Keep Freeman Quiet

PC opinion by Matt Smith, published on Tuesday 30th September 2008

Speak Up!A response to this article can be found here.Perhaps no other video game character is as iconic as Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of Valve’s Half-Life series. This undoubtedly has a great deal to do with the popularity of the series, which has repeatedly set industry benchmarks for A.I, engine scaling, plot, and level design. It also probably has a lot to do with who Freeman is. Unlike the vast majority of action-game heroes, Gordon is no rough-talking, burly, freight-engine of a man. Instead, he is an every-man nerd, a scientist who has yet to make a name for himself and instead appears to be cutting his chops as a manual laborer for advanced physics experiments. He has no war-wounds. Instead of a cigar jutting from his face, a pair of generic black glasses adorn him. Because of this, he is a much closer reflection of the kind of person who is going to be controlling him through his inter-dimensional adventures. He is what most every gamer has fantasized about, at one point or another - an average Joe, apparently unremarkable, who suddenly finds himself in a terrifying and baffling situation. And rather than cower like the other scientists, he rises to the task, becoming a living legend.

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Yet he has never spoken a word. Dialog has never been a weak point of the Half-Life series, which had excellent voice acting even back in the Quake-powered days of the original, but Gordon Freeman has remained stubbornly tight-lipped about his experiences. He has remained invisible, as well; throughout all of the Half-Life series, never once has the game-play shifted away from his perspective, and never once has a rendered cinematic cut in to glorify his exploits. Despite his iconic image, it is one that is rarely reinforced in the game itself.

This silence has been a source of controversy at least since Half-Life 2, and perhaps earlier. Some gamers have found it hard to believe that the scientist-turned-slaughterhouse could keep his quiet during so much turmoil. Never once has an Oh-**** escaped his lips, not even when a swarm of ant-lions come boiling from the ground. His refusal to speak has also forced Valve to use some interesting tricks when other characters interact with him. They often appear knowing, make jokes that Freeman is a man of few words, or speak generically. These tricks work more often than not, but they can lead to strange and awkward sequences, such as those where Eli makes hints about setting up Gordon and Alyx.

Even so, my opinion on Freeman’s silence is this - it is absolutely brilliant.

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Developing the main character in a first-person has always been an odd dance. After all, as a first-person game, the perspective of the main character is ostensibly the perspective of the player. The main character is the player’s window into the world, and since the main character is controlled by the player, it can be reasonably assumed that the main character doesn’t exist without the player. Most games greet this problem with one of two answers. One is to move the story forward through third-person cinematics and scripted sequences. This approach can be seen as recently as Crysis Warhead, and while it allows for the creation of a very identifiable character, it tends to significantly disrupt the flow of game-play, creating a experience which feels more like an inter-weaving of a movie and a game than a seamless whole. Alternatively, many games have taken to keeping the player in a first-person perspective throughout, but taking control over the character’s actions during critical points of the story and interjecting spoken lines which are triggered automatically. This provides seamless game-play, but it creates the feeling that the player is only partially in control, that there is really two minds behind the same set of eyes.

Valve’s approach avoids these pitfalls. The conflict between movie and game is never an issue, since the entire series is devoid of cinematics. And by keeping Freeman quiet, Valve also creates one of the most personal first-person games in existence. Rarely does the player ever find their control lost, and when they do, it is because Freeman also is physically restrained. As a result, the player becomes Freeman; everything that he does occurs because of the player.

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Sure, the silence initially feels odd. But I never found it a problem, largely because in the absence of Freeman providing speech for me, I provided the speech for him. This doesn’t mean I was talking at my monitor or TV (for the most part…) but these imagined responses defiantly exist whenever I play a Half-Life game. Freeman doesn’t need to say anything when a head-crab pops out of some dark space, trying to make savage love to his cranium. I’m already there. He doesn’t need to tell Barney to watch out. I’m already doing it for him. There is no separation between the player and the character the player inhabits. Freeman becomes an every-man not just because of his image, but also because whenever we play the game, he is precisely what we make of him. Those of us who tend to leap and scream when things come from dark corners find that our Freeman does the same, while those of us who prefer to remain smooth and confident find our Freemans are similarly stern. One of the most hilarious examples of this I read during a forum debate about Freeman’s silence was from a player who said he made Freeman run around in circles and curse at Eli or Alyx whenever the other characters asked him to do something dangerous. The image still makes me grin, but there is truth in jest.

