[Blikkentrekker]

> NPCs in Half-Life 2 mentioned a number of times that Gordon doesn’t say much and is a “man of few words.” I’m sure this is a nod to his silence in the first game as much as it’s a storytelling device.

That is an in-joke at best and does very little to rectify that n.p.c.'s have entire “conversations” with him and at no point ask as to why he's remaining quiet throughout it. — the conversations are simply completely implausible.

> I’ve always liked that his character never said anything—feels like Gordon can be anyone. Same goes for the lack of cutscenes that take control of the player’s camera. You always feel like you’re looking from your own POV vs. being pulled out of the immersion.

Perhaps if one go about his daily life talking to walls and being completely disinterested in what a man might have to reflect back.

Whether you reply back to them or not, it always leads to an unnatural conversation where one party is talking to a wall that doesn't respond.