DogMeat: FallOut 4
I’m positive my dog Huckleberry gives me a look whenever I tell Dogmeat that he's a good boy and give him pets. It’s probably an ugly disgusted look, and I honestly don’t blame him.
FallOut 4 is the “latest” edition of Bethesda’s video game series that follows a protagonist who has survived an apocalyptic nuclear war between the United States and China. I say latest because FallOut 76 was released after FallOut 4 but its online features dominated the gameplay and I honestly could care less(and seeing how many copies are available at my local Game XChange I’m not the only one). To date the games have included regions from South California, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., and West Virginia. FallOut 4 is set in Boston, Massachusetts and a surrounding region known as the “Commonwealth.” When I first played FallOut4 I had never played any of the games in the franchise; I had only watched my sister play a bit of Fallout:New Vegas. I trust my sister’s opinions when it comes to video games (She’s right Cooking Mama is a jam), and after watching my ex-brother-in-law die several times in the game and then give up I bought a copy and tried it.
The game was Skyrim, with guns. Lots of guns.
Also the dragons walked on two legs and had ram horns like a Balrog.
And you could wear power-armor that had a jet-pack.
I was, IN.
I could write literal volumes about how incredible and fun FallOut 4 is as a game, and maybe I will. Maybe at some point I’ll abandon essay writing in favor of just filling my days pontificating about how fucking rad it is shooting a Fat Man mini-nuke at some cannibalistic raiders in the bottom of a rock quarry. I’ll leave this delightful fantasy aside for now and get to the part of FallOut 4 I love the most: I have a dog.
No matter how many times I’ve played FallOut4 I will always always always visit the Red Rocket Truck-stop right outside of Sanctuary. When I approach the gas-station, or what’s left of it, on my way to Concord to meet Preston and what’s left of the MinuteMen, it takes me a second to actually spot the dog. If you’ve played the game up to this point then your character has emerged from Vault 111 after being frozen for 200 years, you’ve returned to your home to find your old robot house-keeper Codsworth still trimming the hedges, and you’ve been directed to Concord to see if you can find your baby Shaun who’s been kidnapped. Bethesda games are quest oriented, meaning that the player will encounter npcs that are often designed to lead the player to a new destination. Codsworth is technically a companion npc, however the game purposefully leaves him unavailable to the character so that, when they walk across the bridge and enter the open space, they will be alone.
In short, the game is purposefully putting me in the path to find DogMeat.
Sniffing the ground by the side entrance to the gas-station there is a dog; a german shepard to be exact. It doesn’t look deformed as many of the wild hounds I will encounter later in the game will; his fur looks healthy. Once he observes me he approaches in a quick trot. At this point the game gives me a sidequest option; the computer code text appears telling me, “greet the dog.” Like every interaction in FallOut4 there are options to greet this dog: Inquisitive, sarcastic, kind, and mean.
I have never, and will never, use the mean option.
Once the player greets the dog the camera zooms in, showing me from behind petting the right hand side of DogMeat’s face. His eyes seem to sparkle with a kind and fearful grace that melts into a smile. Anyone who has had a dog knows this look, and knows that at that point that dog will never leave the player’s side.
FallOut 4 is letting me know that Dogmeat will now be my companion.
Dogs in video games serving as accompanying npcs isn’t anything new. As of this writing I’m playing Final Fantasy 16 and Clive is nearly always followed in tow by his pup Torgal who fights monsters and enemies alongside his owner. Barbas in Skyrim only follows the player for a short time, but while you help him in his quest to return to Clavicus Vile he’ll fight alongside you. And who could forget the iconic moment in Resident Evil 4 when the dog Leon saves from the bear-trap returns to help you fight the Gigante. “Hey, it’s that dog!” will live rent-free in my head until the day I die, alongside, “No thanks Bro,” and “Where’s everybody going? Bingo?” Each of these npcs serve an important function, namely to help me as I explore the world and encounter violent scenarios.
DogMeat stands above any dog NPC I have encountered in any game to date. The reason is because he makes his presence known and interacts with the world as much as I do. DogMeat will often bark to me while playing, often to alert me that he’s discovered something. Following him then leads me to treasure either in the form of weapons caches, cap boxes, or health supplies. If we encounter hostile enemies DogMeat’s low growels will often be a precursor to the inevitable encounter. DogMeat even has his own skill upgrade system. Whenever I level-up in FallOut 4, there is a dedicated space in the “tree” that allows me to upgrade DogMeat so that he can grab enemies and thus distract them. If I keep investing in this perk, Dogmeat can bite enemy limbs causing them to bleed and even break limbs making combat even more effective on my end.
Of course, we are talking about an Open-world Bethesda game here.
