#half life alyx is a FANTASTIC game and i will say it will be very hard to top it is the real half life 3 isn't a vr game

[andnowrotfront]

on the same note we literally got half life 3 in 2020 but people don't like to acknowledge it because it's 1. a vr game and 2. alyx is the protagonist this time

[bsptourist]

Do you have any favorite part or spot from the Half-Life series?

Yeah hang on let me just pick a few favorite children here

In HL1, the area right after you get out of the trash compactor springs to mind— Just a weird little run off area, but it's something someone at Valve still put time into detailing. The lobby/surrounding areas from Questionable Ethics are also up there. (Generally, I've always loved thinking about how Black Mesa presents itself to the outside world, and this is a fun glimpse at that. Excitingly banal stuff!)

As far as HL2 goes, I enjoy any of the areas that incorporate rebel outposts and basebuilding. Scratches the same itch in my brain that building pillowforts as a kid did. I picked the first map of Black Mesa East for the anniversary post because I do genuinely love that area. The way HL1 & 2 both display the passage of time without drawing much attention to it is great. The evening tone and skybox as you arrive to Black Mesa East are still beautiful, and the general hominess of the facility itself has always really stricken me. Any maps in Source that can depict an evening dusk tone convincingly enough always end up winning me over.

People sleep on Episode 1 a lot but I've always adored the citadel meltdown sections, both aesthetically and in terms of gameplay. The overwatch voice just repeating alert... alert... through a shattering Citadel is fantastic. The bridge section from Episode 2 where Alyx mans the heavy sniper also deserves mention!

I tend to like the weird little understated areas in both games more than anything else though. Gun to my head— I would say this spot in Water Hazard, (d1_canals_12,) is my favorite overall:

It incorporates a lot of the things I like about HL2's early goings, that being the late afternoon/dusk tone and makeshift structures. It's ultimately pretty boring compared to the big setpieces the rest of the game offers, sure, but there's a lot of storytelling power in this very sad little vignette that you can miss completely.

Even without the dead/zombified refugees and the metrocop presence just outside of it, this is a sign of how bleak life under Combine rule truly is. Sure, at this point you've seen it firsthand by way of jackbooted police brutality and suppression field talk, but seeing the places these people have had to hastily hole up in drives it home. This is maybe the most hopeless example: life at the end of a sewer canal, waiting on salvation you're not sure will ever come, surviving on god knows what. If you're particularly unlucky, a squad of people just like you, (only more susceptible to propaganda or the draw of civil protection benefits,) will come to mangle or outright kill you for daring to step out of line.

Also. Well. The lighting is pretty. That helps a lot too

[green-2-blue]

as someone who was really into like the actual half-life stuff in 2008 can i ask what the fuck is half life VR and why is it like, the new weird fandom thingy?

Half Life VR but the AI is Self Aware is an improv comedy series organized by wayneradiotv! it was originally streamed on twitch, but the full streams have been cut down, edited, and uploaded to youtube

it's presented as an experimental build of the first half life game, ported to virtual reality and featuring immersive ai that can respond to the player realistically (but it's actually the first half life game ported to garry's mod, with the vr addon, and the ai are actually played by actors !) and shit gets absolutely wild !

it gained popularity because it first started during the half life alyx hype, and by extension half life hype in general, but it's a fucking hilarious series + the characters are all fantastic + actually manages to keep things fairly consistent somehow despite being nearly 100% improvised??? + the cast are all genuinely great people

it only very loosely follows the actual plot of half life- i would say it even throws it out, at a certain point? but i recommend watching it, if you're interested at all! here's a link to the first episode !

[jetpacksunrise]

Things I liked in 2020

In lieu of having anything else to post, here’s the J-Kroogz awards for ‘things I liked last year’. Maybe you might like some of them too.

Best video game: Umurangi Generation

Umurangi Generation is about being a photographer in apocalyptic cyberpunk New Zealand. It’s also about what it means to try and come to terms with the end of the world and maaaaybe not being able to do anything about it, which… might’ve resonated for some reason? It’s the most ‘2020’ game I played in 2020, and while it was originally inspired by the Australian bushfires, it serendipitously grew to encompass a lot of what went wrong in this weird, sometimes good, often awful year. Also, the soundtrack’s great!