While the title of this article is “Keep Freeman Quiet,” I’m also making a more general appeal here, as I hope that we will see more games take this approach in the future. I doubt that Valve is suddenly going to change their approach in what may be the last Episode of the Half-Life series, but I don’t recall any other game that has tried to replicate Valve’s success. More often than not, games are instead trying to play off the fact that while games allow the player to control the game to a degree, they are ultimately linear experiences that force the player to make assumptions. Bioshock is a good example of this, as is the older Shadow of the Colossus. But I think Freeman represents another direction we can take in games, one which may allow an experience which, while linear, allows the player to create their own in-game personality and make their own judgements about in-game events. It will be interesting to see Valve continues this tradition once the Half-Life series ends. In the meantime, Freeman will remain one of my favorite characters. After all, he is exactly who I want him to be.

Comments

daFIVEid
wrote on Tuesday 30th September 2008

That's a brilliant article !
For sure, minimalism, sobriety and simplicity have made Freeman's fame around thousands of players… Others heroes are so much "overacting" and pre-determinated that you can't really slip into their body&soul.

But I'm not sure about the "an experience which, while linear, allows the player to create their own in-game personality and make their own judgements about in-game events".

Valve is still firmly "directing" the player to think what to do next, what's good/bad, etc. Lots of improvements can be made in this field I suppose.
But as soon as you speak of making a "blockbuster", as soon as it leads to "less complexity". And life is complexity. Video games have still such a long road to make…
Sean Kelley
wrote on Wednesday 1st October 2008

I totally agree with this opinion, Freeman is able to be an everyman or a nobody, which is what he should be. Freeman is important to the people around him for the things that he has done, as a man of action. It's important that he isn't bogged down with a specific preset personality.
Bart
wrote on Thursday 2nd October 2008

I disagree, but this is a well stated opinion! To be honest, I have no qualms with a silent hero, but it has to be done right - and I just don't think Half Life 2 was a good example.
Eric
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

Haha, I often find myself filling in Freeman's lines. My Freeman tends to be a sarcastic overconfident dick because that's who I want him to be. I have actually said out loud to my monitor, "Really? You 3 combine soldiers are atually going to try to stop me? Don't you know who I am? I'm GORDON FUCKING FREEMAN! I AM THE FREEMAN!" followed by maniacal laughter and bullets. It's quite enjoyable.
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

FEAR has a similiar narrative. The main character never speeks, the camera never cuts away, and you only lose control of the character if the he does. Cant remember his name though, but the game does have a very very similiar system.
Luke
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

I love this article and i completly agree. Freeman's silence adds to the entire game.

although episode 3 is the end of half life 3, valve has said that this will most likely not be the end of the series. if it is then ill be sad… even if i find another great game
Zarachius
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

The guy from FEAR doesn't have a name, they just call him 'point man'.

I don't think Freeman is really that iconic, but he is still a great character. I agree that he should be kept quiet.
Steve
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

I fully agree! The Half-Life series has always been known for great games…. If Gordon started talking……I would be crushed!!!
Dan M
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

He's gotta say something at the end of episode 3. It's the end of the Half-Life series.
Anon
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

Of course the perspective has shifted away from Freeman. It went to Barney during Blue Shift and to Shephard during Opposing Force. The next episode comes out pretty soon, but Valve made a statement saying that the next time we get to play as Freeman is 2010, meaning the next episode is through the eyes of someone else.
Tyr
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

completely agree. and i also agree that the perspective has never shifted away from him. to say it shifted away from him would be to say that it was from his perspective to begin with. In other words, when you are freeman, you never stop being freeman, and freeman never stops being you. Valve is genious in their subtleties, and its this attention to detail that makes the half-life series what it is.
Carson
wrote on Wednesday 15th October 2008

I agree that Freeman is an amazing character for many reasons, including the ones you stated, but I believe he should at least give us one sentence before it is all over.

Maybe, he could say something totally neutral, but I would like to hear his voice.

I was kind of thinking along the lines of "I can't believe it's finally over.", or something to that effect.

Oh, and G-man needs an royal ass kicking.
Izkata
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

And, of course, the Legend of Zelda and other RPGs have been doing the same thing for quite a long time.

