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/

Open World Blues - and how to overcome them.

As gamers, we all have that one genre of game that we find ourselves getting totally lost in. The game that we can play for hours on end and not get bored or frustrated with. From FPS to MMO, every game has its own unique story to tell, be it a war to end all wars against some foreign super power. To defending an entire planet from an ancient threat that has reared its ugly head once more, apparently not learning its lesson from the last time it got its head caved in with a jagged rock.

What do you mean I have one shot?!

For me, open world games are my kryptonite. Getting lost in a world full of spectacle and wonder, with enough quests or missions to last me till The Rapture. With every venture in to the deep sprawling wilds, yielding a new adventure. But these games are a double edged blade, with all the adventuring and exploration that can be done, comes exasperating travel times, these have been know to drive me to the limit. Not wanting to travel through the deepest darkest forest to get to a new exciting quest has me annoyed enough to save the game and play something else.

 

Of course I'll come and get you!...What do you mean you're on a mountain!?

I know that with games such as Skyrim or the GTA franchise, exploration = reward, and I love having to work for my rewards, but sometimes I just want to slay, loot, maim, behead and generally go on a, full on, all out, rampage. This is why I love open world so much, if you REALLY want to...you can! A quick save, and a turn off of the auto save and away you go. Laughing manically as you behead a horse and teabag the rider in to oblivion. Or punching the air in triumph as you snipe a guard in the head from the other side of a dimly lit room with your favourite crossbow. We have an infinite number of possibilities for us to have fun in the best way we know how. And that way is to destroy anything and everything that we can in any way we can imagine!

Just a short one for you today, ladies and gents. The next time you feel "The Open World Blues" just remember...GO MENTAL! And then laugh all the way to the jail cell, plead insanity...then they cant give you the chair... And be sure to tune in next time for more Gamer Gripes and Grooves!



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/