Honourable mention: Half-Life Alyx

Half-Life 2 was what really got me deep into video games, way back in 2004. Sixteen years later, here’s a sequel, and it’s somehow incredible? VR games are good! More people should be into VR! The general Half-Life vibe of creepy minimalistic sci-fi machinery crossed with grungy, wintry Eastern European architecture is basically my happy place at this point, and getting to walk around in that world and shoot some zombies was genuinely breathtaking.

Best book: Exhalation

A sparkling collection of sci-fi short stories, each with a thought-provoking question at its core. Best of all, each story doesn’t just tackle these questions in the scientific or “logical” sense, but also explores how they might affect people emotionally, or spiritually – and it’s the characters’ responses to these sci-fi ideas that truly make each story infinitely engaging.

Honourable mention: Boy Swallows Universe

Every year I try and read one book that could arguably be described as ‘literature’, and this year, that honour goes to Boy Swallows Universe: a novel about a kid in 1980s Australia who gets mixed up in, shall we say, things kids should not get mixed up in. It’s got an excessively flowery style that I think is 80% great and 20% trying way too hard, but it's also an exhilarating and emotional coming of age story that I ended up loving.    

Best anime: Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! (Season 1)

Eizouken is an imaginative, energetic exploration of what it means to create something: the joy of originality butting up against harsh reality, and the determination required to realise your vision versus the relief of finally sharing it with the world. (Okay, it does this by following a group of high school girls who form an anime club, but it rises above the vaguely meta premise with fantastic characters and an irresistible joy in the power of storytelling.)

Honourable mention: Haikyuu!! (Season 4)

I realise an anime about a high school volleyball team in Japan is a bit of a hard sell, but damn, if it isn’t the most heart-warming, life-affirming, hype-inducing thing I’ve ever watched. It might be my favourite piece of media after Star Wars (and I modelled my entire CAREER after Star Wars).

Best TV Show: What We Do in the Shadows (Season 2)

Probably the funniest show I watched in 2020, and for that alone, it gets top of the list! I suppose it’s “about” some medieval vampire housemates trying to survive in New York, but really, it’s “about” Matt Berry getting to say increasingly ridiculous lines while wearing increasingly ridiculous costumes.

Honourable mention: The Mandalorian (Season 2)

I wish The Mandalorian would aim for more than ’30 minutes of cool Star Wars action’ per week and not immediately shy away from the barest hint of an interesting conversation. Still, COOL STAR WARS ACTION is kind of enough to carry it, for now.

Best board game: Ech0

Ech0 is a role-playing game about kids playing in the wreckage of an old mech, finding the pilot’s ghost, and taking them to their final resting place. In the author’s words, it’s “about how we remember war, how we forget, and all that remains when the echoes fade.” A particularly unique and melancholic experience (that I probably won’t play very often, but I love that it exists).

Honourable mention: Wavelength

Wavelength is one of those ‘how well do you know your friends’ games, in which you’re given a range (say, useless to useful) and a number (say, 70% useful) and your task is to come up with a thing or short phrase that will get your team to guess that number. Is your friend’s shitty car 70% useful? Well, maybe. I hope your friend agrees.

Best movie: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

I watched, like, five movies in 2020, and I suppose this was the best? I didn’t fall head-over-heels for it as many other people did, but it’s still a wonderfully well-made movie that overflows with craft and emotion. Give it a shot if you like repressed lesbian romances in 18th-century France, I guess, and a lot of the individual scenes are perfect.

Honourable mention: Soul

Pixar are still good at what they do.

[yourgamecheats]

Jorg Neumann Says VR is ‘Very High’ Priority for Microsoft Flight Simulator

Jorg Neumann Says VR is ‘Very High’ Priority for Microsoft Flight Simulator

While VR is causing even more of a stir than usual of late thanks to the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx, there’s another studio who are wanting to include VR into their game. Microsoft Flight Simulator is apparently putting VR as a “very high” priority and to be honest, after seeing No Man’s Sky look fantastic in VR when flying about, I can’t imagine what this hyper-realistic plane simulator…

[jamesbyerj]

