It sucks that Freeman doesn't have a voice but it's too late at this stage of the game to give him a one. Dead Space 2 got lucky since it wasn't too late and the game benefited from it and we all know that Link should never have a voice if the CDi games are any indication. I think it would have been better if Gordan never had a name and characters addressed you as 'the free man' since then it does feel like you are the character and not just some dude that already has a name.

@Cupids_Hitman said:

@GetEveryone said:

A new user starts a controversial topic.

Surprise.

@innacces14 said:

I'm one to side with the Bombcast discussion of Nolan North being the voice of Freeman. It should be right at the end where something climactic is about to happen and it should just be one big, giant "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

In some way... I really like that idea. Should Alex die, I think they'll need to have him acknowledge it.

They had better not kill Alyx. If that were to happen, Gaben would have some serious 'splaining to do.

Well who's to say Alyx is gonna die and it's Freeman's battle-cry as he sacrifices himself for the greater good. After all..."The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world"

Hater's gonna hate.

I'm with most of the people in this thread, keep him silent. I do occasionally notice the occasional weird pause where it just sounds dumb not to respond, but I really enjoy being able to just project myself onto the character as a an avatar and after two games and two episodes, I can't see muck merit in changing Gordon to a voiced character now.

I'M GORDON. IIIIIII'M GORDON!

@InertiaticESP:

What the hell would you have him say? Part of the enjoyment I found with Half-Life 2 was not knowing much about Gordon or his relationship with G-Man. Having him speak ruins that mysteriousness.

I'M GORDON. IIIIIII'M GORDON!

I've always hated silent protaganists, but to suddenly have him talk while he stayed silent for 2 games would be strange.

You sound like a dumb baby who can't cope with implicit storytelling.

But then they wouldn't be able to make lame ass fucking jokes about it- Fucking Barry "MAN OF FEW WORDS HUH GORDON?! WINK WINK NOD NOD NUDGE" HL2 is so... god damn... gah, don't like it.

Back when that game was made, they didn't really have the resources to do that.

Since then, it's become a tradition. So it shouldn't be changed.

Because the series started with a silent protagonist, effectively every voice they could think to include, given that they didn't include an option to change the voice like Saints Row, would offend people. So many people have already imagined in their heads what Gordon sounds like, and you can't hope to appease everyone, so it's better to play it safe and keep him silent.

He's just shy.

I say leave it up to the community and let them make their own "sound packs" of dialog for the game. That way you can have your Gilbert Godfreid Freeman and your Christopher Walken Freeman and so on. Make it an option in the main menu, just like the texture packs for Minecraft.

@InertiaticESP said:

For all we know, HL3 starts up back in Xen and the Combine were retconned and never happened.

This made me forget everything else in the post.

I think you might be a crazy person.

Hellllll no.

I don't understand how a half life fan could wish for a voice actor.

@Daveyo520 said:

It is a gaming staple that he doesn't talk and I don't think they should change it. Also, no voice will ever be right.

This.

Yes there is a reason he's not voiced. It's Valve's game and they decided not to give him a voice. Tired of gamers telling devs what to do.

It's because Valve can't afford a voice actor for him.

Freeman will never, and shouldn't talk.

giving him a voice would ruin the series.

I hope they don't add voice acting because it's too late in the series really. If they were going to add it, they should have done it in HL2. There's already hints about him not talking from dialogue and similar stuff in Portal 2. It would totally freak me out if Freeman just started talking randomly. Also, the choice of voice actors would be so crucial that they would never risk added it now.

@GetEveryone said:

In some way... I really like that idea. Should Alex die, I think they'll need to have him acknowledge it.

Maybe he'll be so traumatized by it that he'll lose his voice and will just mouth something.

Oh god. Like the vision of the Reaper invasion, I've been given insight to a horrible fate that will befall our future...
 
With Kinect support, you are the voice of Gordon Freeman.

Agreed. It's a stupid way to convey a character by making him mute. It breaks any emotion that I'd have with any of these characters as I always just see Freeman saying nothing and being detached from this world. Valve of all people should have enough writers to make a compelling character. I hate this in video games and I hope it dies soon. People that keep saying that it's done to make him a blank slate and reflect the people are misguided. People should want and expect more. I do.

Only if he's voiced by Morgan Freeman.

It is pretty much up to Gabe, no one is foolish enough to challenge him.

@The_Laughing_Man said:

I hope they do not have him voice acted.

@The_Laughing_Man said:

I hope they do not have him voice acted.

In the end, it may tie into the story. Maybe there's a huge reason no one is expecting. Like the whole thing was just a dream the night before his first day on the job at Black Mesa. Oh shit. I just spoiled it! Sorry. Ha ha. Kidding. Personally, over the years the whole silent protagonist ordeal has gotten old, and by now, people should realize it doesn't help the character you're playing in most respects. I'm still surprised Gordon Freeman won the best character award on GameSpot in 2009. It's so awkward to have so many supporting (though very important) characters in a series be fantastic, yet have the main character not seem very special other than to be there for the story.

Oh, and while I agree about the whole voice thing for majority of games, I don't know if I want Gordon to be voiced. It's just the way it is, and if he was voiced, it'd probably come off as weird. I just hope they tie it into the story somehow. Also, anyone that is saying Nolan North, as much as you can respect him as a voice actor, I'm quite sick of him. I'm currently playing Arkham City and damn, he does too many voices in it (like a lot of games), and I wish I never knew he did the Penguin, 'cause now all I hear and think of is Nolan North doing an impression, which I do not like.

@InertiaticESP: I find it pretty funny that your avatar is a picture of a protagonist who isn't voice acted.

I agree with the OP. The silent protagonist is a hangover from an era when developers didn't really know what to with this increasingly complex medium. I fail to see how your character being unable to speak or visibly emote in any way somehow makes him more relatable.

I get the concept of an everyman, I do, but I don't find the silent protagonist the best way to do such a character, nor do I really even care for the "everyman" concept. I'd rather have a dialogue wheel, or something akin to that, even if it had no major impact on the story, since it would allow the player to shape the personality of the protagonist and get appropriate replies and reactions from other characters in the game, effectively giving the player the ability to roleplay - i.e. be the character in the game.

If you want an example of how to do a voiced "everyman" protagonist you can relate, without dialogue choices, take a look at what Rockstar did with Red Dead Redemption. John Marston is a blank slate for the emotions the story conjures up in you. He says things in a neutral enough fashion so as to not alienate you, but reacts enough to be believable and voices the frustration, anger and bemusement you as a player feel at a given moment. It's not perfect, but that's mostly due to the sandbox mechanics that give the player the ability to act in ways that wouldn't fit an "everyman". A linear story would not have this problem.

We all project our personality and feelings onto protagonists, whether in movies, games, books, whatever, whether or not they are "blank slates". It's the entire idea behind a narrative, that you can find a main character you can relate to, even if is not you.

But a silent protagonist is Valve's "thing" and more specifically with Half-Life it's something so iconic and so ingrained within the minds of the average gamer that it's unlikely to be changed at this point.

Gordon Freeman being voiced would be Bio Digital Jazz, Man.