Most Mediocre Video Game Character

operative x said:
Half-life 2, although I felt the linearity of the game really ruined the game play, had some excellent dialogue (especially Breen's TV speeches).
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I don't see how linearity ruined the gameplay. I wish more games would go with this approach, because I'm all for the fun rather than big open spaces. I don't need vast levels to enjoy the game at all. Far Cry was pretty open - but really not that fun. I loved the linearity.
 
sea said:
the guy from TimeSplitters,
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But Sgt Cortez is awesome! Although its only through the newest Timesplitters that he becomes awesome. Perhaps I like my games characters slightly amusing.

Now all I need is Microsoft to release a patch to make TS3 playable on the 360. :(
 
Samon said:
I don't see how linearity ruined the gameplay. I wish more games would go with this approach, because I'm all for the fun rather than big open spaces. I don't need vast levels to enjoy the game at all. Far Cry was pretty open - but really not that fun. I loved the linearity.
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Yeah, open-endedness does not always = good gameplay. I have the sneaking suspicion that if HL2 was more open-ended it'd have been crap.
 
Doesn't mean linearity is always good. If Episode 2 looks like it can do it, Half-Life 2 could've done it.
 
The advantage of linear games is that they can feel focussed, you aren't left wondering what you should be doing and why. A story can be told convincingly and the game paced well. HL is the best example of this done well imo. HL2 has the linearity, yet lacks the drive and motivation that brought me to the series and made Gordon such an interesting protagonist in the first place.

I get what Valve are trying to do - you play through the game, inside Gordon, seeing what he sees etc. The problem is it feels like i've been put inside Gordon's head with no information at all. He seems to know what's going on, and so does everyone else, it's just the me that's left in the dark.

'go see that guy'
'why'
'no time for why, go see him'
....
'ok, i'm here, now what'
'a crap vehicle section'
'gah, again'?
'yes, now get going'
'at least tell me why this time'
'sure, you need to go to this place'
'why'?
'shutup and go'

Gordon is like this wondering super hero, turning up, not really sure what's going on, and destroyng everything in his path. It feels as though we're meant to assume he's changed from the everyman's scientist that was so easy to relate to in the first game to a meat head, without question.
 
Hmmm. Well, I'll just say that I didn't feel that way, and I'm not totally sure why you think Gordon has any clue what's going on - he wouldn't know if a combine portal hit him in the small of the back.
 
DeusExMachina said:
Doesn't mean linearity is always good. If Episode 2 looks like it can do it, Half-Life 2 could've done it.
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No, it doesn't mean linearity is always good, but in Half-life 2's case it is. Episode 2 is designed to be non-linear, nobody is saying Half-life couldn't have done it, but it didn't need to be, and I wouldn't want it to be. Your argument is just silly with no grounding.

Warbie said:
I get what Valve are trying to do - you play through the game, inside Gordon, seeing what he sees etc. The problem is it feels like i've been put inside Gordon's head with no information at all. He seems to know what's going on, and so does everyone else, it's just the me that's left in the dark.
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Where'd you pull that from? Gordon knows nothing, and it is quite obvious he knows nothing. He's been off Earth for 20 years and he's now back on Earth to do the G-man's bidding. Your put into a situation where people know what is going on, and they expect you to know what is going, yet you don't, and the whole drive is that you figure it out as you go. It's better than being sat down and told what's happened.
 
That's even worse, he's just following along without a clue.

Perhaps this is why some of us don't get on with HL2 as much as the first. I can relate to 'escape, live, run away' with ease, but not, 'do what you're told without question or explanation and we'll give you the occasional scrap of info'.

Has it not struck anyone as a little strange that Gordon hasn't sat down and said (or signed, or wrote on a piece of paper), 'i'm not budging another inch untill somebody tells me wtf the is going on'?

(or maybe, 'I understand you guys have this revolution thing going on, but things have been getting more than a little weird recently and i'm going for a nap)
 
ROSH F*CKING PENIN

God. What an idiot.

One letter away from making it seem more so. :D
 
Warbie said:
That's even worse, he's just following along without a clue.

Perhaps this is why some of us don't get on with HL2 as much as the first. I can relate to 'escape, live, run away' with ease, but not, 'do what you're told without question or explanation and we'll give you the occasional scrap of info'.

Has it not struck anyone as a little strange that Gordon hasn't sat down and said (or signed, or wrote on a piece of paper), 'i'm not budging another inch untill somebody tells me wtf the is going on'?

