Mute protagonists. Good or bad?

[max power]

Rainbird said:

max power said:
Mute protagonists are neither good nor bad. There are excellent games both with and without. It's just one method for video game storytelling.

I feel the OP's dislike of HL2 has nothing to do with the mute protagonist. The game would have added little by having a chatty main character.

My dislike of HL2 has a lot to do with Gordon Freeman being mute, because I don't like the storytelling, and the storytelling is shaped by him being mute. One specific example is not really worth noticing though, as it is the general principle I am opposed to.

Yeah... I don't buy it.  Gordon Freeman spent 95+% of the game alone... who did you want him to talk to, himself?