GTA3 mute guy vs his talking counterparts

DonkeyStyle \o/

I was just in the mood to replay one of the GTAs, and weighing up the options, I came across an interesting question.
When I'm playing GTA3, I feel more like the lead character is "me", since he doesn't speak or have any outward personality*, it's left to me to fill in those gaps... where as with Vice City and San Andreas, both lead characters force you out of that immersion by being themselves too much.

Although talking allowed Vercetti and CJ to partake more in their games' plot and made the experience more cinematic... I can't help thinking we're giving up something in the process.

* lol yeah, that sounds a lot like me actually

Hmmmm.
eh?

KdjaCL

I doubt in Gta SA he decided to out in his boxers or a gimp suit all the time

Its the cutscenes that ruin it really, other than that it is your choices that make the game, would imagine they going to go down that line with the new one as stated in the fact you choose your missions rather then being forced down a path.

kdjac

tman

yeah, I definitely preferred Fido in terms of immersion in the character.
same as Half-Life, Bioshock etc... they feel far more immersive due to your character not spouting crap every couple of minutes that you would never personally say.

having said that, Ray Liotta did a bang up job of voicing Tommy

Nailz

KdjaCL shares my opinion on the matter, what stands out in this case is that CJ can answer positive or negitive to comments by people on the street. Like if some arsehole says to ya you smell like piss and you respond negitively and pop a cap in his ass or you go positive and come up with a smart remark which leaves him insulted, or say nothing... choices.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Being able to dress CJ added a great sense of personalization, but it's not something the addition of speaking lead-characters has given us, so it's really besides the point. (I've made plenty of skins for Fido in GTA3)

The pedestrian come-backs still result in CJ spouting sass from some prefabricated part of his personality.

I think a large part of it is motivation... you're seeing exactly why CJ/Vercetti is taking on the mission, without any room for your own interpretation... so you're really being handed your motivation whether you agree with it or not.

Now that I think of it... who was paying CJ for completing those BS missions anyway? That doesn't make any sense at all!

I dunno, I suppose they'd run out of missions you could give to a mute before it got boring.
I'd like to see the return of Fido the mute as the lead for another GTA though

Nailz

Fido, well... he stood behide Vercetti and CJ for me, because of the attitude of Vercetti and the personalisation of CJ. But Fido was grand, the fact that he was a mute makes him look like the mafia guy that just got the job done, no questions. Sorta' like a made man you could say... but I don't remember if he was a made man or not... but they ended up trying to kill 'em so I'd imagin he wasn't, because it's against the rules to kill a made man.

philologos

you were still always able to skin him in GTA3 DonkeyStyle.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Jakkass wrote:

you were still always able to skin him in GTA3 DonkeyStyle.

I believe I said that.

philologos

whoops apologies.

komodosp

I agree with the original poster, I always prefer games where the lead doesn't talk... Makes it feel more immersive like it's "me"... Same goes for Half Life and Call of Duty.

philologos

I tend to disagree komodo. In playing much of the Metal Gear Solid series I thought that the plot involved in it still made it feel like it was immersive gameplay.

Nailz

Personality is the key to any game, the mute brings personality but not as much as Versetti, and the mute isn't exactly the native American fella' out of One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest...