Yes, we exist. There are girl gamers who love a good FPS. Girls who wait outside a game store until 12am on Monday waiting for a game like Halo 3 to spend our shoe money on. We take it home, pop it in the 360, and expect something great. So, like anyone else, I was looking for something I could enjoy or relate to…whether it’s a good storyline, a heroine, a hot hero, or even character customization. But after my play-through of the campaign, all I got from Halo 3 was a crazy [slutty] cyborg in distress that pops up on the screen here and there blaming me for her death. I didn’t get a sense of who she is, why she’s dead, or why I’ am even supposed to care – and I have played through both of the previous games. But my disappointment doesn’t just come from the campaign. Everyone who has played the Halo series knows it’s the multiplayer that gets addicting.

So what do I have against the multiplayer? Nothing. It’s great. But it’s just like Halo 2. I hopped into the game knowing the controls, knowing where to aim and knowing how to kill. Fine, but that’s just it and that’s all I needed. It’s the same game played on different maps. For Halo 2 it took me forever to memorize the maps, the places to find my favorite guns, and with this third game, I’m just doing that task all over again. Where is the change? Where is the innovation? [Hey Microsoft, we’re your consumers too.]

A game doesn’t have to be packaged into a Bubble Gum Pink case with purple and yellow flowers everywhere for girls to like it. All it has to do is have a little feminine appeal. Here are some ways Microsoft and Bungie could have turned on the light for Girl Gamers while keeping up their image with the fanboys…

Issue: Unchangeable main character. First off, it’s always a guy. He’s so bulky. Why not add an option to play a girl heroine to save the slutty robot? It wouldn’t have to change anything by way of story, just appearance. If anything, it would have brought the game more attention had the new Halo 3 introduced a curvaceous woman to kick some butt.

Benefits of change: A larger consumer base. Girls like to play girl characters and if there’s one thing we girls do well, it’s talk. I talk to my fellow girls about the games I think are awesome, and what I want them to play with me. Word of mouth and game purchasing referrals make actually be higher amongst us girls.

Issue: Customization. We girls like our characters to look special. Something that resembles our own looks or simply what we think looks cool. Give us options beyond just the colors and few different pieces of armor that I have to unlock. Different hairstyles, accessories, anything!

Benefits of change: Variation! All the people in multiplayer won’t look like identical twins. There could even more marketplace implementation by swapping custom armor variations, rather than just maps and gameplay footage.

Issue: Darkness. Wow, could the game be any played in a darker setting? Even when I adjusted my brightness to the highest option the game was still so dark. My guy colleagues don’t seem to have a problem with the darkness. Maybe it’s just me, but it was a definite turn off. We’re not asking for blue skies and sunshine 24/7, we’re asking for the option to change the brightness on the pitch black maps.

Benefits of change: Fewer players (not just girls) with strained eyes. Come on, we have enough problems.

Issue: Bland Enemies. Been there, done that, killed them. Where are the evil female antagonists? Sure there are new aliens to kill, but honestly, they all look similar right down to the end. Surprise, Surprise: all the aliens are dudes.

Benefits to change: Both sexes would get to place a headshot on some evil bitches that threaten the Earth’s very survival!

[SPOILER WARNING!!! – Ed.]

Issue: Lack of Story. Cutting to the chase, the story in Halo 3 is to save the provocative artificial intelligence. If Bungie had included a little spark between our hero and the AI, how awesome would that be? Nothing too sappy or corny but just a hint that our Master Chief connected with another being in some way that wasn’t violent.

Benefits to change: More interest in the campaign. Admit it… it was boring!

As a girl, perhaps I was expecting too much change from Halo 3…not just changes to gameplay, but to features, options, and storyline. The multiplayer is fine… but I need more reason than that to spend all that money (that could have gone to a nice pair of Fall boots) on a FPS that I essentially already own with Halo 2? The lobbies of Halo 2 online are still full and available; and if that starts to peter out, there’s always good ol’ classic CounterStrike 1.6. Again ladies, it looks like we we’re left out of any planning that went into this one. So unless there ‘s a female Spartan that comes to save the Master Chief in the fourth installment or Cortana herself becomes playable, let’s stick together and go where we’re wanted... See you on 1.6!