Gears of War is a hit with females due to lack of "stereotypical, sexy" women

The Gears of War series is not only a hit with males, but females as well, which is something Epic's art director Chris Perna feels is due to the lack of "attractive, stereotypical, sexy" females in the game.

Speaking with OXM, Perna said the female fan reaction to the Gears series, supports a feeling of empowerment according to a lot of the feedback received.

"In Gears you kind of need dirt," he said. "If you want to create this attractive, stereotypical, sexy female - a lot of games do that and it's kind of cliché at this point. You see the implants and the blonde hair and pants and you roll your eyes - it's almost like the game geek's idealization of what a woman should be. I think because we didn't go that route we have more believability.

"They're still feminine. Anya in Gears 3 comes across as being very feminine, and I think it works.From what we've heard, when they play the game they feel empowered and they feel good."

That being said, Perna doesn't think we'll see a female lead in the series any time soon, even if the idea is "certainly interesting."

"If you look at what sells, it's tough to justify something like that," he said.

Gears of War: Judgment, a prequel co-developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly, is out next month exclusively for Xbox 360.