(or maybe, 'I understand you guys have this revolution thing going on, but things have been getting more than a little weird recently and i'm going for a nap)
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Without a clue? Maybe your without a clue, but I think alot of pretty much understand the story. :p
You act on instinct, to the point where Breen raises the point. Maybe you didn't notice, but the whole idea of Gordon acting on impulse is raised within the game to an extremely high degree.
 
bah, I got what was going on (there isn't that much to get).
 
You know what, I'm gonna start pretending Gordon's telepathic and talks to everyone like that. I'll also pretend G-Man is Gordon's father. I can't be wrong because nothing has been said regarding them. After all, I AM GORDON FREEMAN. If I want G-Man to be my father, Breen to be my grandpappy who served in WWII, and Eli my token black friend from college, then there's nothing stopping me.

:|
 
Absolutely. You imagine whatever you like, feel free to contest it in the spec forum, but when it's revealed in game you'll probably be letdown!

Warbie said:
bah, I got what was going on (there isn't that much to get).
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You really, aren't looking hard enough. ;)
 
Adrik_Senturu said:
What? No im not. By your logic your stupid.

What im saying is he has no personality. I realize that we are supposed to be gordon's personality when we play as him, but god damn I'd like to know what Gordon Freeman would say or do in such a situation.

edit: Because I happen to like the character Im a fanboy? :| Stfu.
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He has no personality because he is you!!!!!!!!! moron. Gordon was NOT intended to talk, YOU are Gordon Freeman..therefore you are saying you are mediocre, yes?

Well the people of City-17 think that Gordon knows what to do, but in reality knows didily squat. Thats the point of it all.


How am I stupid with my logic, I know what the **** is going on in HL? Quite the contrary of "stupidity", my friend. :rolleyes:
 
Your logic doesn't work because you are saying a person [Adrik_Senturu] that talks and has a personality (I presume, anyway) IS a character that doesn't talk and has no personality, and theres alot of emphasis on the fact that you think HE is the game character/Freeman. No thanks.

I know what you are saying, but leave the logic part of it because... well, yeah, that don't make sense as summed up there ^
 
TheAntipop said:
Your logic doesn't work because you are saying a person [Adrik_Senturu] that talks and has a personality (I presume, anyway) IS a character that doesn't talk and has no personality, and theres alot of emphasis on the fact that you think HE is the game character/Freeman. No thanks.

I know what you are saying, but leave the logic part of it because... well, yeah, that don't make sense as summed up there ^
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Maybe I messed up there D:; I will change my statement around. ;)


We play the role of Gordon Freeman, Me, you, & everybody else plays the role of Gordon Freeman. We are his personality, character & everything else.
Me, you, him, plus both you & you are Gordon Freeman.

IMO Gordon Freeman is NOT "Mediocre" because I am him, I play as him & I am not mediocre; Therefore I am NOT "mediocre".


If people say that Gordon is mediocre then they must be mediocre :LOL:; If you play HL that is.
 
TheAntipop said:
Your logic doesn't work because you are saying a person [Adrik_Senturu] that talks and has a personality (I presume, anyway) IS a character that doesn't talk and has no personality, and theres alot of emphasis on the fact that you think HE is the game character/Freeman. No thanks.
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:borg: Why would you say that? D:


But yeah thats what im saying :| I know that we are supposed to be gordon freeman when play the game, but thats just it. So we never actually know what he would be thinking or saying in the game, because were too busy pretending to be him. "Oh man I bet gordon is thinking what Im thinking right now..oh wait I am gordon lolololol"
 
Its supposed to keep you guessing, not knowing were you will end up next because you know where to go.

Thats the point of a cliff hanger or something like that.
 
KaMaKaZi-BLiTz said:
Its supposed to keep you guessing, not knowing were you will end up next because you know where to go.

Thats the point of a cliff hanger or something like that.
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Im not asking to know whats going to happen, Im just saying that we'll never know if gordon thinks about tacos while shooting up combine :|
 
Honestly, I think Gordon Freeman's silence works brilliantly. Instead of thinking of him as a mute, I really do start to think of myself as him. So when someone says something to me in the game, I actually find myself imagining my response... and because Valve doesn't force a personality on Gordon, it all works :D
 
I would hate it if he continually blurted out one-liners or something. Or made shitty wisecracks. Or even if he kept making speeches about the linearity of the world, or something.

It's nice to play a game where a personality isn't forced upon you.
 
