So this is half silly I know, but only half silly. As I was playing through Half-Life 2: Episode One (which incidentally, was brilliant, the game still looks gorgeous and runs smoothly, expanding the narrative and raising a few questions while not interfering with being a great game…my only gameplay criticism would be that it felt a bit puzzle centric more than really made sense..anyway, back to the point) a couple of half comic, half serious things occurred to me about gender in computer games and how oddly messed up it can be. Here follows some observations.
First off, we all know that gender is poorly represented in video games as standard. There are exceptions, but generally we’re talking chainmail thongs, massive breasts and just oversexualised characters all over the shop. The lechfest that surrounded Lara Croft is exemplary of the kind of trash that people assume games are about. Women could love her because she was a ‘strong character’ (which basically boils down to her being rich and doing stuff that male game characters have been doing for years) and men could love her because she had boobies and a bottom. This is all well and good (well it isn’t really) in its day, but you would have hoped that this meant that the games manufacturers would wise up to the fact that non-gender stereotyped characters could work well, and particularly that there was a female market for gaming that didn’t necessarily involve Tetris. Gender stereotyping is just a bit silly, especially when it insists that all women in games have to be sexed up in extremis (dropping in Latin whilst not being sure exactly what it means = Priceless). I’ve been wound up about this since I worked out that all female characters in beat em ups would fall into the simple character role of being smaller, weaker but faster. That’s what women are you know…physically weak but small hands and very quick you know. Anyway, I’m not sure if that’s the point that’s being made but that’s what it appears like a lot of the time. Most of the RPG’s (though not Arcanum, which was interesting) basically say that men and women are the same..but then ensure that the women look ‘hot’. Basically this means that the presumed (by the distributors/developers) male audience can get their jollys while they play the game if they wish to. Often the gender doesn’t affect the gameplay (would it be interesting if female character’s were basically oppressed by the patriarchal society that still seems to exist in most fantasy games..not sure..I’ll think about it) which is kind of fine, but it means that basically there’s just a female skin that wears skimpy armour and tight buns. This is all fairly obvious and expected so far, and in fact games developers are starting to twig that there’s more to the female audience than they expected and are starting to deal with it…mostly with the Sims (another assumption that women should be targeted for games that are a little like doing the housekeeping…another stereotype I read recently but can’t be bothered to look up..I think it was on the Guardian Games blog..which is good for this kind of thing). So…basically there’s a lot of shit out there. I was proud of Oblivion for having fairly accurate (ie non-exposing) armour for the female character (though I only played for a few hours. One thing that I thought was a bit amusing was the fact that she could take her trousers off and walk around with just her armoured chestplate (or just her underwear) on…it looks a bit like that cliched sexy thing of a girl in a guys shirt waling around exposing her legs…but I don’t really blame Bethesda for doing that…it just made sense in the game structure…and you’d have to be an idiot to walk round like that in combat situations (and at least a little pervy to make her do that at all..oops).
Anyway, basically I think Half Life 2: EpiOne did a fair to middling job of rebalancing this a little…but unintentionally made the gender roles even more traditionalist. I’d like to point out that I have high expectations of Valve. I think their storytelling abilities are incredible, beautiful and immersive. Playing through the main body of Half Life 2 I was shocked to find I never felt like I was on rails. Even though a second playthrough revealed that you are, and there’s only really one way through. It just seemed like I was stumbling around and lucky enough to go in the right direction…I could have gone anywhere, but I didn’t. Episode One didn’t do this as well but still told a story in an incredible way. That end game sequence was just incredible, not to mention the opening…such a shock..it felt like I was watching Lost when Lost is amazing or even Twin Peaks at its (twin) peak…I just had no idea what was going on but I loved it anyway. Its great to just drip you clues as to what’s going on…and has the G-man really been thwarted by the Vortigaunts? What the hell?