One with the Force - Kingo64

In the feature, we're chatting with Kingo64, the creator of the most popular mod for Blade & Sorcery - The Outer Rim. Being a bit of a Star Wars geek myself, this is a mod I've been following for a long time.  [b]Thank you for joining me Alex ([url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/users/470810]Kingo64[/url]), we'll start as we always do, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?  [/b] Hey! My name is Alex, I’m a full-time software developer and a fairly recognisable member of the Blade & Sorcery Discord server. I’ve been modding the game Blade & Sorcery for a bit over a year now and have obliterated any notion of ‘free time’ I once had since starting [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/mods/528]The Outer Rim[/url]. It’s been said that I have ‘a bit of a personality’, and I’ve been blessed with many friends from modding communities over the years, notably from a now-defunct forum called Facepunch. I’ve been pretty fortunate and grew up with computers and video games from a young age. Without the internet you kinda needed to figure things out on your own, stumbling around through game files, seeing what you could change, trying to make the villains of the game bark like a dog for your own amusement. Modding was always one of the big appeal factors when it came to games for me since it essentially meant that the games were never ‘done’ as long as people remained interested it’s like an endless sunset. I’m still not sure if I’d ever want to work full-time in the video game industry but I suppose there’s always a possibility if I change my mind? There are always opportunities out there. [b]What are your favourite games of all time and what do you love about them?  [/b] Ha, I’m not too good at picking favourites. I suppose I’ve always enjoyed first-person shooters the most; along with role-playing games. I think I’ll just throw out a fly fishing line and reel off a big list of names and see if we get any bites. [u]Multiplayer games[/u] [list] [*]Unreal Tournament ‘99 [*]Quake 3 Arena [*]Battlefield 1942 & 2 [*]Halo: Combat Evolved [*]Garry’s Mod [*]Worms Armageddon [/list][u] Single-player games[/u] [list] [*]Half-Life 1 & 2, Opposing Force, Blue Shift, Black Mesa [*]S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series [*]The Elderscrolls III: Morrowind [*]Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series [*]The Witcher 2 & 3 [*]Id Tech 3 classics such as: Jedi Knight series, Call of Duty + United Offensive, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix [*]Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory [/list] Without turning this into a TEDx Talk (call me TEDx if you want rambling subjective opinions on games), it mainly boils down to either enjoying the gameplay, the story, or the atmosphere/world building. All of these games have left me with long term memories, unique experiences, and wield some kind of spark that just makes me want to hope for a rainy day or a good excuse to dive back into them. I’d encourage those who haven’t played some of these games to check them out, they’re pretty fun. [b]Before we start talking about your mods, I'm guessing you're a huge Star Wars fan. There are tonnes of games, movies and other media in the franchise. What are your favourites?  [/b] Fun fact, I wasn’t much of a Star Wars turbo nerd when I first started the project but I have had to do a fair amount of research into the lore, wikis, and books in order to create [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/mods/528]The Outer Rim[/url] in a way that respects both the Star Wars Expanded Universe / Legends and the canon. Fact-checkers are welcome. For those of you who have not watched the TV series ‘The Clone Wars’, do yourself a favour and watch that. Specifically with the ‘Ultimate Episode Order’ (you can find that online) which restructures it chronologically. It masterfully fleshes out the Star Wars universe and gives a plasteel backbone to the characters in the prequels and what they should be remembered for. This TV series in its totality is arguably better than the movies. As I’ve mentioned earlier with the games, I highly recommend Jedi Outcast / Jedi Academy from the Jedi Knight series along with the Knights of the Old Republic series. They are the primary inspirations for [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/mods/528]The Outer Rim[/url] when it comes to gameplay design. [b]The sequel trilogy had a fairly mixed reception from Star Wars fans, what are your feelings about it?  [/b] The sequel trilogy really garners a lot of mixed feelings from everyone. For younger audiences, this will likely be their introduction to the Star Wars universe on the big screen - bright-eyed without prior conceptions of what to expect, who they’ll see or what may happen. It’s all new to them and it’s all fantastic. They’ll grow up and look back fondly at the time they saw Star Wars Episode 7 in the cinema when the older generations were audibly grumbling at the thought of it. The same thing happened when The Phantom Menace came out and the same thing will happen again when the re-animated corpse of Darth Plagueis rears his head 15 years from now when another trilogy is announced for the next generation of kids. Personally, I thought the sequels were incredibly lack-lustre, disappointing, and almost a deliberate betrayal to the Star Wars ecosystem they’ve built up over the years. It’s no surprise some people prefer to stick their head in the sand and just pretend they never happened. All of the characters were either unlikeable or forgettable; excusing Kylo Ren - a pale imitation of Revan. The story was poorly developed, ham-fisted, and mostly surmounted to nothing (Last Jedi particularly). There was a very clear agenda on ‘throwing away the past / wiping the slate clean’ to absolve themselves of the original trilogy and prequels. I understand that their intention was to create a fresh footing to tell new stories on but it ultimately backfired on them pretty hard, unfortunately. Red Letter Media, in particular, gave a pretty good summation on the recent movies that mostly match my opinions for those looking for a meaty analysis. Rogue One was fantastic though, congrats. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1597753699-614768287.jpeg[/img] [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1597753704-1234122797.jpeg[/img][/center] [b]Talking about mods now, you started out modding back in the height of the Oblivion days with a few small compatibility patches, have you done much modding between then and when you discovered Blade & Sorcery? [/b] Well, to be frank, I’ve been modding games since the dark ages before stable internet connections and when we used to get games on discs in magazines. It made sense to me to try and create new content for yourself where possible, whether it is custom maps/campaigns, gameplay tweaks, asset modification, rather than waiting for the next game. Games were often released as a final distributable copy rather than the evergreen update cycle we expect today and often did not receive patches outside of expansion packs.  Generally, when I make a mod it’s for personal use and may be shared with my friends at most. More often than not because the mod is an opinion piece on gameplay tweaking, or a compilation of other mods, or simply not worth uploading. Another big factor would be the fact that it was only within the last couple of years have I ever had an upload speed that could transfer information faster than a person flapping a blanket over a smokey fire. Between the Oblivion days and now, the most prominent mods I’ve released would be the shader packages for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky, known as [url=https://sites.google.com/site/kingo64ssite/Home/optimised-game-shaders/stalker-shaders-max]STALKER Shaders MAX[/url], which primarily focused on improving performance and improving graphics - a necessity for my low-end 7300GT and mid-range 9600GT that I had back in the day which struggled to play the game. But yeah, mostly was just kicking back, enjoying everyone else’s mods until the creative itch started to kick in. It’s difficult to manage time with social life, work, family, friends, hobbies. [b]How did you discover Blade & Sorcery and what is it about the game that keeps you coming back? [/b] I bought it on a whim whilst growing out my VR library and was surprised by how polished and enjoyable the melee combat was, easily the defining feature of the game. The fluidity and believability of the melee combat have really set it apart from other games that have attempted it such as Boneworks and those not courageous enough to try such as Half-Life: Alyx. Even though it’s still currently a sandbox game, I’ve found it to be much more replayable than any other VR title I’ve played. I think it’s really setting the precedent on how good melee combat and item interaction should be achieved. In the VR FPS space, Pavlov VR has potential but it’s still stuck in its Counter-Strike mindset and Hot dogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (H3VR) still has controls that make QWOP look like a walk in the park. Personally, I’m not really looking for online matchmaking when I want to play VR games, I kinda just want to pick it up and do my own thing - play however I want. That’s something that I’ve been able to do with Blade & Sorcery and the replayability I’d like to see in non-story driven VR titles. Each major update for the game has given us a glimpse of what to expect in the released version. The roadmap is really promising and I can’t wait to see what it develops into after it leaves early access. After many conversations with the lead developer over the past year, it’s pretty comforting to know that he shares the same opinions on gameplay design, decisions and direction as I do and I feel confident in saying that the game’s in good hands. The mod support for the game is incredible. I’m surprised by how large the modding community has become given the niche nature of the game. It’s a testament to how building a game with a positive attitude and public SDK only strengthens the community and widens the appeal, ultimately serving a more diverse and enjoyable experience for everyone. [center][youtube]fcyU6sE7rBo[/youtube][/center] [b]For anyone who hasn't played it yet, can you tell us about your biggest mod - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/mods/528]The Outer Rim[/url]? [/b] The Outer Rim (TOR) is a Star Wars total conversion mod for Blade & Sorcery which adds a humongous amount of content. There are 100+ lightsabers along with many blasters and other items to boot. The mod also includes custom maps, an optional player home, custom NPCs, and arena waves. It’s actively being developed and still has plenty of content planned and yet to be released. It is without a doubt, the largest mod available for the game with a focus on attention to detail.  If you like Star Wars, get it. If you don’t like Star Wars, try it out anyway. If you don’t have the game but have a VR setup, get the game then try this mod. It’s worth it. If you don’t have a VR setup, sorry - play it at a friend’s place? [b]The Outer Rim has been a huge success. When you initially started working on it did you imagine it would be as popular as it is?  [/b] It was pretty evident on the Blade & Sorcery Discord server that [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/mods/528]The Outer Rim[/url] was going to be a big hit when it eventually came out. The prototype weapons I released when I was still learning the SDK and Unity, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/mods/280]Lightsabers U6[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/mods/246]E-11 Blaster Rifle[/url], were a hint of what was to come. Those mods were largely successful on their own, given that the innovation and quality of scripted weapons were not like what we have today bar a few exceptions, notably MulleDK19’s Mjolnir among others. What I didn’t expect was for my peers in real life to recognise the mod and realise I was the creator, or how wide of a reach it would have - driven by gameplay footage uploaded to sites such as Reddit. It’s pretty surreal to see yourself directly influencing your own Youtube feed when Youtubers decide to play ‘that Star Wars VR mod’. [b]Do you work alone on the project or do you collaborate with other authors? [/b] I primarily work alone on the project. There’s something cathartic in knowing that if something in the mod doesn’t meet my expectations I only have myself to blame, improve, and resolve. It’s not difficult to manage large projects such as this with many moving parts, it’s just a very time-consuming process with a large learning curve. I’ve branched out to others who I feel could do a much better job than I, namely 3D modelling and texturing. One long term collaborator of the mod is Plasma, a prominent modder from the Jedi Knight community, who has created models for the majority of the lightsaber hilts among other unreleased items from the next major version. Other authors who have contributed assets to the mod include Sakhado, uiojkl09 (Butters), Vale-X and Spongy. [b]There are a lot of mods made by others that extend The Outer Rim or add new Star Wars related stuff. Do you have any favourites? [/b] I hope I don’t get crucified for this but I haven’t actually played any of the other Star Wars mods so I can’t really answer that question well. In fact, I haven’t really had much time to play the base game as is or even my own mod outside of dev/testing. [b]Now that U8 has been released, are you planning to add any cool new force powers using the magic system?  [/b] Yep, that’s all been planned since the beginning over a year ago - with the intentions of being deeply tied into the skills tree proposed for the future version of the game, U9. There won’t be any force powers in the next major version of the mod, TOR 3, which is focused on blasters, but when I get around to it it’ll be worth it. The big backlog of stuff I have planned is daunting for me to say the least and exciting for anyone else. If you want an idea of what is to come in regards to force powers just play the Jedi Knight and KOTOR series and you’ll know what to expect. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1597753345-139005324.jpeg[/img] [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1597753352-264767641.jpeg[/img][/center] [b]What is the status of a U8 update for The Outer Rim, I know a whole load of people are waiting on it? [/b] The next major expansion pack for the mod, Clone Reinforcements, is mostly complete in respects to content and features however the magnitude of changes presented by U8 essentially forced me to remake the mod, virtually every file needed to be modified on some level to be made compatible, no stone left unturned. The mod got nuked essentially. There have been many challenges and issues to face with the mod that still exist today directly due to what U8 has given and what it has taken away that prevent the mod from being fully playable or meeting my expectations. I’ve been in contact with the lead developer of the game throughout U8’s release and have been trying to report and resolve issues where possible to expedite the process. I’m hoping U8.4 should be the one to fix it. Ultimately, I don’t know how big of a change U8.4 will be, what it will add, what it will do, how much it’ll break, how much it will solve. But if it turns out to be big, it might set me back a few months, who knows? It’s a big game of “are we there yet?��� but the car is misfiring and billowing smoke but the kids in the back just want to get to Disneyland. [b]Do you have any advice for authors who want to create mods for Blade & Sorcery?  [/b] If you have an idea for a mod, just go out and try to make it yourself. Take it as a challenge. Yes it’ll take time, yes you’ll have difficulties, but if you put in the effort you’ll be surprised by what you can achieve and how easy it is to learn and improve. There is a vast amount of tutorials and learning material out there on Unity and modding. Specifically to B&S modding, you can find information and example mods in the [url=https://github.com/KospY/BasSDK]Official SDK[/url] and on the [url=https://discord.gg/Yq4k2S]Blade & Sorcery Discord server[/url] in the #modding-howto and #mod-help sections. [b]Is there anything else you'd like to say to the community? [/b] It’s pretty thrilling to see how the VR community has continued to expand over the last few years as the games have become more compelling and the hardware more affordable. I encourage those with a VR setup to give the game a go, it’s a lot of fun, highly replayable, and a great place to flex those modding muscles. We’re welcoming new modders all the time and you know what they say; the more the merrier. A big thank you to those who have supported my work, whether it be leaving a nice comment, contributing their time to help others, leaving a donation, or who have shared it with their friends and loved ones. It’s a passion project with the intention of sharing good times, good memories, and hopefully inspiring people in one way or another. And also if you are wondering, yes I do read all the messages - I just don’t have the time to reply to everyone. Your comments have not fallen on deaf ears when you share your ideas, criticisms, and compliments. [line] A big thank you to Kingo64 for taking the time to talk to us! If there's an author or mod project you'd like to know more about, send your suggestions to [b][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/64597]BigBizkit[/url][/b] or [b][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975]Pickysaurus[/url][/b].  Published first at One with the Force - Kingo64

