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/
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