Comments on: The Video Game Protagonist

By: TrungleFever

TrungleFever — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:43:57 +0000

The conversation wheel in combination with the dialogue made a huge difference on being able to connect with Shepard. Even just being able to see the “gist” of what you're going to say, it could have been something you still weren't expecting and that drove the story through the dialogue in ways that haven't ever been accomplished in a video game yet.

By: TrungleFever

TrungleFever — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:42:09 +0000

I actually didn't get to play Force Unleashed unfortunately, my time (and more importantly, my funds) didn't allow me to play many games during the period in which it was released. I wish I could have an informed comment on it, but I do not. However, I did play Assassin's Creed 2, so I can talk a little about Ezio.

I thought Ezio was a very fun individual, but there wasn't much that was memorable to me. The way his story was told was more of note than anything. Seeing Ezio grow up and mature was definitely much more impactful than just seeing this Italian guy kill people and woo women every once in a while. Ezio sort of served as a reason for cool things to happen in the story.

I feel bad for saying this, but while I was playing AC2, I didn't really feel a big connection for Ezio as much as I have with Solid Snake or Commander Shepard or Nathan Drake. That didn't take away from my experience of playing the game, but I wish it added to it.

By: TrungleFever

TrungleFever — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:27:46 +0000

I knew I was missing something…damn. OK, I'll confess to dropping the ball, I'll add a a few words about him and the corresponding theory behind why he's an awesome protagonist.

By: JD

JD — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:22:55 +0000

What about Galen Marek aka Starkiller from the Force Unleashed…or even more short term Ezio from AC 2? Those are my two pics not mentioned in the article

By: Rob_Keyes

Rob_Keyes — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:30:45 +0000

Very cool post, Trung!

By: Jago

Jago — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:58:24 +0000

Not counting the ones mentioned above i would say Torque from “The Suffering”. He didn't even say a word throughout the whole game and yet i wanted to know all about him through the whole story.

By: !_!

!_! — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:41:39 +0000

iam almost ashame you didnt mention SOLID SNAKE

By: Matthew Talbot

Matthew Talbot — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:14:03 +0000

The voice work in Mass Effect was outstanding. Voicing the player's dialogue choice was a great move. I'm pretty partial to Nathan Drake myself. Of all the games I've played, he seems to stand out in my mind. I just started Brutal Legend and am so far loving the humor. I can see Eddie Riggs being a great protagonist too.

By: PaulSileo

PaulSileo — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:41:47 +0000

I have a hard time choosing between Gordon Freeman and Commander Shepard as my favorite. Gordon and I have been together a long, long time. But what BioWare did with Shepard in Mass Effect is the future of video game heroes that players can connect with, in my opinion. The ability to choose your dialogue options is there is all RPGs, but Mass Effect was the first to actually give that character a real voice who says the lines the player chooses. It's brilliant and a testament to the dedication of BioWare.