Playing video games has been a male-dominated hobby for as long as they’ve existed. Consequently, a vast majority of games feature male protagonists. Their characters are complex, strong, and active; doers and getters. Women, for the most part, are reduced to plot devices and eye candy, often only present to further the man’s story. If you’re interested in action driven by women, or you just want to see yourself in the protagonist for once, here are my top 10 best female-led video games.
10. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
In this 2015 installment of the Assassin’s Creed series, you play as Evie Frye, a witty and charming young woman in Victorian London. It’s the standard third-person action-and-adventure-plus-platforming Assassin’s Creed formula that’s well-loved by fans, plus a fresh, semi-steampunk, old-timey aesthetic. The game loses points for only featuring Evie half the time (the other half being taken up by her male twin Jacob), as well as perpetuating the characterization of men as strong and aggressive versus women as sly and covert.
9. Remember Me
In this third-person action-adventure game with exploration and platforming elements, memory hunter, Nilin, moves through puzzles and riddles to steal and manipulate memories. The third-person format offers high visibility, but the game is saddled with questionable design choices and overly ambitious elements.
8. Mirror’s Edge
This first-person platformer features Faith Connors, a revolutionary “Runner,” relaying messages and avoiding interference from the violent totalitarian government. Mirror’s Edge is a well-loved classic with a unique futuristic style and has also been praised for its Asian representation. However, the game has also been criticized for presenting a Westernized ideal of Asian features, not to mention it can be, frankly, kind of boring. As far as female representation, the game is first-person, so you barely see the protagonist.
7. Amnesia: Rebirth
Amnesia: Rebirth is a first-person survival horror game in which Tasi Trianon, a French archeologist, crash-lands in Algeria and must survive in the desert with only bits and pieces of her memory. The gameplay is sharp and startling but loses points for introducing a pregnancy element, a cheap play for heightened suspense. This game also suffers from the same low visibility problem of the first-person format.
6. Bright Memory
This futuristic first-person shooter follows Sheila as she tries to stop a military organization from harnessing an ancient power that would allow them to awaken the dead. The thrilling action is carried by sci-fi weapons and supernatural elements, particularly Sheila’s power of psychokinesis. It’s an engaging play but can be buggy at times, and it is again held back from true representation by the first-person pov.
5. A Plague Tale: Innocence
Amicia de Rune drives this third-person action-adventure-stealth game as she takes her brother and flees the French inquisition while avoiding the plague. Amicia is intelligent and complex, weaving through spikes of action in this deservedly award-winning game. The only drawback is the motherly aspect of caring for her little brother, which plays into the trope of woman as primarily maternal.
4. Portal Series
This first-person puzzle-solving and platforming classic features Chell (unnamed in the actual game) as she navigates her way through puzzle rooms with the help of a portal gun capable of creating doorways to otherwise unreachable areas. Popular for good reason, the story and dialogue are skillfully written and masterfully delivered through winning vocal performances. The game is first-person, but with the portals you can stare at Chell to your heart’s content.
3. Life is Strange
This third-person choice-based masterpiece features a host of multidimensional female characters. At the helm is Max Caufield, who provides a rare portrayal of innocence and youth in a game without being oversexualized. The story is enthralling and intelligent as it grapples with what it means to make choices. A small drawback is a (spoiler) creepy adult male antagonist with hints of an inappropriate relationship with a young woman, but it’s only used to drive home what a monster he truly is.
2. Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn is a third-person action RPG that follows Aloy, a hunter in a post-apocalyptic robot world, as she dodges obstacles and battles her way through the land to uncover her mysterious past. The game is grounded in a well-structured story with complex and nuanced characterization made that much better by knockout vocal performances.
1. Tomb Raider (2013) Reboot SeriesLara Croft is the pinnacle of female representation in video games, reaching its (current) peak in the 2013 reboot series. This iconic third-person action-adventure game with newly incredible graphics provides a complex characterization, correcting the oversexualization and simplification of Lara in previous installments. She still rocks the tank tops, but her proportions are far more realistic. She sports tactile pants and gear, exemplifying the same badassery that would be expected of a man; let’s not forget that she served as the blueprint for Uncharted’s Nathan Drake. The new Lara is a role model of intelligence, athleticism, and bravery, and she is the undeniable symbol of leaps toward the proper representation of women in games.