NPC Allies are Funny

Have you ever noticed that NPC allies in first-person shooter games are almost never helpful?

Like I said, I kinda started out with Halo 3. I noticed that in comparison with Master Chief's large stature, the small little Marines really couldn't compare with a Spartan's strength, which I respect. What really bothered me was how even the Marines couldn't hold themselves together when engaging weak enemies like Grunts. After taking few shots they just die without actually giving any useful help.

Then came the Call of Duty craze. In the jungles of Japan, my American soldiers and I attacked. A squadron of Japanese troops ambushed us, and I dived to the nearest cover I could find. Bullets flew everywhere, and I remained in cover waiting for reinforcements. More American soldiers came. Just when I was about to go over the top, all my new buddies got shot down while running into the battlefield. So I waited even longer. More came and more fell without even firing a single shot.

A few weeks ago, I started to get into Gears of War. Other than Baird who got lucky with a few frag grenades, my NPC allies did utterly nothing. Any Stranded or COG Gears were popped in the head the moment they entered the firefight. My ally heroes did some damage I suppose, but not enough to really help me in any way.

Playing Halo: Reach one time, Jun and his apparently pin-point accuracy skimmed my Spartan in the middle of a firefight, resulting in the death of Noble Six.

I'm just wondering if any first-person shooter game has an effective NPC support system. Honestly, team-mates who just run up to be shot at are pretty much useless other than being an ineffective bullet-soaker. Then again, I guess that if the NPCs could do something to help, it'd kinda take off too much of the challenge needed to beat a game.

Not that I'm complaining. I still get the job done, but it's funny to watch my professional ally soldiers get torn apart by Grunts.