn't need to talk for a few reasons. One being immersion, if there was randomly a voice saying something witty with no one around to make the noise it would break the immersion factor. Another being that Gordon not speaking is representative of his role in the story. Gordon gave up his ability to choose at the end of HL1, now he is used. He has no voice in his actions. He is either in debt to the resistance or owned by G-man.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

No.

But I think Robert Downy Junior or that dude who plays House could voice him/play him well.

 

[Shadow Law]

not for the games *duh*... but he'll need to talk for the movie.

 

[Overlord_Dave]

I don't think he needs to. That being said, I don't think the protagonist being silent improves that thing called "immersion." On the contrary, I think it makes a game less immersive. The muteness inevitably makes lots of situations just silly.

They deliberately didn't put any mirrors in the game so that the player would feel like they were Gordon Freeman. If you add a voice it would completely ruin that effect.

I have a feeling that mirrors being hard to code was a bigger reason. Also, there's no character model for Gordon in HL2. You'd just see a floating gun.

Firstly, Mario 64 had mirrors, so coding them shouldn't be a problem. Plus, Valve had managed to code the portal system, which is far more complicated than a reflective mirror (by HL2: Ep2 anyway).

Secondly, Gordon has no model because there was no point putting the effort into making one if it's never going to be seen in-game (because there are no mirrors). There's enough concept art of Gordon to show that they've decided what he looks like.

 

[cordeos]

He doesn't talk and you never see his reflection because the devs want you to be more immersed in the game

 

[Overlord Moo]

If Episode 3 will be the last Half Life game, I think at the end he say "Im Fine"

Trust me, Episode three is not going to be the last one unless Valve (and I don't think they can do this) tie up every, if not most, lose ends in the story.

 

[DChesebro1]

He doesn't already, and Half-Life is one of my favorite series!

 

[DChesebro1]

If Episode 3 will be the last Half Life game, I think at the end he say "Im Fine"

Trust me, Episode three is not going to be the last one unless Valve (and I don't think they can do this) tie up every, if not most, lose ends in the story.

Have you played MGS4? They do well at tying it all up there.

 

[Pocket Skull]

Gordon doesn't need to talk, he just needs a crowbar. =P

 

[Avatar Roku]

Does anybody need to talk... Think about that...

Yes. We do. Of course.

But Gordon needs to talk just about as much as link does. And that's not much.

That was the exact same example I was going to use.
"Does Link need to speak?"
No. He's a badass - he doesn't need words.

though, link has the advantage of facial expressions.

Gordon doesn't need to talk for a few reasons. One being immersion, if there was randomly a voice saying something witty with no one around to make the noise it would break the immersion factor. Another being that Gordon not speaking is representative of his role in the story. Gordon gave up his ability to choose at the end of HL1, now he is used. He has no voice in his actions. He is either in debt to the resistance or owned by G-man.

It's weird, I'd thought in similar terms, but it never occurred to me to think of it exactly like that. You're very right, actually.

 

[Overlord Moo]

If Episode 3 will be the last Half Life game, I think at the end he say "Im Fine"

Trust me, Episode three is not going to be the last one unless Valve (and I don't think they can do this) tie up every, if not most, lose ends in the story.

Have you played MGS4? They do well at tying it all up there.

Yeah, but if Valve follows the Episode system, the next one's only going to be about 4-6 hrs long. Valve has a nice pace to the story, and craming all the rest of the story into about 5 hrs. of game play would ruin it. And from a business standpoint, the series is a cash cow.

 

[Avatar Roku]

If Episode 3 will be the last Half Life game, I think at the end he say "Im Fine"

Trust me, Episode three is not going to be the last one unless Valve (and I don't think they can do this) tie up every, if not most, lose ends in the story.

Have you played MGS4? They do well at tying it all up there.

I like to think of it like this: Ep3 will have Gordon and Alyx finding the Borealis and saving Mossman, the actual, honest-to-god Half Life 3 will be them staging an assault on the combine overworld, which I'm willing to bet is exactly what G-man has been angling for this whole time.