Dogmeat isn’t without issues because like any companion he’s prone to glitching. This can manifest in small issues like blocking a door and trapping me in a small room. Likewise it can create frustrating results when I need to issue him a command and he won’t approach me. Sometimes DogMeat will walk in front of trip-wires or lasers that spring traps, and if I haven’t remembered to heal I’ll watch myself die and begin at my last save point (which, of course, is miles away from where I need to be). Bethesda games are big and sometimes the code cannot always be my friend. If there is any flaw to DogMeat as a function of the game it’s probably this.
All the same, DogMeat owns dude.
I will die on this hill.
I’m really not aware of any dog npc in a video-game I’ve played that can interact with the world as much as I do or be as helpful to me, and this demonstrates the unique care that the developers put into FallOut 4. And while I’m on the subject, while I was researching for this essay I couldn’t find any writing about dog-companions in video games. Most of the results of my search were either Wiki articles or forum posts where players were asking each other how to “kill/Get rid of” DogMeat.
I have no shame admitting, the John Wick on my soldier sharpened his pencil a few times during this research period.
Before I’m misunderstood I want to make it clear that I’m not saying that I’m the only person who’s written about DogMeat’s role in FallOut 4 for a non-academic audience. What I’m trying to communicate is that if someone has written such an essay I certainly can’t find it.
Bethesda’s games are massive in their scope, depth, and detail. This is partly the reason why so many players, including myself, flock to them. I can enter a post-apocalyptic world and meet all sorts of individuals, some benevolent, some neutral, and some who want to eat me. Whether it’s joining the Brotherhood of Steel to fight gangs of super mutants, helping the Minutemen reform and make the Commonwealth a better place, or helping the Railroad save Synths from the Institute, Dogmeat is almost always by my side.
Side note: Fuck the Institute.
The game offers a number of additional companions, which can even offer players special perks if they build up enough affinity. This is a player incentive to try and establish relationships for the sake of “leveling up.” And I ain’t gonna put myself above other people here, I’ve pursued these perks through numerous playthroughs even going so far as to grow an affinity with the super-mutant Strong and that path is…dark. Reflecting on these player interactions though, while each character relationship is a chance to explore different narratives and side quests that will afford many story opportunities and special in-game perks, DogMeat just is. He follows me as I explore the world, happy to be by my side like an actual dog would. And while some would observe that as a fault, I see that as a chance to play a fun game.
Dogs in real life are companions that want, above all else, the company of their owners. And as humans are social animals we desire companionship. The evolutionary history of this relationship has filled literal books, so it makes sense to me that a game about exploring a new world would include a dog. And best of all he’s a dog that cannot die.
Though I suppose I should note with some sadness that this is different from the real world. While I was searching for any articles about DogMeat I located an article by Adam Bankhurst on ign.com titled, “River, the Real-Life Dog That Inspired Fallout 4's Dogmeat, Has Passed Away.” Published in 2021, six years after the original release of the game, the article was a touching observation of how the german shepherd who served as the model fo Dogmeat wound up being not just a wonderful design model but, and here’s that keyword again, a companion.
In a few paragraphs Bankhurst is able to communicate how River’s role in development helped shape the in-game character of DogMeat.
They even captured much of River's voice for Dogmeat's audio, even the distress calls. While this was "heartbreaking" for Burgess and the team, they made this possible by him simply standing in an adjacent room where she could smell but not see him until she started calling out. They would quickly be reunited, and the "happy little celebration yips" as they were together again were captured for the game that way as well.
River also helped with pathing for Dogmeat, as long walks with her would show that, while she would trot ahead, she would "consistently stop to look back and check in on me." This helped connect players to Dogmeat, as it showed the care they had for the player.
River's joy in making people happy, including bringing large objects to the team, was also captured, as was her priority of protecting you and not being an attack dog that just killed everything in sight.
One of the most important parts of Dogmeat's identity is that, like the player character, the dog doesn't belong in Fallout 4's world either. For a game filled with "bizarre creatures, places, scenarios, and characters," Dogmeat is your tether to the real world.
Shut up, I’m not crying, you’re crying!
In my experience as an artist and a writer, the media that resonates with me the most is always that which was crafted with the most conviction behind it. Any dog could have been selected, referenced, and then quickly forgotten to make FallOut 4, but instead the designers wound up finding a companion in their own quest to make a fun and memorable game. River’s company and individual personality influenced the creative decisions that went into making Dogmeat and thus in turn influenced every subsequent person who played FallOut 4. The real emotional depth of River’s impact shines in the way DogMeat interacts with the player.
I started up FallOut 4 again recently, happy to find DogMeat waiting for me at the filling station, sniffing the ground like he was waiting for me. He joined me on the search to find my lost baby boy Shaun, and as I approached yet another in a long line of decrepit buildings in the ruins of Boston, Dogmeat would be by my side ready and willing to fight alongside me, making sure all the while that I was safe.
Joshua “Jammer” Smith
9.15.2023
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