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #370

Top Ten Videogame Protagonists

Games, eh? Don’t you just love ‘em? I mean, the good ones at least. Or sometimes even not just the good ones. Sometimes ones that are a bit pants but somehow get under your skin. Or, if not exactly pants, then just kind of “OK”, sort-of-a-little-bit-mediocre, but they scratch an itch that needs scratching, especially if they’re mobile games and you’re after something relatively untaxing but time-wastey.

Sorry, where was I?

Anyway, a funny thing about games is the concept of the protagonist. Games – even narrative games – are different from other forms of art and media because of the issue of control. You are supposed to be the protagonist. And in narrative games – or games that can roughly be described as following a narrative, which is to say, not sports games – designers can either present a protagonist who is themselves a fully-formed character, or they can offer a nonentity, a blank slate upon which you can draw your own personality. Are you Mario or is Mario you? It’s Duke Nukem versus Gordon Freeman. A character versus an avatar.

So here we are then. My favourite video game protagonists. The main characters; the ones you play. Some of these I think are cool characters in their own right; some of them are, like I implied above, silicon avatars, canvases, a means for you to interact with the world. And that’s alright; that’s what they’re there for. But they do it so well, in such a way as to help elucidate greater meanings for the game in question. I always felt – to digress a little around the same topic – that in the original Knights of the Old Republic, I created a character out of whole cloth; they were me, it was as if I were playing through the events of the game. They were a digital representation of my psyche. But in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, because the demands of the plot necessitated my character to jump through certain hoops, I began playing as that character; assuming a role, so to speak. Rather than “what if I were a Jedi,” I began playing as “what if I were this Jedi; what would I want this Jedi to do?” I found this very rewarding, even if the second game is somewhat inferior to the first.

But I can’t quite remember why I felt those things, which makes me want to play both games again.

Where was I? Oh yeah – top ten game protagonists. Press A to start.

Guybrush Threepwood (The Secret of Monkey Island, 1990): a perfect example of playing a character. Guybrush is fully-formed and all you do is point him at stuff. Witty, silly, naïve, heroic; you don’t shape his character, and with only one real path through the games, all you do is pick which one-liner he’ll deliver next.

Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, 1996): although mostly a blank slate, the iconography of Lara – shorts, vest, combat boots, two huge guns – helped reinforce the character you were playing; tough, no-nonsense, fully capable, physically adept, a female Indiana Jones.

Kyle Katarn (Star Wars: Dark Forces, 1995): almost machine-tooled to be the perfect Star Wars fan-service character – Han Solo but a Jedi! – Katarn is admirably sarky through his entire life, a voice of cynicism even when in full-on hero mode. This is supported in cut-scenes, whilst in-game you get to indulge in wish-fulfilment, especially in sequel Jedi Knight, the first game to really let you wield a lightsaber. The element of choice was revolutionary in those days, allowing you to embrace the Light Side or the Dark, with requisite powers and different endings, and Katarn reflected your player choice perfectly.

