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So, first off, I'm saddened that there is no recent thread about this game. But that's understandable. Pushing the release date for this game back again, this time from basically now to February 12, 2013, has not been a PR coup for Gearbox. Apart from its own development delays, Gearbox's Colonial Marines has also suffered from association with Check Six's aborted entry from over a decade ago (when the Gearbox title was only announced four years ago) as well as the cancelled RPG from Obsidian.
Add to those woes the apparent lack of playable female characters. Don't roll your eyes. That's actually a big deal with this franchise. Think about it for a minute: who kicked all that xenomorph ass? That's right, a lady. Plus, the Colonial Marines are clearly co-ed. Thankfully, the internet stepped in:
That was posted Saturday. (And here's the petition.) That same day, Gearbox announced playable female marines! And gak do they look good.
As if I needed another reason to be excited about this game! Still, good things happening on the internet. Warm fuzzies all around, especially given that the woman who set up the petition managed to get original cast members to lend their aid.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2012/09/06 17:03:00
Huh, I admit I haven't had this game on the radar at all. So it's going to be about the Colonial Marines, and it's going to include co-op? Count me in.
Glad to hear they stick true to the franchise. There's too many games omitting women from real world settings, no need to carry it over even into fictional ones as well.
Have to say, Redding falls flat into the girly cliché again (judging purely by the concept sketch), but at least Bella shows some vasquez-like muscles.
If only we could choose freely what character to play. Hate it when a game denies customisation because the story is apparently oh-so-important and dependent on your gender/race/ethnicity/hair colour. Seems like player 1 has no choice at all, too. Oh well, I'm sure it will still be fun.
But I gotta say, I love the signature of Vasquez' actress on the petition:
I've been really hopeful about this game, but given Gearbox's track record and the decidedly underwhelming footage I saw of the campaign about a year ago, my hopes aren't that high. I desperately hope it's good though; haven't had a good Aliens game since the first AVP games.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/09/06 17:06:40
I really enjoyed the AvP title from 2010 and I absolutely love Infestation, which was a Gearbox title. I also loved the gameplay in another Gearbox title, Borderlands, so I'm pretty confident I will enjoy Colonial Marines.
AVP 2010 was okay, if gorgeous, but not compelling to me. I haven't played Infestation (it looks interesting and Metroid-like!), but Gearbox hasn't done much lately that I liked. Borderlands was fun, but only with friends, and Duke Nukem Forever was a goddamn trainwreck. I don't know how much of that was Gearbox and how much was 3DRealms, but it hurts the Gearbox image a lot to push such a poor product out the door. The last Brothers in Arms game wasn't so hot either, but it had its moments. I want Colonial Marines to be good just as much as you do, I'm still very hesitant to get behind it.
Let me just say that while I do hope the game is "good" in the market sense, that is a separate issue from what I am excited about. I'm pretty sure I will at least like this game just because I am a huge fan of the franchise unless, and I think this is highly unlikely given the gameplay footage we've seen so far, it is just absolute gak. So when it comes to "getting behind" this game -- I am sure I will buy it (made that decision long ago) and so I obviously have no trouble being excited about it. If your hesitance is a matter of not wanting to get your hopes up, I'd like to know more about how high your standards are. The way I see it, this is just another FPS BUT it's in a setting I love.
My standards are inconsistent, I'm not gonna lie! If the game is merely "another FPS" like you say, I'll pick it up on Steam. Even if it's terrible (which I don't think it'll be; I think it'll at least be average) it would still be fun to blast around with a few buddies while we quote Aliens. Worst case scenario we wait for the inevitable Steam sale before shooting up xenomorphs, best case scenario we get it when it's new. The setting is the real draw for me too.
Any chance it was Melissia from Dakka Dakka that started the petition?
I have seen at least 10 threads where she brings up gender issues with games.
Every Dakkanaught gets a 4+ Pinch of Salt save.
When you suffer a Falling Sky hit, roll a D6 - on a 4+ the hit is ignored as per the Pinch of Salt save. On a 1-3 panic insues - you automatically fail common sense tests for the next 2 weeks and get +7 to your negativity stat. -Praxiss
I'm actually glad they delayed this into next year. I don't know if they gave a specific reason (don't recall one given in the various gaming website articles I read months back when they did it) but I suspected that they didn't want the two most anticipated games their studio is making cannibalizing sales from each other with a dual fall release. The fall release schedule is already crowded and, while I'm excited about this game, I would realistically buy and play other games prior to it for months. Halo 4, Borderlands... that will keep me busy till Christmas likely.
Deathshead420 wrote: Any chance it was Melissia from Dakka Dakka that started the petition?
I have seen at least 10 threads where she brings up gender issues with games.
A lot of girls like to play as girls when they play video games, and there are a lot of gender issues within the medium. It's not just people as vocal and polarizing as Melissia who feel that way either.
They said her name was Melissia, I was just wondering. I wasn't trying to be funny, and I realize that many girls have issues with gender inequality, as they should, but they mentioned the girl by name. If it was her she should get tons of props for making one of my favorite franchises better.
For the record, I agree 120% with the petition. An Aliens game without female marines would be a horrible choice imo, and I'm glad they fixed it.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/09/09 20:07:50
Every Dakkanaught gets a 4+ Pinch of Salt save.
When you suffer a Falling Sky hit, roll a D6 - on a 4+ the hit is ignored as per the Pinch of Salt save. On a 1-3 panic insues - you automatically fail common sense tests for the next 2 weeks and get +7 to your negativity stat. -Praxiss
