Aliens: Colonial Marines, a game based on a franchise featuring strong female characters, will not allow players to create female characters in its multiplayer mode.
Gearbox has promised an "extensive upgrade system that allows players to customize their characters to play the way they want," unless, of course, you want to play as a girl. That's according to Gearbox Producer Brian Burleson who confirmed the inability to create a female character and relive the Alien experience Ripley style.
Honestly, I have to say I'm a little shocked. I mean, we're talking about a franchise that had characters like Ripley, Vasquez, and even Elizabeth Shaw in the recent Prometheus sequel. It's a franchise that has embraced strong female characters. Aside from the lack of creative freedom for players, it's kind of a slap in the face to the franchise and female gamers who prefer to create girl characters.
After all, as Melissa K. points out in an online petition to make Gearbox reconsider its position, "There are many females that enjoy playing video games and are fans of the films who are tired of playing as a male all the time."
"While we fully support Gearbox, We would like to request the inclusion of playable females. The ALIENS franchise is dominated by strong females such as Ripley, Vasquez, Ferro, Dietrich and most importantly, The Queen," Melissa wrote in an online petition.
"There is roughly 5-6 months before the game goes Gold and releases February 12th, 2013. We believe ALIENS is the perfect starting point for developers to start including playable females in more multiplayer shooters," she added. "And what better company to start this than Gearbox with the success of Borderlands and the benchmark shooter Brothers in Arms? There are many females that enjoy playing video games and are fans of the films who are tired of playing as a male all the time. Lets let Gearbox Software see how important this is to the ALIENS franchise!"
So what is it that Melissa is seeking? "
"What we want is the ability to create a CUSTOM female to represent ourselves just like the men can, in Multiplayer/Co-op in order for us to "Become a Colonial Marine" as well as accurately represent the other half of the United States Colonial Marine Corps!"
Is it too much to ask for Gearbox to create a female character model for people to play as in multiplayer? I mean, EA and BioWare created an entirely new ending for Mass Effect 3 when fans requested it. Who knows, if Gearbox can't do it by launch, maybe we'll get some sort of free DLC that adds the ability to create a female soldier.
While the goal of the petition was only to get 1,000 signatures, it currently sits at 1,184. You can sign it here. GameZone fully supports Melissa and appreciate her effort in attempt to bring female characters into Aliens: Colonial Marines' multiplayer.