Anyway, I’m distracted from my point once more. So gender. Now most of you (especially those of you who played the game) know that the game occurs from the point of view of Gordon Freeman, the bravest and most adventurous Physics PhD in the world. He’s the strong silent type (perhaps a statement on the uncommunicative nature of men) and his attempts to escape the totally devastated terrain of City 17 along with companion Alyx. Alyx is the daughter of another physics guy, Eli Vance, and is a bit of a hotty. In fact she is pretty far from traditional gaming female characters. She’s tightly clad (its much easier to model that from a technical perspective. Her breasts and bottom are normally formed and fairly average in size etc. She’s a bit too skinny but wouldn’t most people in a post apocalyptic future be a bit skinny? I’m not sure but I do think that in terms of computer gaming, from an image perspective, she is a giant leap forward. I’m not even sure if this is important..but I thought I’d mention it. Also she’s fairly hard ass, she can hold a gun and she can hold her own. Again, this is all good, she’s a genuinely strong and intelligent and all that stuff…she’s a genuinely strong character, much more so that Lara Croft, because she doesn’t spend most of her time grunting in a sexual manner. She has a sense of humour, she has a heart, she congratulates you on a job well done. She seems quite real. This is all good, she’s a rounded character.
The problem I actually have is the way the game dynamic works in the flow between Gordon, your archetypal male, strong, brave, unemotional and uncommunicative, and Alyx, who remains emotional, and in need of protection for most of the game. She seems to flirt with Gordon even though he doesn’t say anything. She needs him to show her the light so she can fend for herself. She refuses to do any manual labour, allowing you to solve the puzzles, pull levers, turn handles and stabilise reactor cores. She happily waits outside for the menfolk (Gordon) to come back having sorted out every problem one by one. It made the game seem more artificial, the way the interaction occurs between Gordon and Alyx seems false. Especially if it takes you a while to work out what you have to do. There was one puzzle for which before I thought of the actual solution, I considered going outside and asking Alyx if I could give her a boost so she could reach the switch that I couldn’t. There was one point where I couldn’t get a door up in time by rotating the wheel because I was under attack. If Alyx had taken the lever then I could have protected her. At other occasions, it seemed like unless I protected her she would die. As though she was useless without my support. She exhibits the emotional distress that any real person would experience in some of these situations (mutated corpses falling on top of you has never been a big turn on for me). In this case I assume it’s because it would be too difficult to ensure they would evoke these emotions in you directly, but it also seems like they need to make Alyx a damsel in distress every now and then. You have to save her because that is the role of the male in conventional society. Especially in myth and fairy tale and literature. It is a perpetuation of the same values.
At least, that’s what occurred to me while I was playing the game..I had a smile on my face because I thought I was being a bit overly post-ironic or whatever. It’s certainly an unnecessary reading of HL2:EOne but it occurred to me and I though it was worth mentioning.
As always, any thoughts? Need clarification? Do you disagree wholeheartedly and think I’m an idiot? Or a Sexist pig who is further perpetuating sexist stereotypes? Am I boring you Sahil? Over to you…so for the rant..but surely you’ve come to love that by now.
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Interesting read, but I feel that what valve did with Alyx was truly amazing. Sure she doesn’t play as big a role in puzzle solving as you but then again, over and over the Vortigaunt that you spend some time with allows you to go ahead and solve puzzles etc. I believe that this is just the way game mechanics work. I think that Alyx’s actions (save the subtle flirtations) have little to do with her gender. I think the reason we manage to notice these examples of game design and mechanics as sexual stereotypes is because it happens so often we have come to the point we expect it.
Again, thanks for the read and for this page I’ve newly discovered.
Glad you enjoyed it, and make yourself at home.
I think you’re right, it’s just that (and it happens again with the Vortigaunt, who incidentally, was one of my favourite characters ever, I absolutely adored him) the mechanic seems so unnatural that it gives pause for thought. It’s sjust mostly absurd that she doesn’t help out at any point. Sure it’s the mechanic, but it wrecks the realism when you end up dying because she won’t turn a valve with you (with superior fire power) providing cover.
There’s no real world reason why she wouldn’t do it, apart from Gordon’s need for chivalrous behaviour (he holds the door politely, no doubt with a little bow and/or scrape, milady).
To gender the behaviour is really a bit absurd, but it made me pause to think. Obviously game mechanics rely on these absurdities and hurdles, it’s just that when a world is so well realised, you notice more when things don’t quite fit (it’s the uncanny valley thing, the more real it feels, the more natural it has to be).
Doesn’t stop the game being incredible, obviously.
One thing I like particularly about the Vortigaunt, was his little swipes at the game dynamics, at one point after completing another shift the into the right place to make the see saw work type puzzle, he points out how ‘legendary’ the Freeman is at solving such puzzles. Made me giggle, and rather than take me out of the game world, it just made me feel Vorti was more real (perhaps he understands the nature of the game better than everyone else, who knows what the Vortigaunt knows).