Samon said:
I don't see how linearity ruined the gameplay. I wish more games would go with this approach, because I'm all for the fun rather than big open spaces. I don't need vast levels to enjoy the game at all. Far Cry was pretty open - but really not that fun. I loved the linearity.
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Linearity = very little reply value
Now im not talking oblivion open-ended, but to be able to go down a few paths that you chose wouldn't have hurt the games game play or story.
 
I wouldn't want it though. I still have more fun in Half-life than I do other games generally. I don't want/need to have to choose my path, I enjoy the linearity because of the quality control.
I hope Episode 2 doesn't push it.
 
MASTER CHIEF:

1. He looks like a green Doomguy (The Doomguy look isn't that imaginative to start with).
2. He is a cyborg (OMFG Newww)
3.As a character he has all the depth of a puddle. Is he into academics? Is he a thinker? Is he an athlete? What does he do apart from pulling triggers?
4.Everything about him says stereotypical supersoldier.
 
99.vikram said:
MASTER CHIEF:
3.As a character he has all the depth of a puddle. Is he into academics? Is he a thinker? Is he an athlete? What does he do apart from pulling triggers?
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Once again, everything is in the books. Yes, I know that's a dirty cop out, but that's where it all is.
 
According to the HL story I read some where;

It said: "Gordon was never a man for physical activity; he was an outright nerd. He never thought he had it in him to pick up a shotgun, let alone fight his way through a horde of aliens. But fight he did, thinking that once the military arrive, he could leave it to the professionals. But when the helicopters circled overhead and the soldiers came down on black ropes, the lenses of their gas masks glinting, it became apparent that rescue wasn't on the agenda. The soldiers had come to contain the situation. That meant killing every single person who had witnessed the accident - and chief among them, target number one, the man supposedly responsible for this whole mess - Gordon Freeman.

That was the first time Gordon ever killed a man. It certainly wasn't the last. Forced to fight against both the alien monsters and his very own species, Gordon fled back underground. The only place now, it would seem, was the Lambda complex - the dark heart of the facility, on the other side of the base. A scientist let him through and sealed the way behind him. To get to Lambda, Gordon would have to make use of the ancient and long-abandoned railway system that dated back to the 1950s"


Gordon was a man of science; Not a man of 'action'.
 
KaMaKaZi-BLiTz said:
According to the HL story I read some where;

It said: "Gordon was never a man for physical activity; he was an outright nerd. He never thought he had it in him to pick up a shotgun, let alone fight his way through a horde of aliens. But fight he did, thinking that once the military arrive, he could leave it to the professionals. But when the helicopters circled overhead and the soldiers came down on black ropes, the lenses of their gas masks glinting, it became apparent that rescue wasn't on the agenda. The soldiers had come to contain the situation. That meant killing every single person who had witnessed the accident - and chief among them, target number one, the man supposedly responsible for this whole mess - Gordon Freeman.

That was the first time Gordon ever killed a man. It certainly wasn't the last. Forced to fight against both the alien monsters and his very own species, Gordon fled back underground. The only place now, it would seem, was the Lambda complex - the dark heart of the facility, on the other side of the base. A scientist let him through and sealed the way behind him. To get to Lambda, Gordon would have to make use of the ancient and long-abandoned railway system that dated back to the 1950s"


Gordon was a man of science; Not a man of 'action'.
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is that canon or not, though?
 
TheAntipop said:
That pretty much counters the whole invincible-supersoldier part of him then, eh.
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Which is what annoyed me about HL2 - he becomes the generic fps hero.

I don't think Gordon is a medicore character, just on the strength of HL he will always be one of the greatest there has been :) For at least one game I was Gordon Freeman.
 
Yeah, he just became Master Chief mk. II to me. A gun and a hand, except I knew more on MC through the books and whatnot. I prefer him, but thats not the point.
 
If he stopped every once in a while to do something scientific beyond turning valves and gearboxes it'd get a little boring.

Do you really think he is a really really mediocre character?
 
Jintor said:
Do you really think he is a really really mediocre character?
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I don't think that. Personally, I don't think of him as a character full stop. Isn't to say that's good or bad, he just isn't a character to me.
 
Ohoho, they are awesome, all of them.

As far as mediocre characters go, I can't pinpoint one, they're all unique.
 
kupoartist said:
I don't think that. Personally, I don't think of him as a character full stop. Isn't to say that's good or bad, he just isn't a character to me.
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That's fair enough. I guess in some ways that's what the whole 'silent protagonist' thing is meant to do.
 
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