Manuel Calavera (Grim Fandango, 1998): like Guybrush, Calavera is a complete character; indeed, he’s more realistic and nuanced than Guybrush, despite being a skeleton with a clunky polygonal head. Beautifully brought to life by Tony Plana (Ugly Betty’s dad!), Manny is funny, earnest, and quietly heroic, and you feel for him sufficiently to want him to complete his quest even when trying to negotiate the weird rotational control system and walk across multiple pre-rendered backgrounds to get to the next objective.

Joanna Dark (Perfect Dark, 2000): like Lara Croft, Joanna Dark is mostly character through iconography: a futuristic catsuit, nifty-looking fun, and funky sci-fi spy gadgets. But by speaking in cut-scenes we get more of her identity, even though it’s still a thin characterisation; she’s basically Lady James Bond but in the future. However, being Lady James Bond but in the future is a fantastic hook, and a nice turn in cut-glass upper-class deadpan goes a long way.

Luigi (Mario Bros., 1983): Mario and Luigi began life virtually interchangeable, just two different avatars, their very look dictated by the constraints of the hardware. But over time, as Mario became a veritable superhero, Luigi began to plough his own furrow as the more timid, more peaceable brother. His scaredy-cat antics in Luigi’s Mansion helped solidify this, and his meme-worthy Mario Kart side-eye hinted at a desire to score one over on his brother from time to time. Although still, really, a fairly blank slate game-wise, his is a story of character through decades of hints and gags and side-appearances.

Conrad B. Hart (Flashback, 1992): another blank slate, literally this time, as you play as an amnesiac with no idea why you were outrunning hoverbike-riding bad guys in the opening cutscene. Conrad sticks in my memory, though, through his beautiful animation; despite the stylised polygonal character design, he looked and felt fully human as he ran, rolled, and leaped across the screen.

Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem, 1991): a near-perfect marriage of game icon and game play; Duke embodies the very essence of Duke Nukem 3D. A brash and loud platform/shooter character in two original outings, it’s the seminal classic FPS for which he will always be remembered. Crass, vulgar, offensive, violent; all this and more. He’s a rather unlikeable character, but in leaning into his outlandish, boorish machismo, 3D Realms created a hilarious game which reflected the persona of its star to a tee. I’d love to see him brought back in a way that parodied the current culture of toxic masculinity, although I fear a good portion of the audience wouldn’t see the joke.

Dizzy (Dizzy – The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure, 1987): he’s an egg! Like, a walking egg! What’s up with that? Back when other folk were getting down with Mario or even Sonic, I was enjoying Britain’s bedroom coder equivalent. Characterful and cartoonish when that was virtually unheard of in games, Dizzy felt like a breath of fresh air, even if he probably smelt like a sweaty omelette.

Gordon Freeman (Half-Life, 1998): whilst “blank” characters are common in FPS games – Doom, Quake, Unreal, etc – Half-Life made that a feature. Gordon’s muteness became a character trait; was he traumatised, otherworldly, indifferent? As his messianic legend grew in Half-Life 2, and he became surrounded by believable and verbose characters, his silent demeanour and unconventional behaviour (really just standard FPS tropes) became more and more incongruous, and delightfully commented upon by those around him. Gordon Freeman represents, parodies, and explores every notion of player-character as transparent avatar, and does it utterly perfectly, creating his own distinct character even as he just utterly gets out of the way of you playing. You are Gordon, even though Gordon is really a nothing. Masterfully done.

I should have laid down some ground rules… the main one, I guess, was that all these characters had to debut within that game, which meant no Sam or Max, sadly. And though I’m listing their first appearances, in some cases it was a subsequent game where I fell in love with them (for instance, although I’d played Dark Forces, I became a fan of Kyle Katarn after playing and adoring Jedi Knight). Finally, I hope it’s obvious, but these are protagonists, not just game characters; the people you play as, properly, in a game (so not, say, Garrus from Mass Effect, even though you can control him during combat; the protagonist is still Shepard). This means no Elaine Marley or Alyx Vance. And though I’ve included “vessels” such as Dizzy and Freeman, I have excluded characters like Shepard, who really are just blank slates, to the point where you can even control what they look like (J.C. Denton nearly made the cut, though, as he does have a little bit more of a character of his own).