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".
"In Gears you kind of need dirt," Perna explained to OXM in a Gears of War: Judgment interview - read all about it in our next issue, which hits shelves this Friday, 15th February. "If you want to create this attractive, stereotypical, sexy female - a lot of games do that and it's kind of cliché at this point.
"You see the implants and the blonde hair and pants and you roll your eyes - it's almost like the game geek's idealisation of what a woman should be. I think because we didn't go that route we have more believability... we've got more butch characters.
"They're still feminine," he went on. "Anya in Gears 3 comes across as being very feminine, and I think it works."
"From what we've heard, when they play the game they feel empowered and they feel good. Some of the feedback I've heard from women that I talk to is that if we'd made these women more feminine and more stereotypical it wouldn't have been so nice."
Gears of War 3 introduced playable female characters to the series for the first time, in the form of the aforesaid Anya and newcomer Samantha Byrne (other female PCs have been added via multiplayer DLC). Given this move, I asked, is it possible a future Gears game could feature a lady in the starring role?
Alas, it seems the market might have issues with this. "That's certainly interesting but I don't know," Perna mused. "If you look at what sells, it's tough to justify something like that."
Judgment introduces Sofia Hendricks as Kilo Squad's medic. According to a GameInformer bio, "she joined the fight against the Locust after being exposed to the horrors of war as a media correspondent towards the end of the decades-long Pendulum Wars. Having seen terrible things during battle, she sets out to ensure that war is properly waged, and that ethics must not be sacrificed for victory."
Thoughts? For more on the new Gears of War, peruse this immense single and multiplayer hands-on, and don't forget our new issue, out on Friday. (Incidentally, the shot above is the work of Gears comicbook artist and all-round comicbook legend Jim Lee.)
13 comments so far...
Metalrodent on 13 Feb '13 said:
'hard to justify'
) it shouldn't matter who the lead role is.
er really? Metroid, Borderlands (1+2), Mass Effect and most games with character creation let you play as a lead female without problem.
I dont really care who i'm playing as, as longs as they're suitably interesting and not dislikable (of course its a bonus if they're good looking
CunningSmile on 13 Feb '13 said:
50% of the population are female, and in the future I'd imagine an end to gender inequality so why is there only one female character in a franchise with a cast as big as Gears? The justification is maths you dim witted fool
SilentDark on 13 Feb '13 said:
Why does it seem to be one or the other, if a girl in a videogame wears sexy outfits she's immediately dismissed as a boys fantasy, regardless of characterisation. If a developer wants to avoid this then what they basically do is make a man with boobs.
Samus was a good example of a capable woman until Other M and it was basically revealed that the only reason she was so capable in the other games was because she didn't have any men around to be dependent on.
Resident Evil 6 probably got as close to a middle ground as I have seen in recent memory with girls who are attractive, feminine (Okay that's only really Sherry) and capable (key difference I think, most people want strong female characters, but I think capable is a better thing to strive for)
Bezza89 on 13 Feb '13 said:
Only one? There's loads. Anya, Valeria, Samantha, this new one, and non-playable there's Bernie, locust queen, maria, some random woman also, she's in charge of something at the stadium. I forget her name, she loves cole, everyone she's with loves him too.
CunningSmile on 13 Feb '13 said:
Never played the MP, so the only one that really sticks in my mind is Anya (and Maria obviously, but she's more like an obsession than a character)
FishyGinger on 13 Feb '13 said:
I've only played the first 2 but the characters are about as deep as a petri dish. Why can't they make the next one like unreal tournament where you can select your character, or mass effect where you create them.
CunningSmile on 13 Feb '13 said:
I was half expecting a big reveal that Marcus was a woman all along. The massive neck bigger than his head was just a result of equility in the training and steroid regime in the COGs
Bezza89 on 13 Feb '13 said:
All are story related, which reminds me that would put even more as playable characters as Bernie and Locust queen are mp playable.
Metalrodent on 13 Feb '13 said:
Why can't all games be like that?
FishyGinger on 13 Feb '13 said:
It would seem horses invade our developers just they invade our burgers to say neigh to freedom of choice.
fracturedrich on 13 Feb '13 said:
I have no problem killing girls in mp ,or the odd game of final fantasy,but if lead role in gow goes to a girl i will switch to ps straight away.
Metalrodent on 13 Feb '13 said:
wow... I'm really not sure how to respond to this...
FishyGinger on 13 Feb '13 said:
It's best to just fit in. Make your eyes look in different directions then dribble.