PC: Fallout 4, Pt. 2

Well fuck me. I just fried my newish video card in my gaming PC which is forcing me on an extended hiatus while the guy I bought it off digs up the original receipt and attempts an RMA. Oh well, I guess I needed a break. And its not like I am at any loss for video gaming, considering I just spent my retroactive raise (woot!) on a PS4.

Back to the Commonwealth, the wasteland of post-apocalyptic Boston populated by Gunners (mercenaries with high quality guns and armor), Raiders (assholes with guns and armor made from spare parts), Super Mutants (mini-Hulks with cannibalistic tendencies) and a plentitude of monsters of the scary kind. Oh, and Settlers --- the vastness of the Commonwealth is populated by average folk just seeking a safe place to live, ground to grow mutated vegetables in and some water that is not too badly irradiated.  These Settlers have become the bane of my existence AND my obsession.

Remember how I said I like playing the Good Guy? Well, one of the first Good Guy things you end up doing is saving some Minutemen from Raiders. The Minutemen used to be a force of good in the Commonwealth before infighting and corruption ended their lofty goals. Stealing their origins from colonial Boston and using laser muskets (yes, single shot laser guns that have to be cranked) and claiming to be protecting the people, the last good Minuteman Preston Garvey begs you to help him out. After a few missions he wants to make you their General. I accepted the goal because he seemed to need the help. And I think he might have a crush on me, because the game keeps on giving me the option to romance him.

So, I am now Minuteman General and one of the responsibilities of that role is to find groups of dirt farmers who need help, kill the monsters that have been pestering them and then convince them to become part of the organization. Basically, it's a join-and-assist-all deal. But other than a few encounters with small Minutemen squads getting their asses kicked, I end up doing all the heavy lifting. And it just never ends. They keep on getting bothered by the before-mentioned Raiders, Gunners, Super Mutants and monsters, the worst of all being the Ghouls. Ghouls are mutated humans, gone feral. Think fast zombies who come at you running, limbs all akimbo gasping and growling. And for each settlement I rescue, who I convince to join up, more monsters are around to bother them. So, come running I must.  Again and again. And again.

Oh, and there is that kidnapping issue I mentioned. Settlers just keep on having friends, and daughters, kidnapped. At first I broke into every single Raider or Super Mutant stronghold to rescue them. But after Mr Abernathy the farmer lost his daughter for the third time, I just started paying off the ransom. I guess the Raiders know a good deal when they see it.

Yes, I have become obsessed with my Settlers. Not only do I have to fight off bad guys for them, but I also have to build up their Settlements. As more Settlers learn I am protecting them, more show up needing more beds, more roofs over their heads, more food to eat, more water and more more more. I quickly realized that they can make use of the guns and armor I pick off the dead bodies of all those raiders, gunners and super mutants I am killing. And killing and killing and killing. But there is always one more Settler who needs a new gun or a new helmet instead of a trilby hat.

"I just want to trade a few things," I say because these fuckers don't seem to know how to be self sufficient. I suspect a bit of codependency on my part, as the false sense of accomplish really hits that needy part of my brain. I can play the game for hours just running from settlement to settlement tweaking their houses, adding in beds and furniture and building whatever they need. It's The Sims: Post-Apocalypse I think I might be wrapped up in. Even after they are all geared-up they still need me to clear out that den, or stop the raids, or kill the neighbours. The only time they seem to make use of all I have been doing for them is when their settlements are attacked. Or a random two-headed deer runs by. Then it's all guns out and chasing down the poor pathetic thing.

Next up, doing mission... oh look, another suit of power armor !!