It’s good to see that Ubi are honoring the sales. Bank error in our favour, I guess?

I thoroughly enjoyed the multi-player experience, and plan to play it a lot more soon. I’m surprised you had trouble finding games actually, as I found it pretty quick to get a game going on the PS3.

I guess that means we can’t assassinate each other either ;)

I did jump in for a few sessions during my time with the game and generally enjoyed myself. Here’s a quick account:

It’s a pretty steep learning curve if you’re not already familiar with games like The Ship which AC:B clearly riffs on. It doesn’t take too much practice to become familiar with the basic mechanics, but getting used to the fact that you will die a lot during a single session can cause frustration for new players.

The basic idea is that every player has one other player that is their target. Your goal is to assassinate that target without being assassinated yourself. The maps are populated with AI controlled copies of the character models selected by each of the players in the round. This means that in order to stay inconspicuous, players must attempt to act like their AI counterparts, staying close to them in order to confuse their pursuers. As you near your target, a guiding compass will narrow to show that you’ve found your quarry. At this point, the target needs to flee if they’ve noticed their approaching killer, or attempt to kill them first to stay alive. Fleeing is helped by the inclusion of chase-brakers, iron gates that swing shut automatically as a player passes through them, or single-use lifts which can hoist a fleeing player onto the rooftops for a quick escape. Giving chase can often net you a kill, but the point reward will be lower than if you successfully stealthily assassinated your target. Also, running at full pace, climbing buildings and leaping from rooftops will very quickly give you away to the person hunting you.

All of this makes for a very tense experience that would be in high rotation for me, if it weren’t for the fact that actually finding a games-worth of players can often assassinate your free time silently, for full points.

Although Chris to be fair, Bice tells me that you are the guy that would regularly win RTS matches on your own versus 7 of your fellow lan-goers.

Homeworld: Cataclysm was also a fun romp. Everyone loves motherships with attached siege cannon!

“restricted from using her abilities — some which could open a path or save her life in the future — until a bland male character dictates it to her”

“little girl that cannot possibly wield the amount of power she possesses unless directed to by a man.”

These are statements that not only, quite rightly, rail against the change in character of Samus but clearly comment on the sexist nature of that change (I’m not arguing that the sexism isn’t there, to clarify).

With regards to Master Chief, does he do anything admirable that isn’t stereotypical male action hero? No, he kills anything that moves and leaves Cortana (female, for what little it matters) to take care of the thinking. Or maybe that’s just negatively stereotyping women in the role of caregiver (yes I’m being snarky). As for strong, independent nonsexualised female protagonists let’s see: Beyond Good and Evil, The Longest Journey, Portal, and No-one Lives Forever spring to mind. Other games with female protagonists: Tomb Raider, Bayonetta, and, um, that’s about all I can think of. The lack of heroines is a related but separate issue, but off the top of my head the ratio looks pretty good between negative and positive portrayal.

Yes, all the male characters I’ve listed are strong, capable, confident and powerful, in the same way that the new Samus has a respect for command structures and has a conscience with regards to the beings she kills, it’s all about degree. The male characters are capable only in the sphere strength and violence, their strength and confidence is steroid-enhanced to absurdity and arrogance, and their power comes solely from their ability to destroy. There is no humanity in them and they display all of the negative stereotypes of the brutish male.

Historically and culturally negative female stereotypes are a significant problem that should be dealt with in any sphere, including games. I agree that some stereotypes are more negative than others. However, to discuss female stereotyping in games without the discussion taking part in a broader debate about poor characterisation in games falsely inflates the degree and impact of the sexism.