I personally think Gordon Freeman is the greatest character in Video Games, even if he never says a word.

Then why do you have a Master Chief head for you avatar?

I didn't change it yet. But I don't have anything against the chief.

I find Gordon a decent character, but not even close to the greatest. Greatest is a high spot, and characters like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, Conker from Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes occupy my list.

Just playing through Half Life 1 now, I don't really like him that much. He needs to fucking talk :|

I like Gordon specifically because he doesn't talk. He's the epitome of the Silent Protagonist.

Those of you that haven't read Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (which is the official Valve art book released with HL2), well, really should. It goes into some depth about why Valve designed Gordon to be a silent protagonist. They produced the Half-Life games with the intention of putting the player as closely into their world as possible. Subsequently, since the person playing the game can't speak to the characters, neither can Gordon. This attempt at player immersion means the camera never once leaves Gordon's perspective. You are supposed to be experiencing the saga of Half-Life as if you were there yourself. I think the Half-Life franchise accomplishes this better than any other series of games yet made, with the single exception of System Shock 2.

The fact that Gordon doesn't speak isn't due to a design decision to limit the player's interactivity with the game, it was intended to do the exact opposite. Aside from that, many/most FPS games that involve a visible or talkative protagonist don't do it all that well. The player's character has poorly written dialogue that isn't interesting to listen to. Off the top of my head I'll site Perfect Dark Zero, Haze, and Red Steel as examples of a talkative protagonist being a detriment rather than an asset to a game's design. Obviously there are the odd few fps games that actually make use of a talkative protagonist brilliantly, like Deus Ex and...uh...

...

Yeah I'll have to think about that a bit more.

Freeman is indeed the perfect silent protagonist. He's got more character and personality saying nothing than most game characters who have pages of dialogue.

He is a cool dude....I dont need him to talk while im playing ...we got other people in the half life universe that will explain the story to us...

Freeman is on top with the big guys but..  I think he sorta lacks  charisma and leadership. won't hurt for him to thank the rebels or actually lead um instead of leaving them in the open to get mowed down by combine soldiers

I like Gordon Freeman and all, but he just can't say no to anything. He's like the personal slave to most folks.

Maybe his vocal cords got affected by all that radiation from Black Mesa? Maybe he is not a very talkative guy? It could also be that the suit hampers him from speaking...

But anyway i don't mind him not talking but that does not mean that i wouldn't mind him talking...

All in all it is the dev's choice (our choice is buy it  or don't buy it) we will just have to accept their choices.
Plus in some odd way it actually makes me care about good ol' Gordy because he dosen't have some whiny personality that results in me throwing him off cliffs for fun.

I like the fact that he doesn't talk, it allows you to "be" Gordon Freeman, and experience the game 1st hand.  All of his personality comes from you.  If he  ever did talk it might ruin the series, its like one of the "sacred" rules of video games, Gordon Freeman never talks, and you can never see the Master Chiefs face.

I have to agree with Gordon being one of the greatest videogame protagonists ever, I always enjoyed him being silent, since half the time the lead character in games irritate me.

Gordon has to be one of the greatest protagonists ever if not the greatest. The fact that he's silent just makes it cooler to play as him because you get completely (here it comes!) immersed in the game play. Also, I didn't find that any other characters in the game were irritating because at the time, they all felt so human (except in Episode 1).

Like it's already been mentioned, not having Gordon say anything throughout several games is an interesting choice. This of course raises the question, will Gordon speak in the next game? It would be one heck of cliffhanger, just imagine it. Gordon reaches, his vision blurred screaming "NOOOOO!" and then end credit rolls. I'd sure buy the next game if that were the case.

As Dejkrigeren suggested something might be preventing him from talking and this lead me to thinking about a scene in one of the games were radiation was a problem. Not for Gordon apparently since he has the suit. But then it occurred to me, I have never seen a helmet on him. Granted there were a few in the very first game but not in the second one so how does our "shy" hero go about surviving in radiation without said helmet?

The fact that the other characters (Alyx) took notice of the fact that Gordon never speaks was a nice touch to the game and it makes me wonder how awkward it must feel to try to strike up a conversation with Gordon.