Anyway, I’m rambling. Thanks for stopping by.
Oooh, the other thing, is it’s interesting where you say ‘we manage to notice these examples of game design and mechanics as sexual stereotypes is because it happens so often we have come to the point we expect it.’
I wonder what we’ve come to expect…the stereotypes, or the mechanics dictating plot and characterisation. Either way it probably needs to be stopped, or the mechanics need to reinforce the characterisation.
AhhhhHHHHHhhhhh.
Ahem.
Wow. I am simply amazed at how much thought goes into HalfLife. Incredible!
Carolyn
I put too much thought in to everything. Keeps things interesting I guess.
I found your article on Half-Life 2 Episode One very interesting and certainly a fresh and unusual take on the subject, but I have a few issues to raise.
First of all, I would like to address the issue of Gordon himself. Gordon appears to be a stoic, uncommunicative character because he is not supposed to have a personality–he is an avatar for the player. Valve did not want players to feel alienated by Gordon expressing a sentiment that the player does not hold or be torn out of the moment (immersion is of prime importance in Half-Life 2, which is why there are no cutscenes and the vantage point never strays from Gordon’s eyes) by Gordon talking or emoting. Therefore, they left the player to project his or her own personality into Gordon Freeman. Of course, this leaves Alyx to carry the human element of the story herself, and I think she does a fine job at it. Gordon can’t be sensitive because he must be an empty vessel for the player’s own personality.
Second of all, gameplay pretty much requires Gordon Freeman to solve at least most of the puzzles. In-universe, this is partially justified by Gordon’s HEV suit, which allows him to survive radiation or other hazards that could kill an ordinary person from mere proximity (in the original Half-Life 2, characters frequently ask Gordon to investigate hostile areas beforehand, often citing his possession of the hazard suit. He is the only one with such a suit because it is one of a kind. HEV suits were used by scientists in the first Half-Life, but after the first game, Gordon’s was the only operational HEV suit left (one Half-Life spinoff for the PlayStation features two playable women scientists with their own HEVs fighting through the Black Mesa complex during the events of Half-Life, but their whereabouts after the game ends are left unknown).
Furthermore, Alyx’s dependence on Gordon to solve puzzles was displayed by several other characters in previous titles, including Barney, who is certainly of the male persuasion. During the Overwatch Nexus section of Half-Life 2, Barney insisted that Gordon break every single security feature they came across himself, in a far more demanding and obnoxious manner than Alyx, right down to nagging Gordon if you were not moving quickly enough (a trait that made me wish the game would let me shoot him).
Alyx also does solve various problems herself, including opening Combine locks and hacking into Combine terminals, both of which Gordon cannot do. Gordon would not have made it through the first half of the original Half-Life 2 without Alyx, certainly not without the gravity gun provided by her and her invaluable help in getting Gordon through Nova Prospekt, not to mention reprogramming Combine security systems and automata, unlocking the dark fusion reactor in the Citadel so he could prevent Dr. Breen from escaping and calling in massive Combine reinforcements to crush Earth resistance, working with DOG to find him in the rubble near the Citadel, and assisting him through combat sequences that would be impossible or nearly so without her.
Alyx is not defenseless either–she is a far more accurate shot than the Combine soldiers, she has good combat AI, and her health regenerates so rapidly that she is very nearly invincible, and cannot die unless completely surrounded (she is certainly more capable than Father Grigori was in HL2′s Ravenholm levels). Also, Alyx also protects YOU. During the parking garage scene in Episode One, she holds off waves of Antlions until you can block off the burrows (Antlions in numbers can kill you extremely quickly, as anyone who played the original game knows), Another scene shows her sniping zombies that threaten Gordon. In early drafts of the game, according to the developer commentary, the player was originally to have no weapons in the underground sections, and would have to rely on illuminating enemies so Alyx could kill them (Gordon has a hands-free flashlight on his HEV, Alyx has no such luxury, and the tunnels are absolutely pitch black). Keep in mind that compared to most allied NPCs in games, Alyx is a veritable goddess of death–compare Alyx to Lando Calrissian in Star Wars Jedi Knight II, the friendly Marines in Quake IV, the lantern man in Doom 3, the scientists and security guards in the first Half-Life, etc., all of whom are nearly defenseless (male) NPCs who must be constantly babysat.
