I don't really think girls were added JUST to appease the complaining masses. I think the point of it was to show how much the COG had fallen appart. Prescott just upped and left everyone in the lurch and the whole human civilisation on Sera just fell appart. People like Anya, who was previously Delta Squad's controller, simply had no place any more. Humanity basically dug in and did their best to survive, which would mean everyone, including the women, had to do their part. That's how I see it anyway.jawakiller said:
But I do agree with what you're saying to an extent, it really does feel like the new characters have been shoe horned into the game. Sam, Jace and to a lesser extent, Anya, have all been dropped in while everyone acts like we should know and love them as if we've all known each other for years. It does feel a little ham-handed.
OT: I have disagree with Steve Butts on one thing. Marcus Fenix's emotional state wasn't quite as dire as he seems to make out. Yeah so he scowls and curses at everything, maybe that's just the sort of guy he is. We already had Dom moping about in the last game, do we expect Fenix to suddenly burst into tears? Perhaps he's just the sort of guy who deals with his problems by scowling and cursing, he is a team leader in the middle of a hopeless war after all. Besides, there were several moments in the game where Marcus actually seemed to care and he was genuinely affected by what happened; I could see it. Anything more and I expect it would all come off as being overwrought.
What didn't work was Anya Stroud. She was slipped into the game as a main character after having only a supporting role in the first two games. We just had to accept that she is supossed to be some kind of love interest for Fenix although there is ZERO in the way of romance between them. He showed a glimmer of concern for her in GOW2 and aside from a scene at the very END of GOW3, there's no indication that anything is going on between them.
Seriously, there's more chemistry between Baird and Sam and I don't think there's even supossed to be! Don't know if that's really a spoiler or not...
All in all, I get the feeling that GOW suffered from the same fate Halo did; too much dependance on external media to carry certain plot elements. Maybe if I had read the various GOW books, this whole thing might make more sense. Or maybe not.
