Gears of War packs more machismo into its little finger than the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger pack into their ridiculously inflated torsos, but according to Epic's art director Chris Perna, the franchise is a hit nonetheless with female players, who regard its female characters as "empowering".
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Standing still is a great way to have the carpet pulled from under you, Epic.
@Blacktric
no.. but it's in yo face the whole time..
You play games to look at the main character's ass?
Good to know.
Video game asses were so much better in the 8-bit era with the huge pixels sticking out.
1. im not into digital characters so staring at the ass of a videogame character does about as much for me as staring at the ass of a man
2. if im playing a game i like to think the main character is me, esp if its a game where i can customize the character so i def would prefer to play as a male. also in a game like mass effect where you develop relationships with the characters that aspect would become increasingly uncomfortable as i try to hook up with another male character while playing the role of a female
3. lastly, call me sexist if you must but as unrealistic as a 1 man army may be, its even harder to believe a 1 woman army. yes there are a few bad ass chicks out there but as a whole, most woman are very weak
in the end it comes down to preference. i dont mind having the choice to play as either gender but given the choice, i will be a man 99% of the time simply because i am a man. just makes sense to me.
... that's real life. In the Gears world? It's very different. You're not alive if you're not tough, given the constant alien/mutant assaults and survival needs barely being met. Raw strength where men have advantage is not the only aspect of survivability and combat effectiveness, especially when guns are in the picture. It could easily work.
Personally, I don't mind having a female protagonist. Doesn't change my thoughts about a game one bit, though I can't speak for the masses. Outside of RPGs where I'm supposed to feel like the MC myself, where I would ideally play as a male, I never feel like I'm the character. I feel like I'm directing and watching the character, so empathy isn't an issue for me.
The Longest Journey, Portal, Mirror's Edge, Tomb Raider, ect. Those are games I enjoyed with a female protagonist and my experience suffered no less. Sometimes I even like playing female characters because it's different, y'know?
Also looking at recent times, there are many women in our armed forces who are able to pass all physical tests required for infantry, so the argument has become kind of moot.
I personally couldn't care less about the sex of the character, so long as they're well written. Gears, while a technical marvel on the first games release, doesn't inspire me much in the story department, probably because I'm not much into the whole beefy space marine/invading aliens motif common in game sci-fi.
I tend to play female characters in Gears of War 3. You just got owned by a chick!!! :D
1) It just doesn't fit the series what with all of it's testosterone/machismo-packed gameplay and atmosphere
2) It's kind of a sell-out to try and make a female character just to try and appeal to horny gamers looing for sex appeal.
Also Gears 3 added some pretty good female chars to the franchise. Anya wasnt just that lady talking in your ear throughout the game and the banter between Baird and Sam is pretty funny.
... you're welcome.
I don't think it is fitting to have a blonde or sexy woman as the lead character in those gritty situations. That would lack authenticity. Like I wouldn't expect a Rambo movie with a female lead.
It fits more into fantasy like in FFXIII or adventure like Tomb Raider or puzzler like Portal.
So just having a female protagonist just for the sake of it doesn't really always work. It depends on the setting and the story.
A good character is a good character, regardless of gender, but at the same time some consideration has to go into what is believable. Female characters in a shooter game would tend to have the tough persona, and game writing today doesn't give them much in the way of reasoning beyond the psychology 101 level.
Get over it.