Half-Life 2 is just borrowing elements from a genre designed for telling stories.
jacks medulla
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

It's possible this is just one step in what could become an even more interactive medium–one which, instead of only giving you a situation and assessing your success at whatever objectives are put out, actually responds to all of your in-game behaviors. That means, where you're looking, how you're moving, everything! Not only that, but speech recognition is coming along; is it possible people will ever be able to talk with in-game characters! The future holds some truly inspiring scenarios
ali
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

Its interesting to see someone argue FOR the silent protagonist. I personally find it a little awkward from what Ive seen of half-life 2 (the NPCs being so expressive and lifelike only serve to remind you just how out of place a silent hero is.) in some games, notably zelda, the silence of the characters is also becoming a sore point, and every fan site that creates a list for "what should appear in the next zelda" includes some sort of voice acting. the fact that you so deftly argue FOR silence against such a tide of pro-noise is inspiring, to say the least.
A-Man
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

It seems like the author never played a RPG with a silent lead character. It is not revolutionary, and it is not an original idea. Final Fantasy I had 4 silent characters. Link never spoke a word. The whole Suikoden saga has silent lead characters (except Tactics).

And Gordon Freeman is hardly iconic.
Hevach
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

Silent protagonists may not be entirely unique, but you really can't compare the likes of Zelda, Dragon Quest, or Chrono Trigger to Half Life, as many times in such games the protagonist clearly speaks, even if his words aren't shown - other characters jump right from an initial question to a reaction to an unprinted answer. Chrono is even credited with coming up with a few plans - despite him not speaking, there's a break in dialog and then somebody says it's a good idea. What's a good idea? Whatever it was Chrono said.

If it weren't for all the stuff he has to kill, Gordon could be removed from Half Life entirely and all of the interactions between other characters would make perfect sense.
Olly Freeman
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

I personally agree with the article. The fact he doesn't speak kind of makes it feel like the player IS Gordon. It puts you in his shoes personally, so we're pretty much all Gordon Freemans. Lovely.
dude
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

look at zelda
tecrane
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

I dont normally post comments but i'm a huge Half Life fan. I've played every single game like 50 times through. I 100% agree with this article. I've always wanted there to be a half life movie because the script is already so great. But at the same time I didnt want one. Who could play him? He's never spoken. Its the same with Halo. I'm not a huge fan of that game but should they ever show master chiefs face I would be disappointed no matter how cool he looked. We cant ever hear Gordon. For the sake of the game we cant hear Gordon.
simon
wrote on Thursday 16th October 2008

if they were to make a film out of it (which imo would be amazing) then surely Gary Oldman as Freeman, Morgan Freeman as Eli and Jessica Alba as the Alyx Vance.
Matt Smith
wrote on Friday 17th October 2008

To those talking about Zelda and other RPG characters: yes, these sorts of silent protagonists are common. However, they overwhelming majority are third-person games, which creates a very clear barrier between the player and the character, which is less defined in first-person games.
Jerk
wrote on Friday 17th October 2008

"He has remained invisible, as well; throughout all of the Half-Life series, never once has the game-play shifted away from his perspective, and never once has a rendered cinematic cut in to glorify his exploits."

I'm sorry to say this is wrong, in blue-shift, you can watch gordon walking to his HEV suit through one of the camera's, and later you can see him going to the test chamber.
Erik
wrote on Friday 17th October 2008

Yes its true that you can see Gordon in Blue Shift but you are not playing as him in that game. When playing as Freeman the perspective is never taken away from Freeman.
Sheep
wrote on Saturday 18th October 2008

You people who are arguing about RPG's silent protagonists, it's different. Most RPG's have only text, so you don't need the speech that much. And consider this, every line counted in old NES games. If Square had had a bigger medium for Final Fantasy, then the characters may have talked.

I think that the author is commending Valve for not making Freeman talk, even though they could have caved in easily. But I don't think they could settle on a voice for Gordon, it took what? Six faces? To make his face?

I second the notion that he should say something at the end. My vote is kicking the G-Man in a hole and calling him an SOB like everyone has always wanted. Granted the G-Man will probably become a good guy in a final plot twist.
anonymous
wrote on Saturday 18th October 2008

A-man. You say "Gordon Freeman is hardly iconic."

I don't suppose you'd care to back up this piece of bold literary criticism at all?

Say with any support for your position?

Or will you opt to continues to mindlessly trash a character that has captured the imaginations of game consumers and advanced the medium?

