I Would Also Accept Whimpering Until I Walk Away

My lovely wife recently discovered and began to binge watch The Good Wife, which means I've been getting all sorts of quality time in with Fallout 3 (yes, this is being written in October 2013 - I don't play games until I can get the game and all the DLC for under $30 because I have to save my money for more important things like child rearing and Doctor Who socks). This has been great, as I enjoy the game a lot, although I might be putting a little too much time in. I saw a bobby pin on the floor at work the other day and got all excited for a second.

The problem is that I realized the other day a huge flaw in the AI of those things that want me dead in the game, and like twerking, once I saw it I could not unsee it. You come across a group of baddies, and if you're me you prowl around until you have a good opening, and then you pick off the first one you can. So, I use a long range rifle to pop a cap into the noggin of the closest super mutant in the group, and what does he do?

He attacks me.

I have always accepted this as part of the game - a part of almost every first person shooter really. This dude and all his giant, green friends are now officially unhappy with me, justifiably I suppose, and they attack me. Here's the thing though: that includes the guy I just shot in the head (assuming it didn't finish the job). That guy, now sporting a rifle bullet somewhere in his massive cranium, comes running at me with whatever he's packing (usually a sledgehammer or gun - never a bag of frozen peas as his visage would suggest) and tries to return the favor. And it's true in all the games I've played. Zombies, robots, aliens, splicers, even regular people...each one takes a bullet and then gleefully attacks.

Now I don't have a lot of real world experience with gunfights, partially because I'm a lover not a fighter, and partially because my abnormally huge head would make a delightfully tempting target for even a novice sharpshooter. Still, I'm pretty sure that the response of your average individual upon receiving a bullet wound would not be to go into a feral rage and attack. I think it would more along the lines of cursing a few times, maybe laying down, seeking medical attention, or some combination thereof.

I suppose I shouldn't complain. I do enjoy the games immensely. Besides, what's the alternative? Listening to some guy in post-apocalyptic fetish armor mourning the fact that he's not going to see his family again, or wondering if he did enough with the time he had? That might be a little too real for the average gamer, including myself.

That said, I would put good money down to hear the words "Make sure my son gets my armored codpiece".