What makes Dr. Gordon Freeman the all time greatest hero? People often bring up that he doesn't talk, like that is supposed to disparage him in some way. Apparently these same people enjoy sitting through cinematic cutscenes depicting game protagonists in the developers' vision, speaking as the developer wants. Unlike many other developers, Valve took a different approach to Half-Life's protagonist, Gordon Freeman. It's not that Valve was too cheap to hire a voice actor (one can see evidence of voice acting in the many NPCs), but rather because Valve is letting you BE Gordon Freeman. Every time you play a Half-Life game, you do not play AS Gordon Freeman, you ARE Gordon Freeman.

Gordon Freeman graduated from MIT with a Ph.D in theoretical physics and wrote a thesis entitled Observation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement on Supraquantum Structures by Induction Through Nonlinear Transuranic Crystal of Extremely Long Wavelength (ELW) Pulse from Mode-Locked Source Array. How many other game protagonists have a Ph.D or have written any kind of thesis, let alone one on such advanced matter? Disappointed in the slow pace of teleportation research, Freeman decided to take a job at the top secret Black Mesa Research Facility. At the mere age of 27, his life would be forever changed.

One moment he is a theoretical physicist performing the menial task of pressing a button, and in the next moment he is defending himself against hostile aliens. Donning a Hazardous Environment (H.E.V.) suit and equipped with a mere crowbar, Freeman goes from geek to badass in no time. This is one of the reasons Gordon Freeman is the all time greatest hero. He is not a soldier. He is not a half-god. He is a scientist. He takes on throngs of enemies out of necessity, not because it is his job. He quickly adapts to his situation and becomes a soldier of the resistance on his own accord. For all intents and purposes, he becomes a modern day messiah. He eliminates the evil alien race, the Nihilanth, thus freeing the Vortigaunts who later join the human resistance against the trans-dimensional Combine Empire. In doing so, he is not only praised and referred to as "The Free Man" by the Vortigaunts, but he is also called "The One Free Man" by Earth's survivors. Furthermore, the Combine recognize him as the single greatest threat to their empire, referring to him as "Anticitizen One." The fact that an alien race that spans several dimensions considers Gordon Freeman its number one threat is further evidence that he is the all time greatest game hero.

Now some may argue that because the Half-Life series isn't over, he cannot be considered a hero, let alone the all time greatest hero. After all, we do not know for sure that he'll "succeed" in Half-Life 2: Episode Three or any other subsequent Half-Life games. But should not a person be judged by all his actions and not simply his or her last deed in life? Even if somehow Freeman dies in Episode Three, is he not already a hero? He already saved Earth from one alien invasion, he freed a whole alien race, and he has given Earth's remaining survivors hope for the future.

If you do not view Gordon Freeman as the all time greatest hero, I can only assume that you have never played the Half-Life series the way they were meant to be played. You have never experienced the true immersion Valve provided in the Half-Life games. You never BECAME Gordon Freeman. And if that's the case, I feel nothing but pity for you, for you have truly missed out on one of gaming's greatest gifts.

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