I think Gordon Freeman is a pretty cool guy. Eh kills headcrabs and doesn't afraid of anything.

Freeman's mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J80KD4BG7M
I highly recommend these series of videos, they are pretty funny.

"Like it's already been mentioned, not having Gordon say anything throughout several games is an interesting choice. This of course raises the question, will Gordon speak in the next game? It would be one heck of cliffhanger, just imagine it. Gordon reaches, his vision blurred screaming "NOOOOO!" and then end credit rolls. I'd sure buy the next game if that were the case.

As Dejkrigeren suggested something might be preventing him from talking and this lead me to thinking about a scene in one of the games were radiation was a problem. Not for Gordon apparently since he has the suit. But then it occurred to me, I have never seen a helmet on him. Granted there were a few in the very first game but not in the second one so how does our "shy" hero go about surviving in radiation without said helmet?"

Thats a good point but I think that the mistique of his character lends himself to such discussion and thats why I like him as one of my fav vgame characters. If they invented a reason for him not talking then no matter what they said Id be dissapointed, its fun to speculate on things like this :)

Also that idea of HL:E3 ending with Gordon saying ,"Noooo" sounds awesome.

Gordon Freeman is probably my most favourite character in any game. The fact he doesn't speak means he hasn't sounded like an idiot or been given poor dialogue which may reduce the amazing quality of the Half Life series. And obviously having him not speak is the perfect silent protagonist for a game.

Gordon Freeman is a great protagonist, an avatar for the game player, and ultimately his role in the game is a device to immerse the player into the experience.  Non-Playable Characters in the game have their own purpose to draw you in, and as a result are done differently.  That is to say, you know, they talk and stuff.

Its interesting that all of the other characters don't expect an answer from gordon... which more than likely means valve wants us to make our own assessment of how gordon would talk...

Yeh I like how in HL2 Alyx is like, "A man of few words huh?"

I think valve wants to keep Freemans voice a secret.

What if Alyx and Gordon end up getting married? That would be one awkward wedding ceremony.

I guess it has to do with "picture = 1000 words" method.Gordon lets his action speak for him.

Gordon Freeman is a BAMF because he's a silent protagonist.  Kinda like Vinny.

I guess they want you to own your reaction to the story.  If Gordon starts talking he steals some of your unique interpretation.  In a way i think its understood that the player behind the keyboard communicates for Gordon, so that the characters in game seem to be responding to you.

I personally think that he's an extremely boring character. I feel like I'm just a pair of arms holding a weapon when I play HL.

"Gordon Freeman is a BAMF because he's a silent protagonist.  Kinda like Vinny.
"

Freeman was a good main character and even though he didn't talk, still memorable.

I think the G-man might have made it so that Freeman can't speak, he's a pretty powerful dude.

"I guess they want you to own your reaction to the story.  If Gordon starts talking he steals some of your unique interpretation.  In a way i think its understood that the player behind the keyboard communicates for Gordon, so that the characters in game seem to be responding to you."

OMG I can't believe you people want him to do something as cliched as kneel on the floor shouting NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO as the ending of episode 3!

That would ruin the series

Doesn't Gordon speak at the beginning of HL2? When he's passing through the security checkpoints and they bring him to Barney?

No, he has never spoken Dwarfzilla.

I think he's a cool character, but by no means the best.

Hes a great character for sure,though I wouldn't say the best ,I couldn't give a list of any better at the same time. Also anyone saying he doesn't seem like a very good leader or anything..like it was said 100 times,hes designed so 'you' are him,as immersed as you can get in the game. When 'you' end up single handedly stopping the combines plans (in hl1) and then start the revolt that takes place in hl2 , that is 'you' Gordon Freeman being a leader, I mean he has an entire alien race basically worshipping him,and every human resistance just happy that he is even among them, that should be proof enough.

edit- also, no other game thats done with a silent protagonist has done it as well as half life.

My GUN talks for me when I'm Gordon Freeman.

maybe gordon has a vow of silence

What's with all these year old Freeman threads being bumped?