Disclaimer: Originally published on the St. Cloud State University campus paper, the University Chronicle on the Sept. 28 2009 issue. Written by Jun-Kai Teoh, Managing Online Editor.

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Gordon Freeman, from the Half-Life series, is officially the greatest all-time game hero.

Or, at least that’s what Gamespot found when they started their “All-Time Greatest Game Hero” competition.

Out of a pool of 64 candidates including idols such as Donkey Kong, Snake from Metal Gear Solid, Duke Nukem, Pikachu Niko Bellic and even the all-time favorite plumber Mario, it’s hard to believe that Gordon Freeman came out at the top.

In the final round, Mario the plumber stood off against Gordon the scientist. Gordon barely won with a 7 percent gap.

Mario is the icon with a feature movie under its belt – horrible, but nonetheless a feature movie – and a spectacular 116 appearances in various games.

On one hand, we have a plumber that first appeared in 1981 and since then has been constantly saving his loved ones from weird revolting mushrooms and overgrown bipolar turtles.

On the other hand we have an MIT graduate that works in a research facility flipping buttons and pushing carts, and subsequently resulting in having Earth being invaded by aliens.

Wait, greatest game hero?

An ordinary plumber that rises against all odds and saves his loved one over and over again, or an MIT graduate that starts a world invasion and then subsequently “saves” it.

Also, it is impossible to forget that throughout all his appearances Gordon has remained a mute, never uttering a single word.

Either he’s rude, unbelievably narcissistic or he had his vocal cords magically removed by aliens during his studies at MIT.

We had the chance of a lifetime (maybe a tad dramatic here) to pick a game hero to represent the growing depth and intellectualism that is the gaming community, and we picked a button-flipping, cart-pushing, violent and mute scientist?

Yes, this is violent.

A gun-toting, crowbarwaving, rocket-launching MIT scientist with a deepseated sense of Xenophobia.

The Half-Life series is a fantastic series of games.

Personally loved the games, it’s just a little bit preposterous to think of Gordon Freeman as the “Greatest Game Hero” to ever grace my controller/ keyboard.

The gaming community is often laughed at and poked fun at, with a stereotypical image of people that never managed to mature and grow up.

Games are looked at as mindless violent games or a waste of time on depth-less addictive media.

In terms of character qualities, Mario should have won.

He’s the bunny-hopping, fireball hurling, kart-racing, lady-loving everyday man that rose against the odds and kicked virtual turtle butt while doing it.

He has a dinosaur to ride on for goodness sake.

Heck, Niko Bellic would have been a better choice. A person in search of “The American Dream” in a world that makes no sense at all.

Gordon’s a decent game hero, he just shouldn’t have won the title. At least it wasn’t the semi brain-dead Marcus Fenix or the psychotic God of War Kratos.

At the end of the day, Pikachu should have won. That adorable yellow fluffball that can power up your house almost effortlessly.

Not only does it represent a world without electric bills, but it makes people say “aww” too.

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