Holding Out For A Hero
by Kat
I am woman. I am a relatively strong minded, independent woman. Now before you leave in your droves thinking this is yet another “ZOMG I’m a gurl gamer!!1!” rant, hold your horses. Modern day women can juggle work, children and a social life without being judged by the majority. We can vote, become a vicar should we want to, or join the armed forces, just like our fellow man. As fantastic and empowering all this is for us, it’s meant any hint of being slightly submissive is close to taboo in this day and age which is why this article could create a legion of angry girl gamers webwide and set feminism back fifty years. It’s not a view I expect many to empathise with or admit to but here it is…
…I quite enjoy being the damsel in distress.
In day to day life there’s not much opportunity for this. If I lose the keys to my flat I shouldn’t swoon into the arms of the closest guy, bat my eyelashes and hope he’ll break down my door in a manly fashion. If my car dies, a passing gentleman won’t help pull me onto his horse as we then gallop into the sunset together, I call the RAC. Gaming is the last bastion of the helpless maiden buried inside of me, a place where every now and then I’m indulged by a gallant Spartan in shining armour.
The damsel in distress thing doesn’t work on the whole in games as we usually play the hero, whether it’s a big muscled protagonist or a kick arse female. It wouldn’t be very fun dossing about being the princess in another castle or playing as a hostage awaiting release in Modern Warfare, however co-op games are a damsel’s best friend. If I go down during a firefight in Borderlands or Gears of War then I sit on the edge of my seat nervously watching my co-op buddy frantically dodge bullets and slay enemies purely in a race to revive me before I bleed out completely. If they fail then they naturally get a barrage of abuse from me, but if they succeed and we make the next checkpoint then the wave of gratitude gives me the warm and fuzzies.
Another example that would stoke the cockles of my heart is having my death avenged during multiplayer. There’s nothing more satisfying to see while waiting to respawn than your friend taking vengeance on your killer. Often a courteous, heartfelt exchange follows consisting of, “did you see that camping a*^&hole? I totally messed that motherf*&ker up for you!”, “yeah dude, was so awesome!” or other such refined responses.
I realised I may have taken this whole notion too far when, in this years release of Red Dead Redemption, I was mildly disappointed that hog-tying wasn’t a part of the multiplayer modes. Not just because it’s a bit kinky but also because my character wouldn’t be tied up and thrown onto railway tracks waiting for my very own John Marston to come and rescue her. Thankfully I’m not a complete waste of space and I do actually enjoy doing well in a game; I equally get my kicks rescuing team-mates or avenging a friend’s death. I don’t play games simply to put myself into a virtual perilous situation and await my saviour, it’s simply a minor bonus I have only recently noticed.
With all this in mind, I’m now beginning to wait impatiently for the release of Halo: Reach – a game that will provide ample damsel moments thanks to its co-op and multiplayer modes. I look forward to gathering a team of heroes to help assist me, inform me of which weapons I should be using instead of me picking one purely because it’s purple or makes a cool noise. A squad to clear out Covenant from an area while I’m wildly shooting them in the kneecaps or distracted by something shiny. A group to guide me through levels when I get lost and pretty much carry me through the entire game. So, who’s up for that? Anyone?… Anyone?… Didn’t think so!
Last five articles by Kat
- Falling For Fallout?
- I MAED A P0ST WITH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!1
- One Girl, Two Pads
- The Gaming Closet
- 24 Hours In Reach
I liked this a lot (…it’s okay to, right?) and I laughed a few times, too
I think this kind of thing is pretty good for a multiplayer basis, in the sense that it’s always good if your friends help carry you and they’re more than willing to lend a hand, but in single player I worry it’d be harder to balance this kind of thing without the AI basically playing for you, or being too slack jawed. Left 4 Dead gets closer to this balance than a lot of other games I can think of, though.
I liked this a lot. But then, I’m that old-fashioned, somewhat bewildered guy who gets the faceful of abuse in the street for daring to hold a door open for a woman. I know, I come across as such an arsehole online. I’m quite polite and well mannered in the real world. Who’d have thunk it. But a lot of the time it really doesn’t seem to be appreciated.
