Scientist superhero

Cujo

Cujo

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No doubt this was discussed before, but then i wasn't around ;)
So
Since HL1 i always wondered how game with ambitions to have clever and (let's say it) realistic scenario make it with totally un-realistic protagonist.
Behold - Dr. Gordon Freeman - science geek, man with his all life spended behind books and computers in some laboratory. Probably skinny with pale skin, never been in gym and his only movement is from one bookshelf to another. Slaughtering highly skilled elite special forces and beings from outer space. How realistic is that??
 
Gordon harnesses the power of the Crowbar. None can stand against it.
 
As a Maths / physics student myself....

We physics guys can kick arse, we just like to pretend we are weak and nerd like...that way when your not looking we can steal the engineers experimental protection suit and go blow up some alien/goverment scum
 
For one the character Gordon Freeman really is just an extension of yourself. That's why he doesn't speak, why he has no reflection and practically no background.
I'm a nerd who has studdied multiple martial art forms, has a love for guns and at the same time I can scale a building (A bank tower specifically), outrun a person on a bike downhill and if you're not a fatass I can benchpress you (Up to 200 pounds).

Er...all I'm really saying is you can be a contender and still spent a fair portion of your time ruining your eyes at a computer...like me!
 
Gordon just relied on human instinct...

"Humans have evolved by making the smallest sacrafice to survive" -Rem
 
Yeah we can treat this subject lightly and have fun of it. And that's all right by me.
But maybe someone has some serious explanation?

I mean c'mon... Gordon wouldn't survive 2 minutes of firefight with some elite troops. Even with super-duper suit and great luck.
 
i actually know quite a few science geeks who do things like go to the gym regularly, or are martial arts nuts etc... So the scientist superhero isnt as unreasonable as you say unless your a stereotyping capitalist
 
How do you know he's not an champion boxer/wrestler? How do you know he hasn't been in the military? Besides, he wears the HEV suit.
 
Cujo said:
Yeah we can treat this subject lightly and have fun of it. And that's all right by me.
But maybe someone has some serious explanation?

I mean c'mon... Gordon wouldn't survive 2 minutes of firefight with some elite troops. Even with super-duper suit and great luck.
Click to expand...


True. Well, what about the alien invasion ? and him packing 40 weapons at the same time....

Nothing in HL is "realistic" and was never intended to be. Gordon Freeman is simply an hyperbole.
 
That's the beauty of the story. Gordon's ninja-like skills were revealed when the 'incident' happened at black mesa. He didn't want to be a ninja, in fact he dropped out of ninja school to learn about physics. Job opportunities for ninjas are slim at best. AM i saying Gordon Freeman is a ninja, no. I'm simply saying Gordon has ninja qualities.

Nobody can defeat giant testicle sacks with spiderlegs with an mp5. Gordon can, it is the ninja within that allows him to defeat such horrendously weird enemies.
 
Sprafa said:
Nothing in HL is "realistic" and was never intended to be. Gordon Freeman is simply an hyperbole.
Click to expand...
He's marketing gibberish?
 
Cujo said:
Yeah we can treat this subject lightly and have fun of it. And that's all right by me.
But maybe someone has some serious explanation?

I mean c'mon... Gordon wouldn't survive 2 minutes of firefight with some elite troops. Even with super-duper suit and great luck.
Click to expand...

Yes and a security gaurd from Black Mesa also coudnt survive the Ressanonce Cascade :LOL:
 
It's the story that really matters. He's a man hardened by his environment...surely men in wartime with no training have survived hell, coming back from the brink of death many times.

Think of the Nazis fighting the russians. These boys had to saw each others legs off for the boots it was so damn cold and at the same time, kill as much as they could.
 
Raz said:
How do you know he's not an champion boxer/wrestler? How do you know he hasn't been in the military? Besides, he wears the HEV suit.
Click to expand...

he wasn't always wearing the HEV suit, he only begun to wear it when he was participating in the experiment with the anamoylous(sp?) material
 
Do not under-estimate the power of an individual who is desperately trying to survive and is lucky enough to have high-tech weapons and armour.
Im sure his intelligence helped him greatly as well...

Remember only the greatest of us lead Gordon successfully to complete his mission. Many more of us left him dying on the cold floor of black mesa....
 
Yes, but from the moment things get nasty he's wearing the HEV suit.
 
fantasiser said:
i actually know quite a few science geeks who do things like go to the gym regularly, or are martial arts nuts etc... So the scientist superhero isnt as unreasonable as you say unless your a stereotyping capitalist
Click to expand...
Of course i can assume Gordon was trained in special forces, has black belt in karate and what not. All of this to escape from calling me stereotyping capitalist.
But let's not making things up. He IS nerd. He IS geek. He IS NOT something else.
 
