Well well, Subject Zero. Certainly designed to catch our attention, this new addition to the Mass Effect 2 universe has had people chatting since the weekend. She's the type of badass bitch I used to fantasize about becoming when I was a teenager, and while a lot of reactions seem to find her look offensive or outright ugly, I think it's pretty rad myself.
Of course, it's unlike BioWare to just throw a character in for looks, and while we don't know too much about Subject Zero yet, I'm thinking there may be a bit more to her. For instance,her more detailed tattoos mark the kills she refers to as "the good ones" -- the formidable kills. Can this woman really be such a death machine?
For female gamers, Subject Zero presents an interesting alternative to the usual sexualized female characters predominant in most games. She is still drawn as a sexual figure, sure, but she's also hardcore enough to take care of herself and boldly outside of the constricts of what men traditionally consider attractive. Ladies, is this a good thing or something you could do without?
BIOWARE REVEALS PIVOTAL NEW FEMALE CHARACTER IN THE EPIC SHOOTER RPG MASS EFFECT 2
'Subject Zero' Among the Cutting-Edge Digital Actors in the Latest Mass Effect 2 Trailer
Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. today revealed a key new character in the upcoming and highly anticipated sci-fi fantasy Mass Effect 2™. Going beyond the traditional virtual character, ‘Subject Zero’ joins a cast of compelling digital actors created by BioWare to further drive the emotional, human connection in Mass Effect 2’s gameplay.
Subject Zero is introduced in the trailer released today by EA, and it’s apparent from the start that she may be too much to handle – even for Commander Shepard. In a flurry of non-stop action showcasing her combat experience and strength Subject Zero reveals only a bit about her mysterious past, and says she’s “been around, ran with gangs, wiped out some gangs.” Viewers will be able to see a little bit of Subject Zero in action, as she proves with firepower and fighting maneuvers how valuable an ally she will be in Mass Effect 2.
In a keynote speech delivered to the International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents centered on the power of quality digital actors, Project Director Casey Hudson said, "Videogames have developed from a novel pastime into a medium with tremendous power to entertain and engage players. Compelling digital actors can bring a game world to life, and by harnessing cutting-edge technology, developers can ultimately unlock the full potential of emotionally engaging human interaction."
With an attitude to match, Subject Zero is a formidable biotic – as powerful as she is intriguing. Her detailed tattoos mark her favorite kills – “the good ones”. Mystery and fascination surround this uncontrollable rebel, which will undoubtedly leave fans wanting more.
Subject Zero is the third party member to be revealed in the Mass Effect 2 universe following ‘Thane’, a deadly assassin and ‘Grunt’, an unpredictable Krogan who were introduced this summer. More details about the rest of Shepard’s crew will be revealed in the coming months.
The Mass Effect trilogy is a masterful science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious uncharted planets. Mass Effect 2 is scheduled for release on Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC in early 2010. The new recruitment gameplay video and screenshots can be found at info.ea.com and masseffect.bioware.com. Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/masseffect2.
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Contest:
8:20 AM on 10.01.2009
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Just one that will snap your cock off.
I'm kind of attached to mine.
I like their explanation of the tatoos though.
Since this is the second of the Mass Effect trilogy, anyone else expecting a lot of these new characters to bite it as the game goes on?
I don't understand how women power is trying to be as much like a man as they can. Shouldn't women power be more about playing off their own strengths instead of trying to emulate a man's? Men and women are different, it's a fact of life.
I loved the complex and intelligently written characters from the first game. For instance, Ashley in the first game was xenophobic, but she was still a good person and even had legitimate reasons from her past to hate aliens so much.
I like Subject Zero because she isn't the typical "sexy yet strong" female stereotype from games. She isn't bounding around with unrealisticly huge boobs in a ridiculous outfit. She's sexual, sure, but in a more aggressive masculine way. I think she fits in perfectly for a team that needs to go on a suicide mission.
At the very least, I think I'll be visiting her alot between missions (for the story, jerks!) to see what makes her tick.
Unlike Grunt. Who isn't Wrex.
And yeah, I think most of the cast of this game are as good as dead.
As far as the "I miss Wrex crowd," I think you have to remember that Bioware has lately been enjoying advertising there games "extreme" for the mainstream crowd. I have no problem with this but some might and I understand. I think we just have to have faith in Bioware to develop a deep character. I'm saying this might mean a Wrex-esque character can happen in Subject Zero.