I think it’s quite an achievement by Valve that Alyx is probably the best-realized and most relatable character in the entire Half-Life series (certainly more likable than that patronizing, annoying oaf Barney, the bumbling Dr. Kleiner, or that traitor, mass murderer, and general jerk-off Dr. Breen), and that she can defend herself almost as well as Gordon (remember that Gordon has capabilities unavailable to ANY other person, male or female) without making her able to play the whole game for you. Remember that part of a game is challenge–if Alyx can kill everyone and do everything, what’s the point?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Basically, you’re right, Alyx is an incredibly strong character and the gameplay needs dictate her limits.
The problem comes from a kind of uncanny valley effect. The game becomes so immersive at times, that when something doesn’t make real world sense, it jars even more than usual. The particular moment I mention, with you having to turn a wheel to raise a gate, whilst spinning around to protect Alyx, killed me several times, and I just got frustrated. I was sitting there, filling the empty void that is Gordon (more on that in a moment) and just shouting at Alyx, who was clearly being useless. It’s a wheel, it’s made for turning. If she could turn it while I shot the section would have been effortless. It was annoying, and my immersion was broken, because she wouldn’t listen.
This made it stick out in my head, and stayed there until I had a discussion about gender role representation and stuff about emotional housekeeping versus physical labour in gendered relationships. I saw a light hearted way to poke fun at it and did. I wish I had time and patience to do a full on disection of the gendered/feminist reading of Alyx’s character, but I’m lazy. I hope someone else did. I hope you enjoyed my fun poking though.
There’s also part of me that increasingly gets frustrated by gameplay dynamics overriding the artistic statement. There’s an interesting take on this in the latest escapist release: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_155/4987-The-Game-Design-of-Art
Now, obviously there’s a contradiction here, because I like games, I like puzzles and I like playing them. But I also like the immersive storytelling capabilities of computer gaming. It frustrates me when one gets in the way of the other, but it’s a precarious balancing act.
The problem is that Alyx and Half life 2 are so well crafted, that it doesn’t take much to seriously jar.
As for the empty vessel, I do realise that that’s why Gordon is silent, elsewhere on the blog (search for system shock 2 and you should find it) I scream bloody murder at irrational games for including the brief end sequence to the game where the character, who I have invested myself totally in at this point, speaks, in a poorly acted and cliched line that totally didn’t fit in with the way I’d been playing and believing in the character. If anyone was going to take the piss out of SHODAN at that point, it was supposed to be me.
But again, it’s my point. The more immersive you get, the more you have to tread carefully to not totally break that immersion. And it’s much worse the better your game is getting.
Anyway, like I say, thanks for your comments.
Uncanny valley, never thought of it that way. Perhaps it is because I have designed maps for games in the past (albeit games far more primitive than Half-Life 2) and thus know some of the “tricks of the trade” that are indispensable in setting up the immersion, and I started playing games back in the DOS era where most games had very little story at all. Video games represent a situation where the technology evolves far more rapidly than the techniques and tropes of game development, which can lead to arbitrary things like colored keys far outstaying their welcome. The balance between versimilitude and gameplay is a difficult one, and becomes more difficult as the games become more advanced and complex. I’ve played many Doom levels that do a far better job imitating real structures than the very abstract (not to mention crude and ugly) original maps, yet are not entertaining in many ways other than visually, and many fun maps that I couldn’t get into because they looked like a geometry project vomited into digital space and covered with random textures. In the end I see an eventual division of the art of game design into representational and abstract, much like what has happened in other emerging arts such as film.
Even as a male I do disapprove of the way women are portrayed in many games, and view with dismay the inevitable “sexy” skins made by and for teenagers or teenagers-at-heart who put Alyx in hideous skank outfits or change her from multiracial to white. It’s completely pointless and shatters the illusion of reality like a brick shatters a shop window. How pathetic do you have to be to get off from a relatively low-poly, real-time-rendered 3D model anyway? Talk about uncanny valley…
The more in-depth look at gender roles and feminism in relation to video games that you alluded to the possibility of writing would indeed be an even more interesting read. I hope this has been an intellectually enriching experience for both of us. Cheers. :)
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