Epic: A Female Gears Of War Star Would Be "Tough To Justify"

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".

[dirigiblebill]

"If you look at what sells..."

Standing still is a great way to have the carpet pulled from under you, Epic.

[cleft5]

Perfectly said.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

People never get tired of seeing a mans ass in 3rd person? I think more women should star in games.

@Blacktric

no.. but it's in yo face the whole time..

[Blacktric]

"People never get tired of looking at a mans ass in 3rd person?"

You play games to look at the main character's ass?

Good to know.

[Zodiac]

Not these days.

Video game asses were so much better in the 8-bit era with the huge pixels sticking out.

[Captain Qwark 9]

disagree completely.

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.

[Blacklash93]

Most women are weak because they are brought up to be in suvservient lifestyles in most cultures with expected duties of taking care of the home, raising kids, or being pretty for people. There are some exceptions in history with civilizations that let women fight and several badass women who broke social expectations to become heroes. Women can be badass, but most are not raised to be viable for such roles. So yeah a female MC curbstomping fools left and right would be very unlikely, but...

... 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?

[rainslacker]

I think it depends on how the characters are portrayed, and the requirements for survival. If you look at Mass Effect, their clothing was pretty much like heavy clothing with no bulky armor, no backpacks, and smallish weapons that were mostly energy based, so no excessive recoil, that stored in compressed form on their person. In that scenario, brute strength wasn't an issue, and depending on class having more agility of a smaller frame could be beneficial, compared to the male Sheppard, although this distinction wasn't actually used at all, since game play mechanics based on gender tend to be taboo.

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.

[nukeitall]

I get pretty damn tired of staring at Snake's old ass in thights the entire time in MGS4.

I tend to play female characters in Gears of War 3. You just got owned by a chick!!! :D

[KillrateOmega]

Don't try to make a female protagonist/hero

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.

[TekoIie]

I agree with point 2 but the on your first it depends. If you can make a good female character go for it! But dont make the main character a female just because you can. Also just because its Gears doesn't mean muscles are mandatory. Look at Jace as an example.

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.

[Enigma_2099]

Side story featuring a small squad of female Gears...

... you're welcome.

[InMyOpinion]

It's as likely as seeing a female star in COD or God of war really.

[hano]

Why is it important for a woman to appear as a protagonist in a military shooter?
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.

[rainslacker]

Yeah, shoe-horning in a female protagonist is just the wrong way to go, and the games that do it, tend to be very shallow.

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.

[Zha1tan]

Men are tougher than women, its just a fact and they make for more interesting war time characters.

Get over it.