Aliens: Colonial Marines will get playable female marines

Earlier this year, the developers of Aliens: Colonial Marines had caught quite a bit of flak from female gamers over the lack of female characters in the game, which is based on a movie with arguably some of the most badass female characters ever. The female gamers had started a petition to include female characters in Gearbox’s upcoming First Person Shooter (FPS). Now, according to Gamesthirst, CEO of Gearbox Randy Pitchford has replied to the petition.

The game will get playable female marines

The original petition reads, “Aliens: Colonial Marines developed by Gearbox Software and published by SEGA is an upcoming First Person Shooter where according to the official website “You and your friends will become the most badass military outfit in the galaxy – the US Colonial Marines.”… “Enlist in the Marine Corps: Bringing you a true sequel to James Cameron’s classic Aliens…”… ” An extensive upgrade system allows players to customize their characters to play the way they want”, yet according to Brian Burleson, Producer at GBX, You CANNOT play as a female marine,” reads the petition. This is unacceptable for a game that makes such claims as are listed on its official website, made after a film franchise that has many strong female characters like Ripley, Vasquez, Ferro and Dietrich to name a few. There is roughly 5-6 months before the game goes Gold and releases February 12th, 2013 so we need to let them know NOW that they are not being true to the ALIENS universe by not including the ability to play as a female in Multiplayer. 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 know what they are doing is not true to the franchise!” The petition had gathered around 4000 signatures. In his response to the petition, Pitchford said, “We realised some people were starting to feel bad. We exist to entertain people”.

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Gearbox had recently showed off a trailer for the game that showed the game’s Escape multiplayer game mode. The Escape game mode seems a lot like Versus from the Left 4 Dead games, where four players play the Marines, and are trying to escape from some facility, while four players play the aliens, called Xenomorphs, and their objective is to kill the Marines. The trailer also shows off some of the special Xenomorphs which will be playable, including the Xeno lurker who uses stealth to pounce on unsuspecting marines from the shadows and the Xeno spitter, who has the ability to spit out pools of acid on the ground where the marines are standing.

Here’s a summary of the game’s plot according to the developers: “Aliens: Colonial Marines begins with an ostensibly abandoned ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco, recovered in orbit around LV-426. Players lead a group of highly trained United States Colonial Marines as they board the deserted craft to uncover the fate of the crew. They will have to fight to survive unspeakable horrors and their own anxieties as they chase down the truth behind a galaxy-spanning deception that places humanity at the mercy of the most murderous and deadly species in the universe. Aliens: Colonial Marines features authentic environments, such as the surface of LV-426 and Hadley’s Hope, weapons inspired by the film series and is designed to provide an exhilarating and engaging new chapter in the Aliens universe”.

The game is set to release on February 12, 2013 for all major platforms.