Furry Friendlies: Remember The Puppies!

Wandering the post apocalyptic wasteland can be a miserable and lonely experience. Walking for miles upon miles, everyone you meet wants to pull a gun on you, and everyone that doesn't, wants to rob you blind. You can meander around for miles with nothing to sustain you but the occasional fetch quest, the impromptu bandit attacks oh... and the MINDLESS KILLING!

“As you can see I didn't escape the nuclear wastes completely unscathed. My sanity is questionable, my morals even more so. All I have in the world is a sniper rifle and a necklace of human ears. If only I had a companion! One that is kind and protective, one that wont try and steal my last Stim pack from my back pocket, one that wont shoot me accidentally-on-purpose when I give them “Baby's First SMG” (I'M STILL ANGRY ABOUT THAT, IAN!) oh where will I find my one companion, the one that makes all the others seem like stepping stones to this meeting?! Wait! What's that dodging gracefully through the minefield?!” - From Sgt Mooby's Fallout 3 diary

War, war never changes

Fallout 3 has a whole mass of characters that you can befriend and have follow you on your journey through the “Capital Wasteland”. But I don't think that there is a companion that we will ever love more, than Dog Meat. Our faithful four legged friend (and my personal favourite) has captured the hearts and minds of many Fallout 3 players. Being utterly fearless in his pursuit to keep you alive, he is more than a match for any bandit or raider that you may stumble across as you continue your quest to find your Liam Neeson voiced father.

You will find him, but you won't kill him

Companions in games can make the difference between a good game and a great game. Take Daxter for example, without his chipper attitude, his witty one liners and his larger than life insanity, Jak and Daxter would have been a game full of teenage moodiness and little else. Daxter provides the much needed comic relief compared to the gruff seriousness of Jak.

The same can be seen in Ratchet and Clank, although not an animal, Clank provides the smart, smooth and sophisticated half of the Lombax/Robot tag team. Without Clank's witty input and calculated seriousness. The Ratchet & Clank games wouldn't be anywhere  near as satisfying or endearing. 

The names, Clank...Just Clank.

I've barely scratched the surface on how important companions can be to video games, we find it tough enough to care about one character that has all the social proficiency and psychopathic tendencies as Murray the demonic talking skull, so a little comical timing can go along way.

 Yes they may shoot us in the back from time to time, or block us in doorways that leave us screaming at our T.Vs to move out the sodding way, but that's what makes them so endearing. Its also what makes us well up at the tragic moment when they take a bullet/laser pulse/tomahawk/spirit bomb etc to save our hero from replaying the cut-scene all over again. I hope you enjoyed this one folks, may your adventures be glitch free and murder filled...I really need to see a doctor...

Matt Eakins is a freelance gaming journalist, with the ability to turn a phrase and spin a line at the drop of a hat. Find more from him on Twitter @SgtMooby or at http://gamergripesandgrooves.blogspot.co.uk/

“I came in like a Wrecking Ball” -- When it all goes wrong.

A change from my usual postings, but something struck me today about someone (or a few people) that I know; just because we can't see the pain, it doesn't mean it's not there. previously I posted an article on gaming in relationships, in a way this is a spin off of the same topic, I hope you enjoy.

There are some people in our lives that have the power to change us, they can be right in front of your nose or they can be on the other side of the world, but in some way shape or form they will change us, and not necessarily for the better. I am of course talking about relationships. Boyfriends, Girlfriends, Best friends, Husbands, Wives, friends with benefits ect. All these people have something in common, you have given a part of yourself to them, and in return you get a part of them, memories, both good and bad. Feelings, both euphoric and despairing, in a split second your mood can change from on top of the world to the lowest of the low with seemingly no way to turn it around, all because one of these people have an ability, one that not every Tom, Dick or Harry on the street can do; They can make you feel. 

Love for all, even the slow ones.

Many of us have experienced these relationships, we have also experienced the heartache and the self doubt that can occur when these relationships break down and end. especially in the more romantic relationships, the ending of one can influence you to drastically change your general mood, behavior or personality in an effort to block out the feelings you might be undergoing. These feelings can last for hours, days, months even years and we never truly feel the same as we did before the relationship ended.

In many of the instances that I've seen, music can be the one saving grace for the person feeling a tsunami of emotions and feelings, everything from rock and metal to soul and R'n'B. I now point you in the direction of “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cirus, which was incidentally what gave me part of the inspiration for this piece. The song talks of a relationship that has been completely destroyed, and Miley singing about how hurt and fragile she feels but whilst also realizing what went wrong. I'm not going to go on and analyze the song, because that would be boring.

                                                            A beautiful cover, full of emotion

Some, if not all of us have felt like the Miley of our own relationships at one point in time or another, I wont be lecturing you in to letting everything go in one fell swoop, picking yourself up and dusting yourself down, telling you “There's plenty more fish in the sea” or any of those dated clichés. Instead I'm going to offer advise: embrace the feelings. Don't let them consume you, but embrace them, listen to them, take stock of everything you've learnt in the relationship and regret nothing from it. Coming out of such a close bond, filled with love, care, devotion, attention and kind words is never easy and can cause some people to completely lose sight their own identity in an effort to bring the good times back, but with everyday that you listen to what the pain is telling you. Is another day that you remember the good times, the fun times, the times that you look back on and smile, without the pain of everything that has happened, tainting your memory of the past.

Itch it and you'll ruin it...

You move through the pain as if you were getting a tattoo; mild irritation turns to agonizing pain, that then turns to an itch that you CAN'T scratch that turns to a beautifully crafted piece of art. (I thought I said no clichés?) But like a tattoo, emotional pain takes time to heal, scratching the pain will cause it to manifest, thus causing more pain, but this is just my take on the subject, let me know what you think in the comments below. 

 

I may do more articles like this, if inspiration strikes and fully takes hold I will write about anything. I will leave you today with this; Tomorrow is not promised, what you may have today, may be be lost. so live, love and laugh like this is your last day on earth.

Peace, love and puppies ladies and gents,

Sgt Mooby

Chin up Scaredy Bear, I'm here if you need to talk x