9 Best British Video Game Characters

9 Best British Video Game Characters

Feature

The Olympic Games have become a celebration of all things British. A perfect reason to look at some of the best British video characters in history.

Sherlock Holmes
The master of disguise and logical reasoning might be more well known for his portrayal in novels and on the silver screen, but he has been in a surprising number of games over the years; close to twenty in fact, so it would be a shame not to include him on this list.

Admittedly, the games usually range from the distinctly average to the downright awful, but occasionally we catch a glimmer of what Sherlock Holmes is all about, problem solving whilst staying prim and proper. An honorary mention goes to Dr Watson of course, who you actually are able to control in some of the games. He’s not always so helpful however, and in fact turns into a malevolent being at times – (with no intention from the developers, search ‘creepy Watson’ on YouTube).

James Bond
Again, literary and film versions of James Bond are probably better known, but he has been in even more games than our pipe smoking, deerstalker wearing friend above. GoldenEye is one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, as well as being one of the most commercially successful. It is also viewed as one of the most important titles in the history of video games as it showed that first person shooters could also fit consoles. It’s hard to imagine a world these days without Halo and Call of Duty on console, but it’s partly due to GoldenEye that they were made possible. So it’s only right that the main character of that pivotal game make it onto this list.

Admit it, you either want to be like Bond, or be with Bond. His sheer coolness and way with the ladies makes men jealous and women swoon. The fact that he regularly protects his country with his licence to kill doesn’t hurt either. As with Holmes, the games Bond features in range from the superb to the shoddy, but his suave character is captured perfectly more often than not.

It’s a shame that more recent efforts for James Bond video games haven’t been up to the standard of the 1997 classic. Sadly, movie tie-in games these days are developed more for profit than gameplay, but who knows, perhaps the inevitable game for Skyfall will defy expectations.

Diana Burnwood - Hitman Series
One of the few ever-presents in the Hitman series due to the unsurprising constant murdering is ICA Handler Diana Burnwood. Her first ever assignment was to act as Agent 47’s handler for the first game, no pressure. Since her minor role in the original, her personality and role in 47’s life has been expanded throughout the series, up to being a key component in recent times.

Rarely do we catch a glimpse of Diana, trained by the ICA to be a master of disguise as well as pretty nifty with a computer. However, we do get to hear her rather lovely voice (provided by Vivienne McKee) at the start of most missions, encouraging us to “be careful”. Thanks, Diana.

Despite the downright ridiculous action that takes place in the cinematic trailers that have been released for Hitman: Absolution so far, they have given us a glimmer of plot insight. It seems that Agent 47 has been tasked with terminating Diana herself, so is this the last we’ll see of the mysterious computer genius? The series has certainly dealt in fake deaths before, so perhaps there is yet another twist in the tale. We’ll find out later this year. We’ll also find out if the replacement voice actor (Marsha Thomason) is up to par with the original.