What about Adrian Sheppard and Barney Calahoun(sp again?)? Gordon seems to be getting all the credit ;(

This thread reminded me of my friend saying 'Gordon is a geek because he wears glasses...' But he has ADHA (Attention Defesist Disorder over Hyper Activity)
 
Why is he a nerd and a geek?
Cause he has learned theorys about the universe, its matter and its interactions? As well as helping to contribute to this information by completeing a phD?
These are honourable things...
 
So you know him then, right? You've read is memoirs?
Gordon is what we want him to be, and all you want is not to admit you're wrong.
 
Cujo said:
Of course i can assume Gordon was trained in special forces, has black belt in karate and what not. All of this to escape from calling me stereotyping capitalist.
But let's not making things up. He IS nerd. He IS geek. He IS NOT something else.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but what makes a elite soldier better in killing than a geeky scientist?
Gordon has got their equipment and weapons and he's alone.
When he turns out to be a good shot (some people just have a feeling for it), I dont see why he would not be able to fight elite soldiers.
 
I just thought of an idea

Lets give you a crowbar and a HEV suit and send you all out to a recreation of the Ressanonce Cascade...
 
Danimal said:
I just thought of an idea

Lets give you a crowbar and a HEV suit and send you all out to a recreation of the Ressanonce Cascade...
Click to expand...
The annual BMRF games :) Where can I subscribe?
 
Danimal said:
I just thought of an idea

Lets give you a crowbar and a HEV suit and send you all out to a recreation of the Ressanonce Cascade...
Click to expand...
And that's exactly what i'm talking about.
Huge ammount of luck, extreme will to survive, rich equipment isn't enough to face platoon of killing machines. Especially when you are not one.
 
Paravel said:
So you know him then, right? You've read is memoirs?
Gordon is what we want him to be, and all you want is not to admit you're wrong.
Click to expand...
Yeah, maybe i'm nitpicking here. It's only a game.
But i wonder where is that line between "kill 'em all fps" like Duke Nukem and whole bunch of games in this genre and fps's with amibions to have actually plot and scenario.
 
This could be used for loads of games.

Just think of an RPG...guy starts off as a basic run of the mill person and finishes a hard ass killer.

Half Life doesn't have the RPG element but could be a background thing. Crow Bar....check...ahh this is how you fire a gun...plus 10 attcking points...ooh trusty shotgun...plus 10 attacking points etc etc.

Also its a f*cking game not real.....
 
Don't forget the influence of the HEV suit, the work is not being done by Gordon's own muscles but by the suit.

But it stays unrealistic. But that does not really matter.

Now if you were Ivan the Spacebiker, he could whoop some serious ass.
 
Now if you want unrealistic, look at any final fantasy game. Dear god, by the end of a game your character farts and a universe explodes. Then they get killed in stupid ways!
 
Howabout this, he had a suit that protects him against the hazardous(sp?) environment which may be a lot more stressfull than bullet impacts, so that would give him armour. And more than the soldiers.
In addition to this this armour is able to recharge itsself and gordon can patch himself up on one of those recharge things on the wall.
Thereby he is desperate, the marines have no idea of what the place is and are confronted with aliens, just as gordon.
So, the suit and its recharges, the environment, the despair, and hell who knows what hobby's Gordon has, but it could be darts too. ;)
 
I'm a geek, I'm a technician at a college, but I can use a gun or crowbar or knife or whatever, the point is, Freeman is meant to be you, how YOU play the game.
 
Cujo said:
I mean c'mon... Gordon wouldn't survive 2 minutes of firefight with some elite troops. Even with super-duper suit and great luck.
Click to expand...


Ya, and Valve wouldn't have existed 2 months after Half Life's release if the game was only 10 minutes long because there was no way your character could survive against aliens and elite forces.

Now that I think about it.. what kind of scientist can go to work seeing in OpenGL, Direct3D, or softeware mode? How realistic is that? Also, what kind of scientist can press a space bar to jump? Or change his vision to 1024x768?

WOW I JUST REALIZED HALF LIFE IS A GAME!! silly me
 
Tiddalick said:
As a Maths / physics student myself....

We physics guys can kick arse, we just like to pretend we are weak and nerd like...that way when your not looking we can steal the engineers experimental protection suit and go blow up some alien/goverment scum
Click to expand...

Thats what they all say.
 
Fatality_ said:
who cares.
Click to expand...
Wow man! I totally agree with your post. Too bad I spent my lunchtime reading the whole mastedont, but it was worth it.
You sure know how to make your point.
Too bad we dont see more of these literal pieces of art.
I especially liked the part about 'who'. Sheer genius man.
Keep up the good work! :thumbs:
 
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