Wednesday 20 January 2010

Story and Character

When I think of a game character one always springs to mind and he recently won gamspots greatest hero contest. If you haven’t already guessed, its Gordon Freeman. I must confess, I’m a valve fan boy. I have played Half Life from when it was realised and followed it ever since. But what make him a good hero? I can’t for the life of me think what can make him so popular yet he’s the one that come to mind. One theory I have is that he has no voice. This way you feel like you are Gordon freeman, and that the characters are actually talking to you Instead of the actual character. Couple this with an immersive world that is the central hub of the game half life and you get remember able experience. So without the game and its story the characters are just other guys just like me and you. There isn’t much in the line of a back story in the first game all you know about Gordon is he’s a scientist here to do an experiment that goes wrong . Then a load of aliens turn up and you got to get the hell out of there.
Gordon gets a suit, this makes him ideal for the experiments but I don’t think it key to his success. Although a characters appearance is important, with Gordon it was more about the less you see the more you get in a strange sort of way. With the second game it almost felt that Alex was the main role as there were many interactions with her and you for a relation with her as her personality is so convincing. It really helps create a whole world around the central characters. Without them the game could never have the same impact or success.

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