Until you do back up your claim somehow, I find an ad hominem attack fully justified. You are an arrogant hate-filled fuck-for-brains half-a-retard prick.
Suri
wrote on Saturday 18th October 2008

For anyone who mentioned Blue Shift or Opposing force when you see Gordon.
His model existed in-game in Half-Life and those expansions were made by Gearbox, not Valve.
So, incongruity solved.
Esben
wrote on Saturday 18th October 2008

The fact that Gordon doesn't speak actually lessens the experience for me. I find that the complete lack of a main character just feels weird to me. I actually feel more like I'm just playing a game, because I can't 'feel' anybody. It's just a screen.

The complete opposite is probably Escape From Butcher Bay, which I thought was a lot more immersive. Alone the fact that you could look down and see your own body in a realistic way did a lot for me.

It's not that I hate the concept. Every shooter before Half-life had a silent protagonist, but in as dialog-heavy game as HL2 I find that it falls a bit short, and actually ruins the experience.
bob slydel
wrote on Saturday 18th October 2008

gordon must never speak!
Tyler
wrote on Saturday 18th October 2008

I have 20 plus years playing video games like most any body else. I have played close to every first-person shooter and found that half the time the main character is never thinking what I'm thinking and never asks the questions I would. In taking on the roll of a silent hero was a great reprieve. The only thing that could make it more immersing would be to give the player a way to talk and interact with the other characters.
sricks
wrote on Monday 20th October 2008

People are going to go crazy about this, but I honestly think that the most transparent player character of all time is the "Stranger" from the Myst series. Like Freeman, you never see the Stranger, the games are played from a strict first person perspective, and (s)he never talks.

Valve does a great job of developing Freeman's character while still allowing vicarious gameplay (and some may see this as an improvement over complete character transparency), but in Myst, there is no development of the player character. Thus, the Stranger IS the player, allowing the player to explore completely vicariously.
Mike
wrote on Tuesday 21st October 2008

Wow, well spoken!
Winter
wrote on Tuesday 28th October 2008

Freeman is, really, just an extension of the Marathon marine/cyborg. (Marathon being the philosophical ancestor to Halo and crew.) The Marathon cyborg never speaks, and in fact almost never gets to interact in a meaningful way with the other characters–they, through text terminals(!) tell the story all by themselves. You as a player certainly get to affect that story, in some crucial ways in fact, but ultimately (like Freeman) you're allowed to make the cyborg your own character.

In fact, i don't even believe there's a stated gender/sex or race for the cyborg.

Of course, Half Life really was more an extension of Marathon than of Quake, despite being technically based on the Quake engine.
Nick
wrote on Tuesday 28th October 2008

I completely agree with the post. I was wondering, though, how long it would take for the AI characters to recognise simple voice commands spoken by the player (rather than the player's character) into a mic.

Eg, "over here!", "behind you!" etc. That would further envelop the player in the world *and* maintain the player/character connection. I wonder if they could also add appropriate echo feedback depending on the environment?
Will
wrote on Tuesday 28th October 2008

Great article!

Does anyone else draw a connection to why the Legend of Zelda is so immersive? (Link never really speaks…)
ninjuh
wrote on Tuesday 28th October 2008

Chrono Trigger is another early example of just how immersive this narrative style can be within a game.

Now, just wait until the future, when you might actually get to BE the main character, holodeck style.
Dan
wrote on Tuesday 28th October 2008

good stuff! haven't though about it that way. It reminds me of how two charachters from harry potter series never speak a word until the last book. I'm talking about Crab and Goyle. obviously in the movies they speak but in the books, JKRowling never quotes anything they say.
Scorpio
wrote on Saturday 1st November 2008

Interesting take! Great Article!

I haven't read any of the other comments, but I feel that the movement made in the episodes for HL2 somewhat strays from this intentional design schematic. While its true that the original HL and HL2 were filled with intense moments devoid of dialogue, the episodes seem to be constantly surrounding you with a variety of AI partners. All of them seem willing and able to verbosely describe whatever event happens to be occuring at any given time. This is especially true of Alyx and it makes the game much more of a story being told to you than an event which is happening to you.
C-Section
wrote on Sunday 2nd November 2008

Excellent article. It is exactly the reason I love the series so much and it is what makes Valve the best developer in the industry. If more developers looked to Valve for inspiration, we would have a much more incredible and personal medium. They know how to tell a story in a videogame and the one thing graphics and new tech will never match and never be complete without is a great story.
regan
wrote on Sunday 2nd November 2008

Freeman the most iconic videogame caracter?!

