Fallout - Ghoulification

If we can learn anything from video games, it's that post-apocalyptic scenarios are surprisingly fun. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration on my part. It's not fun to scrabble around for clean water in an irradiated shell of a building whilst monsters roam the streets hungry for flesh... In the real world. However, when it's through the lens of a video game, it's great fun! And to that end, the Fallout series.

The first two Fallout games were released in 1997 and 1998 respectively, and were a roaring success, capturing people with their in-depth world and great storytelling. More recently, Bethesda Studios have re-invented the franchise with the first-person Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. In all of the games in the series, you meet some friendly, and some not-so-friendly, residents of the nuclear wasteland. Many of these residents are Ghouls. Let's take a closer look.

The Set-Up:

In the Fallout universe, the world was all but destroyed in 2077 via a global nuclear conflict. Some remenants of humanity were able to survive by living in nuclear bunkers called Vaults. Those who weren't so lucky were left on the surface, and irradiated when the bombs fell. Some of these unfortunate individuals were not killed, but began to mutate into Ghouls. Their skin began to flake off and crack, their hair fell out, and their voices sounded like they'd been gargling gravel. The mutation happens due to an anomaly in a persons genetic code, which results in them turning into a ghoul, rather than dying horrifically. Ghouls, whilst looking like they are rotting away, can actually live for centuries.

inFAMOUS - Lightning Powers

I think it's fair to say we've all day-dreamed about having super powers at some point in our lives. Either that or someone has asked "HEY WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU HAVE" to kill the time. I always chose flight and telekinesis, because I am both adventure-seeking and lazy. What most people probably don't say is "lightning powers" because truth be told, they're a little defunct in every day use. There aren't many times a day I think to myself "Gosh, I wish I could shoot some lightning out of my hands right about now."

Unfortunately, for Cole MacGrath, the protagonist of 2009's inFAMOUS and the 2011 sequel inFAMOUS 2, lightning powers are exactly what he has. Stuck with them after a plot device explodes in his face, Cole used his powers for good or evil, depending on the mood of the player. But is it possible for a human being to display such incredible abilities? Let's find out. 

The Set-Up:

You, as courier and every-man Cole MacGrath, are gifted with incredible electricity based powers. With these new found abilities, the player can either choose to help the people of Empire City, or gain more power, in the classic "superhero or supervillian" dichotomy. Also, there's some stuff about time travel and a plague and some other things. This is all irrelevant thought, we're here for lightning hands.

Metal Gear Solid - FOXDIE

Ah, the Metal Gear Solid games. A legendary series of stealth games with more social commentary than your average newspaper. The first Metal Gear Solid game was released in 1998 on the Playstation, and the most recent instalment in the series, Metal Gear Solid 4, was release on the Playstation 3 in 2007. With another two games on the horizon (Ground Zeroes, and the unconfirmed-but almost-guaranteed-to-happen Metal Gear Solid 5) it doesn't seem like we will be seeing the last of Solid Snake any time soon.

The Set-Up
In the original Metal Gear Solid, you play as Solid Snake, a soldier who is brought out of retirement in order to neutralise a group of terrorists (as so often happens with these things). Whilst on your mission fighting shamans, psychics and ninjas, you find that several people mysteriously die of heart attacks when in the presence of Snake. It is later revealed that Snake is infected with FOXDIE, an engineered retrovirus that has been designed to only target and kill specific individuals.