Ninjas taught us silence is the language of assassins, but a half-crazed, blood-soaked theoretical physicist demonstrated silence works just as well for everyone else. Although Dishonored's Corvo Attano and Half-Life's Gordon Freeman share a common penchant for reticence, Arkane writer Austin Grossman told Kotaku he's rooting for his creation more than Valve's beloved hero. Why? "I find Gordon creepy as hell," he stated.
"I hate what Valve does with the silent protagonist," Grossman explained. "I find it incredibly awkward and really creepy. The difference between Dishonored and how it works in Half-Life 2 is that it's a lot more personal. I think you get that involvement because the character has personal relationships with people from the beginning. And it's very clear that people have f***ed with you in a very personal way."
Grossman contrasted the differences between Gordon's silence as a coping mechanic against the events transpiring in City 17 and beyond with Corvo's intentional muteness as an emphasis for the message conveyed through his actions. Grossman says Gordon's encounters involve people "talking at him, about him, and sometimes even for him. He just happens to be in the middle of this whole thing."
"I'm biased, of course, but I think Dishonored grips you much more viscerally and emotionally," he continued. "And that's on purpose. Corvo doesn't talk, and I think it works because everybody knows what Corvo would have to say, His actions form a sort of speech, something like, 'If I could kill the people who screwed with me...and if that includes you, then I'm going to kill you right now.'"
