Does Gears Of War Owe Unisex Success To Its Portrayal Of Women?

Guys, I hope you’re paying attention. Especially those of you actually sitting at your PC or on your smartphone and reading this, instead of actually enjoying the occasions of today. Or maybe you’re like me and just don’t care for such a day regardless, in which case you should high-five yourself because that’s probably something you seem to enjoy doing. What?

If there is one game that is popular ‘with the ladies’ so to speak, it’s Gears of War. I actually know quite a few female gamers who enjoy revving up some chainsaws and killing locusts from time to time, in fact my favourite person to play Gears of War with, is actually female.

This seems to be a very ’cause and effect’ sort of thing, owing directly to the lack of “stereotypical, sexy” women portrayed in the game’s series, according to Epic Games. I beg to differ, since the females I play with have played previous titles in the Gears series where no females featured, but that doesn’t take away from the point either. So fair enough.

“In Gears you kind of need dirt,” said art director Chris Perna, in an interview. “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 idealization of what a woman should be. I think because we didn’t go that route we have more believability.”

He continued: “They’re still feminine. 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.”

When asked about the possibility of a female lead however, Perna merely commented that the idea was “certainly interesting,” adding: “If you look at what sells, it’s tough to justify something like that.”

So it’s clear that they are at least somewhat motivated by what’s popular. Then again, the series practically popularised hulking brutes for soldiers all on its own, after the first Gears of War released many years ago.

The thing about the portrayal of females in the series is that there are still stereotypes being filled. In Anya you had the solemn, focused primary love interest who helps keep the main character honest through it all. In Sam (who is easily my favourite character) you had the Michelle Rodriguez inspired pure badass who takes no names when she kicks alien butt. And then you get Valera, who featured in the RAAM’s Shadow prequel DLC, whose only purpose seemed to be mothering Jace before dying and then presenting an element of revenge, making it personal for Zeta Squad.

So the Gears of War series isn’t entirely faultless, but I will grant them that their portrayal of female characters is a lot better than anything you will see in most other places. Nowhere near Tera Online level.

I suppose it says a lot that in most games I favour a male character where a choice is given because I just don’t enjoy being a walking set of boobs in a game, but in Gears I always play Sam. Not only does she look cool but she has such cool catch-phrases as well, in that quirky Australian accent of hers. Doesn’t hurt that she’s played by my favourite voice actress, either.

What are your thoughts on the portrayal of women in Gears, and how much of that do you think accounts for the series being success across both genders?

Name: Caveshen Rajman
Location: Durban
Position: Former Managing Editor

Caveshen has published 2177 posts. Read all of Caveshen's posts.

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