It takes a particular blend of careful writing and perfectly pitched performance to give real, emotional and philosophical soul to the hero of a game where you can shred mecha-Nazis with dual-wielded shotguns, but the modern Wolfenstein games ( The New Order (opens in new tab) and The New Colossus (opens in new tab)) nail it. If Joel was a better man, The Last of Us would be a much worse game. But it makes for a much more meaningful, much more human journey through the wilderness than the simplistic hero's journey most game would be happy to give us. That might not make him a hero in the traditional sense. But when it comes to the bigger picture, ultimately he's still doing it all for himself, to heal his own wounds, not those of the world, and damn any one who tries to get in the way of that. Selfish, over-zealous, and deeply, deeply scared, Joel will fight to the death to protect Ellie. And when Ellie, and her unavoidable echoes of Joel's daughter, wakes up the protective side he's long been trying to bury, his response veers far from the romanticized ideal you might accept. He's a burnt-out, angry man, shattered by an insane world, and all he wants is to be left alone. Forced to embark on his journey, and initially reluctant to protect - both traits stemming directly from horrific personal loss - he does not rise naturally to the role of fighter and defender. Joel, arguably, is no kind of a hero at all, perhaps not even in his own mind. This many years on, the game's structure and intensification represent a still-unbettered deftness and understanding of the player experience, creating in Freeman one of the most welcoming, receptive, and unobtrusive vessels for the player id ever put in an FPS. Never breaking from first-person, and barely ever taking away control, Half-Life 2 ensures that you experience every moment, from wide-eyed, terrified stranger in a strange land, to steadily empowered transgressor, to rebel and leader. Among the fantastic characterization, the affecting writing, the brilliant performances, there's a very clever thread of pacing, thematic escalation, and carefully curated emotional stimulus that slowly, steadily encourages the player to imprint themselves upon Gordon completely. That's the narrative genius of Valve's sequel. In Half-Life, and especially Half-Life 2, you don't play Gordon Freeman. How does a character without a single line of dialogue become so iconic? Easy.
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