One of the few first-person-shooter games that I truly enjoyed and thought was brilliantly made is “Borderlands 2.” The bold-line-style artwork, huge collection of different forageable loot, and funny collection of quests makes the game endlessly enjoyable to play but what makes the game truly beautiful are the characters. The first NPC you interact with in the game is this robot named CL4P-TP, or Claptrap for convenience. The robot is, as the name ironically implies, overly enthusiastic and an endless talker. Claptrap has this iconic post-apocalyptic WALL-E similarity to it which just adds to the story and the artwork in general.
What makes the robot a true artwork is its personality. Constantly spewing comedy and dark satire makes it absolutely not seem robotic at all. The voice is kind of artificial but what is be said really give Claptrap the personality of a real character, truly an ideal NPC. The first interaction with the player is right after waking up in game. The player doesn’t really know what to do and just explores the frozen wasteland surroundings a bit, just to find this chatterbox robot come up to them. Instantly chatting and cracking jokes about be lonely and being a dysfunctional robot, immediately snaps the player into the present. Without any prior background, the player is placed into a comfortable scenario where they are being guided to the right location and helped with instructions.
Usually the initial instructional segments of games are blatantly obvious and boring. They are usually filled with simple tutorials and tasks that the player probably already knows. This tutorial is completely different, the player doesn’t even realize that they are being taught the controls and rules of the game because the hilarious robot is talking the entire time. Making jokes about the surroundings and about the player’s actions, being incredibly self-deprecating about being a lonely robot, talking about its intent to join the resistance so that it can get back at the villain who stopped its production line (making it lonely because it now has not friends). The chit-chat that seems totally nonsensical and like blabber actually turns out to be incredibly informative about the game’s storyline and background.
The NPC immediately, without question, states itself as the player’s friend and helper. Additionally Claptrap talks about itself and its history of creation. Topics that are obviously only possible for a non-human being but at the same time feels oddly personal. Claptrap helps, chats, cracks jokes, instructs, his informative, and has a personality which all do not match to its flimsy little robotic body. The character continues to stay by the player’s side for most of the game but the first interaction is what really gives a connection and convinces the player that there is a deep storyline within the game.