That said I like her. She's sexualized, she's a hard ass, which all sounds fake and been the done that on paper but here we have something a little different. For one she isn't a DD long haird blonde with a clean face, pretty makeup, and all that cleavage. Oh, the cleavage. No Subject Zero is a bald, dirty, girl with an attitude. She doesn't try to look like some kind of sex doll. She's more like a sex addict. She's dangerous and doesn't try to be appealing. She knows what she wants and takes it by force. She's kinda gross but she has a personality (PERSONALITY!?!) that warrants it and makes it look sexy.
Bald women are a no no for me.
Looks likes shes on the suicide mission cause she is going to die on drugs anyway.
If I had to make an educated guess as to the very nature of her character and why she's such a loose cannon, loves to kill for shits and giggles and basically just gives a flying fuck about everything, (which, in turn, probably means she gives a flying fuck about herself) I would have to say it's because she's probably the first human biotic, hence her name.
She was probably a normal little girl once, but after some "accidental" eezo (that's element zero for you not versed in Mass Effect terminology) exposure, she was taken in to be experimented on by that wonderful Cerberus group that you fought so hard against in the first game and is apparently now recruiting your ass for some suicide mission. During the course of her horrendously painful experiments, she lost her mind... not to mention her name and as such, was simply labeled as "Subject Zero", a common term used for the first experiment in a series of experiments.
Somehow she broke out, went batshit insane and basically took advantage of the unrestrained power of her biotics. Those of us that have played Mass Effect know that earlier generations of biotic implants were far more powerful than the newer ones, but they have some rather nasty side-effects. During Shepherd's travels she will probably discover more about her past self than she would want to realize... will probably have some sort of revelation about becoming whole again (not to mention sane) and whatnot... and offer your obligatory romance sub-plot after Shepherd refuses (or, taking the renegade route, hopefully a possibility, accepts) some kinky rape-like sex in order to grow some "real" feelings for her and whatnot. Or at least... that's what I can humbly predict, given the little snips of information I have gathered...
I still want to bone Tali, though... o_o
Dude that's everywhere in everything.
Did you miss Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls? That game features a collection of faces only God could love. At any rate, beauty is in the clichéd eye of the beholder. I'd have swooned more over her if she was modeled after Bettie Page (or Louise Brooks, or Alice Glass..), but I'm in the minority.
Anyway, she's dangerous and that's sexy in itself.
I said this same thing on another article about SubjectZero, but nobody seems to care. I like reading Destructoid, but it's just becoming one big spoiler to me. Why did I need to know about all of this?
I wish there was a way to filter out articles like this. I enjoy actually playing video games.. I don't need to read about them before hand, like some sort of cliff note.
Oh well.
This scares me, in more ways than one. She just seems like a more bitchy, less racist Ashley. Are there really so few 'good' female figures that you grasp to the occasional 'I'm so HardxCore and edgy' like they'll be the one to offer this great revelation on how to handle women in video games? No, she doesn't fit the benevolent, fragile, pretty face stereotype, but she sure as hell fits the extra-butch lesbian stereotype, which is just a reliable fallback stereotype for the first.
It's Bioware, so if there's anyone I can trust to make an interesting character without using those stereotypes, it's them. That being said, with what they've given us so far she just doesn't look like it's going to well.
As for SZ she is pretty hot, but I've always been into the "badass" girls.
Appearance aside, I'm not a fan of bitchy characters. Ashley was my least favorite party member and I was happy to *SPOILERS* sacrifice her in the first game. And I agree with TheDirtyHobo, in that she's kinda like Ashley on acid.
If she ends up not irritating the hell out of me then cool. If I can't stand her I just hope there's an option to kill/let her die.
For storytelling purposes it wouldn't seem quite as dramatic if you didn't think she had a choice in the matter of rebelling against beauty.
I mean, it's Mass Effect 2, Bioware! We get it already! Don't spoil everything and leave us room to be impressed and/or surprised! Oh, I know you're trying to attract more people into buying your game... but Jeebus Christ... all of this just makes it seem so blatantly... gratuitous.
Here's hoping that SZ turns out to have more character depth than just "I YAM A GANG BANGER AND I HAEV TATTOOS AND ALSO I YAM A GRRRRL".
-- Griffinhart
I personally wouldn't mind more characters that aren't "cookie cutter" women for a change of pace. The "Bayanetta" type games are fine -- in smaller doses. It's just getting so old! Could you pan around her ass just one more time, because we've never seen that before. Even the Japanese call themselves, "thinking out side the box" when they created Lightning from Final Fantasy 13. In their own words, she is a "female Cloud -- not very feminine at all". HA. What? For real? Lightning is what you consider NOT Feminine? A long haired blonde woman, wearing a mini skirt, jewelry, long lashes and lip gloss. They would probably shit a brick after seeing this "Subject Zero".