Happy Lunar New Year 2020: Our Favourite(?) Rats & Mice In Gaming

Larry from Rampage

The Midway arcade game Rampage featured George, Lizzy and Ralph. But did you know that the Atari Lynx version of the game featured a fourth giant called Larry the Rat? Well, you need to own the Atari Lynx back in the day, and that’s pretty hard to come by in this period. Just thought you should know.

A pity he got gipped in the movie adaptation though.

The Rats of the Dishonored series

The first Dishonored had you wading through a plague-filled bunch of areas as Corvo the Assassin, ready to assassinate your targets. One wrong step, and you’re rat chowder in a sea of vermin.

On the other hand, you can weaponize them provided Corvo takes the Chaos path to attain the aptly-named skill Devouring Swarm (also in part 2 because reused assets).

Just seeing it in action is pretty disgusting and magical at the same time.

The Many Rats of the Dark Souls series

In any dark fantasy RPG, it’s pretty obligatory to add rats as part of your killable bestiary. From Software’s versions up the ante in terms of grossness and sounds, as well as the way they skitter and approach your hapless adventurer.

The best(?) rat to kill is the Royal Rat Vanguard, a mass of rats that form into a sentient swarm that can overwhelm and poison would-be adventurers. Fun!

Twitch from League of Legends

Poison and blight dealer? Check.

Giant anthropomorphic rat who loves garbage? Check.

Skitters around on the stage in silence and ambushing anything within reach? Check.

If you want to be a rat-like MOBA asshole who kites and snipes a lot, Twitch is your rodent.

The Skaven from the Warhammer: Vermintide series

Like we said, dark fantasy genres are known for making rats badass antagonists and possible fodder. The Skaven in the Warhammer series are known for being both; they come either as human-sized foot soldiers or as giant mofos that require a team of adventurers to take down.

They recently gained notoriety in the Warhammer: Vermintide series, a pretty nifty Left 4 Dead co-op action game that unfortunately saw little play in Southeast Asia.

Disgusting, feral, and unpredictable, this race of fiends are a joy to fight and make every skirmish in Vermintide a thrill ride.

Junkrat from Overwatch

The other entry on this list who isn’t entirely a rodent or a furry, Junkrat is named as such because he’s a slimy convict who happens to have an Australian accent.

He hangs out with last year’s CNY candidate Roadhog as they tag-team they way all over the world for mayhem and destruction. Not exactly rat-like qualities though.

Stay tuned to the last day of Chinese New Year (Chap Goh Mei, 8th Feb) so that we can talk about the other type of mice in games. You know, the ones you tether onto your PC.