Ever heard of Mario bud?
TheSilencer
wrote on Sunday 2nd November 2008

This article nicely sums up why silent character have a very important place in games. As much as people argue against silent protagonists, having the main character speak destroys the illusion that you, the player, are entirely in control of the protagonist. While there is no doubt that it is necessary to have a speaking protagonist to drive the narrative of some games, these games tend to lack immersion. This isn't to say that they are bad, just that they sacrifice the connection between the player and the character in exchange for telling a story using conventional methods.

However, games have long had a sort of identity crisis as a medium, where they often attempt to emulate movies in ways that ignore the power of properly harnessing interactivity as method of telling the story that does not exist in any other medium. Games that attempt to make the player feel as though he is a part of the game, whether through silence (e.g. Gordon Freeman, Link, the Traveler (from Myst), Samus (at least in the Metroid Prime series), or the protagonist in Bioshock) or meaningful choices (open-ended RPGS, KOTOR, etc.) tend to be much better developed as games, and yet still manage to tell stories.

The fact that some of these games do things that would not be possible in any other medium shows why this could be crucial to further development of games as a means of telling a story. When the player feels that they really are their avatar in the virtual world, what happens to this avatar can break through mental barriers that normally keep us from relating too strongly to a character, and open up a kind of story telling not possible in other mediums.

Speaking from personal experience (and trying not to go into enough detail to spoil anything for people who haven't played the games), the scenes in Half Life 2, Episode 2 where freedom of movement is taken away from you had a surprisingly strong impact on me, in that I briefly felt real frustration, anger and helplessness as I was left unable to do more than look on- in fact, it might not be an exaggeration to say that I briefly felt, to a lesser degree, what I would be feeling if I really was Gordon Freeman. The same thing applied to a lesser degree during the "A man chooses" scene in Bioshock.

This is only possible, however, because a silent character allows the link between the player and avatar to become more that just seeing the events of the game play out from the character's eyes. Silent characters have the ability to allow the player to go from becoming a character, to having the character become them. This sort of connection prevents some conventional storytelling methods, and yet it opens the door to methods that have never before been possible.
Patrick Coakley
wrote on Sunday 9th November 2008

"regan on Sunday 2nd November 2008

Freeman the most iconic videogame caracter?! Ever heard of Mario bud? "

Haha exactly what I was thinking. Or Sonic. Or Mega Man. Or Solid Snake… Honestly, while I love HL2, Freeman isn't even on my radar for most memorable and iconic characters in video games.
Matt Smith
wrote on Sunday 9th November 2008

I think Mario, Megaman, and Sonic, while certainly well known, are basically fluff, symbolizing nothing. But that's just like, my opinion, man.
Matt Wadleigh
wrote on Sunday 9th November 2008

Ask most serious PC gamers who Gordon Freeman is and I imagine they'd be able to give you an answer, even if they haven't played the game. I think as far as computer game icons go, Freeman's in the top 3 at least.
Patrick Coakley
wrote on Sunday 9th November 2008

"Ask most serious PC gamers who Gordon Freeman is and I imagine they'd be able to give you an answer, even if they haven't played the game. I think as far as computer game icons go, Freeman's in the top 3 at least."

Well, certainly that is the case, but to say he's the most well-known is quite a long-shot. SMB3 sold more than all the Half-Life games combined, and the name Mario is a household name. I've been gaming on the PC since '89, and sure, to a lot of core PC gamers Gordon Freeman is a known name. Even in the realm of PC games, though, there are still characters more widely known. I think a different wording might have been better here, like "one of the most important characters in PC gaming", or "culturally significant PC gaming characters." Ah well, the article is done and out, and has been, but it's just an observation of mine.
Matt Wadleigh
wrote on Monday 10th November 2008

Oh, I agree Patrick. I wouldn't say his name is up there with Mario or Sonic or Lara, but the type of people that this article is geared towards - Half-Life fans and PC gamers - would likely find him very iconic and the closest thing to the "face" of PC gaming currently.
Zhal
wrote on Wednesday 3rd December 2008

Nice article. You pretty much on the right point about this.

It's weird how other games really haven't tried same kind of approach. I especially would have liked if Mirror's Edge had gone the similar way. It featured stuff like game taking over player's controls when one could have easily just walk around by themselves and also out-of-body cinematic cuts and of course those animations.
But I'm hoping that Valve would give Freeman legs. It would give even more immersion.
gragnack
wrote on Saturday 28th March 2009

half-life 2 isnt going to be the end of the half-life franchise episode 3 will be the end of the half-life 2 story ark though.