Over the last couple days we’ve written about the ins and outs of games that more or less fall into the Western genre. To wrap up our old-timey week of content, we’ll be focusing instead on non-Western games that happen to feature characteristics, values, and themes commonly associated with the genre in question.

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1.) The Nomad

As observed in: Fallout series

A restless soul, the Nomad will traverse miles upon miles of bleak and unforgiving wilderness, often in an all-consuming effort to resolve a personal issue. This type of individual is adept at dealing with the harsh, unfair forces allied against him, and will use whatever he can acquire on his journey to further his cause. People hold little significance to him, apart from the occasional hospitable stranger, and he regards everyone he encounters with cold circumspection.

The most recent model of this type of character in a game is the protagonist from Fallout 3, though the previous entries in the series had main characters with similar traits and circumstances. Forced out of the Vault, the government-created shelter that’s served as his home since birth, the young man makes his way through a vast, nuclear war-ravaged hellscape to find his father. Along the way he encounters, and often helps, other people and groups with problems, but in the end whatever aid he renders is only part of a means of advancing his own agenda.

2.) Community

As observed in: Animal Crossing series

When you’re living in a harsh, largely lawless society, having people relatively near to you that you can trust and depend on is invaluable. A cohesive community provides stability and reassurance when times in the West get tough, along with necessary news and gossip, of course.

I can think of very few games that pull off a legitimate community simulation as well as Animal Crossing does. Granted, the most dangerous things that happen in your quaint animal town include missing the fireworks festival and getting screwed over by Tom Nook, but the social aspects of the game are solid. “Progress” in Animal Crossing is largely defined through your level of interaction within your community; socializing with your neighbors, doing favors, and generally participating in the happenings of the town all increase your standing with the local populace, which in turn benefits you. Alternatively, you can choose to excise yourself from the community, in which case you’ll end up with a constant mountain of debt, a yard full of weeds, and neighbors who hardly recognize you.

3.) Conquest of the Wilderness

As observed in: Age of Empires

The relationship between the Western man and the West itself is a give-and-take sort of situation. With so much available, untamed space to settle, the prospect of laying down roots in the West would seem easy, right? Wrong. A man needs patience and raw cussedness to get the land to yield to his intentions, and even then things don’t come easy.

You might not experience it firsthand playing a game like Age of Empires, but crafting a  successful society in the wilderness is a daunting task for your nationality of choice. Gathering resources, finding enough food, and defending your village from territorial animals are all thankless but necessary parts of furthering your budding empire, though unfortunately the men and women carrying out these menial tasks will be long dead by the time you have anything resembling a nation.

4.) Private Justice

As observed in: Splinter Cell: Conviction

As previously noted, law enforcement in the West was not something many sane people would be comfortable living under today. A man couldn’t always rely on whatever threadbare laws and local sheriff his town had to protect his family and investments. If someone wronged him, he might choose to take things into his own hands and operate above the authorities, very much like a Western Batman.

We can observe a prime example of this Old West type of justice in Splinter Cell: Conviction. Former agent Sam Fisher, his loyalty to the government and Third Echelon severed completely, comes out of retirement to uncover the identity of his daughter’s killer and presumably bestow some sort of appropriate punishment upon him.

5.) The Gunslinger

As observed in: Metal Gear Solid series

Ah, the old standby. The Knight of the West, The Silent Stranger, The Man With No Name. All appropriate monikers for the Old West’s most frequented trope. More than just a run-of-the-mill cowboy, this man is proficient with his pistol(s) and lays down his own personal brand of the law wherever he treads. Then he leaves.

His name really says it all. Revolver Ocelot, frequent antagonist of the Metal Gear Solid series, is the consummate caricature of a true gunslinger. His decision to sport eccentric clothing and use a revolver against modern weaponry is bold to say the least, and he undoubtedly deserves some sort of praise for keeping an outdated stereotype alive. Though he makes his debut in Metal Gear Solid, this throwback of a character’s origins are explained in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Speaking of…

6.) Duels

As observed in: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

MGS3 tells the origins story of Big Boss, but also of Revolver Ocelot. The two first meet in the early stages of the game as Big Boss, known at the time as “Naked Snake,” attempts to rescue a valuable scientist. Snake easily bests Ocelot, and gives him a bit of career-shaping advice:

Ocelot shows up again later, this time sporting his trademark pistols, and challenges Snake to a proper fight:

The final Ocelot encounter occurs at the very end of the game, as Snake and Eva attempt to escape:

There are a couple slightly different outcomes to this final duel, all of which are fairly inconsequential, but after a game’s worth of rivalry and trying to kill each other between them, it’s nice to see Snake and Ocelot departing on such gentlemanly terms.