Sometimes women should just be women, and men should just be men. Not all chivalry is thinly disguised patronising condescension. And feeling like you’d quite like to be swept off your feet from time to time isn’t necessary a weakness. Seems rather romantic to me. Men and women are different in some ways. It’s not a bad thing all the time. Trying to force everyone in society to be completely asexual in the name of equality however is potentially a bad thing.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this. Sorry, I’m tired, and I’m waffling on again. But I really see nothing wrong with your feeling like that from time to time. Those “girl gamer power” women who rant for whole pages of forums about how pink is evil annoy me. Being insulted for trying to be decent and simply holding a door for someone is too. Both in gaming and elsewhere, I quite agree that sometimes these things go too far. There has to be some happy medium. Where wanting to be the knight in white armour, or wanting to be the one being rescued from the monster by that knight in white armour, doesn’t result in the modern equivalent of a lynching mob.
Someone point this article out to Molyneux. You’ll be able to swoon in front of shining knights in Fable IV if he sees this. It’ll have its own achievement and everything. Ding – saved from peril by a tall dark stranger, and rode off into the sunset to live happily ever after. 5G.
You might not be able to be hogtied in RDR but have you ever thought or being in the precarious postion of having Peggles sit by the end of the quarry to sit what happens? You might see everyone else taking each other down trying to be the one to save you(?) :p
Loved this, loved the colours and textures in the first few paragraphs especially… but I’m not here to discuss writing! I get what you mean though, I really enjoy having someone TO save when I’m playing… as long as it doesn’t put me in danger myself, but that’s never really much of an issue. When playing that friggin’ Borderlands DLC with Pete though, and you get shunted back 2-3 rounds if you both end up in the penalty box, it’s a tough decision whether you go ahead and try to save your partner or just leave the buggers to bleed out and hope you can survive without them.
Playing Left4Dead2 though, is an entirely different ball game for me… I spend most of my time shouting “incapped” well.. mumbling it actually as I’m too busy wondering where the hell that zombie emerged from that’s suddenly riding me like Stoya on a Sybian. Even at that, it’s a lot of fun when you turn around and see that someone from your team is reviving you and you HOPE you can return the favour yourself… which, in my case, rarely happens… because I’m shit
If Fallout 3 had co-op I’d be like Cuddles… I’d be that omnipresent saviour, running around saving everyone and kicking serious ass in the process. There are few games that I’m actually GOOD at, but Fallout 3 and Borderlands… I’m good with them. You can be my damsel in distress on Borderlands any time just as long as you’re playing Lilith and you let me run behind you… or crouch behind you, would be even better.
Suddenly I’m much less comfortable with the way you kept on having to charge in and rescue me in Borderlands, dood… heh.
I just realised that I was the damsel in distress every damned time we played that game. Hmm.
You’ll never be a damsel in distress to me Kat. You’ll always be the girl who attempted to throw a molotov at me in RDR, and instead caught herself on fire.
Women can vote? When the hell did that happen?
Joking aside, great article. I agree with Preach that the whole ‘riding in on a white horse (is it racist that the horse has to be white? Oh, controversy!) and saving the girl has a lot of romantic connotations, although the feminists who actually seem to be doing harm than good would say otherwise. Political correctness will be the death of us all, I’m certain of it -_-
I enjoyed it, although I think you sell yourself short! You kick arse at Left 4 Dead and rarely need saving, so I think it is all an elaborate ruse. When someone comes to rescue you, they’ll get a face full of shotgun.
As one of the pink is evil brigade, sorry Preacher but there are solid underlying reasons to be irritated by it, as with most gender stereotypes, which I won’t digress into here.
Nice piece Kat. Oooh err.
Great article Kat, your fast becoming one of my favorite writers on GL. Now enough blowing smoke up your arse… you can sit down too Lee! :p Everybody loves to be the hero and thinking about it, its great to know that you have a friend there to drag you out of the shit too. As some of you may know I’m predominately a PC and PS3 gamer so I’ve not played any L4D or Borderlands multiplayer with you guys before but even when I play with complete randomers there can be such an intense comradery between team mates. JoeGamer99 who I met 5 minutes ago will risk his balls and charge his way past a tank in L4D just to pick my ass up and help me to the saferoom. He could just as easily get himself to safety and shut the door but he doesnt. Its great, I love it, and it times like that when I feel like I have the best hobby in the world.
I’ll help you on halo
…Spose