Half-Masked

After 54,000 zombies killed(the game keeps track up until you reach 53,935), I think it’s safe to call it: My favourite character here is Louis.

Not pictured: Peelz

How did that happen? I used to think of this guy as the bottom rung on a stepping stool. I even made an entire comic/rant describing him as not only lacking redeeming features but also being a stereotype of a stereotype. He’s something of a laughingstock on the internet, and for good reason. I have written many an article(some I will not post) that suggest he is the most “cartoonish” of the cast. Maybe that’s why I like ‘im so much. Francis, Zoey and Bill are all certainly likeable(and Bill is the best visual design of the group), but none of them are given the chance to be memorable. They’re not explored, save for a few humorous smart-aleck quips. They’re barely even started, and then cue credits. So perhaps choosing my favourite 2-dimensional character isn’t a fantastic way to spend my time, especially in the shadow of more pressing responsibilities.

I didn’t think much of Louis for a long time. There is a sense of weakness to him. I expected him to be the Coward, the Fuck-Up, the Comic Relief. The opening cinematic paints him in this light. It is also, sadly, my own unfortunate expectations of black characters in modern fiction. That’s about all we get, so it’s only natural that we assume that’s what we’ll get every time. This is a lousy trend which really oughta be looked at one of these days(at least, by more than just N’Gai Croal). Much of this is my own undoing. My opinion of him changed drastically after a few small revelations.

• Upon being incapacitated, a weakened Louis not only helped me back on my feet, he has healed me on many occasion where there was only one med-kit left and he was seriously injured too. It’s hard not to be humbled by that, or be anything but determined to try and keep him alive(or find more pills) to return the favour.
• On a particularly foul Dead Air campaign, Bill was killed by a Hunter and Francis by the horde, moments before the final Tank battle. Louis and myself(as Zoey) thus had to take down a Tank by ourselves, with two less people than is recommended. He bravely distracted the lumbering beast and died for it. I know this is all just coding and subroutines and AI and priority on the only human player, but this character was willing -to die- to ensure I would get out of the zombie apocalypse alive. I appreciated that. I suddenly forgot why I cared how much of a dork he is.
• In one of the ads, he has an interesting line: “Guys at the office used to laugh at me when I hit the rifle range at lunch. Ain’t so damn funny now, is it?!” That paints a picture. It tells me this is a man who has never been appreciated, who had to abandon quite a bit of himself to fit into a stale, meaningless existence. Maybe I can’t relate to that, but it made me respect him a lot more. It got me to read between the lines. It made me see him not as a “Mad TV skit”, but as a guy who just needed anyone to give him a break.

These things, among others, made me glad that he survived the initial outbreak. Strangely enough though, I don’t often play as him, Bill or Francis. I like being able to see, hear and interact with them too much to inhabit or become them. I make too many mistakes to do them justice, and I appreciate their company(not that Zoey isn’t a fine ally either).

I can only hope that Goofy-impersonating jackass “Ellis” inspires a similar metamorphosis when Left 4 Dead 2 comes out. I’ve been hard on the cast to these games, and admittedly I haven’t seen much of the first sequel(and there will be others). But Ellis is the only one so far that I’ve seriously considered shooting at the start of every match.

Kotaku says his spot was planned for a Firefighter character, and I really have to wonder what they were thinking by not following through with that. Firefighters are by nature bad-ass enough to earn the title of HE WHO DOES NOT TAKE SHIT FROM FIRE. Replacing that with a shittier, horse-loving hick version of the Scout doesn’t seem like a great trade. I don’t know. Time will determine that.

END OF LINE

~A.H.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 6:17 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.