Essentially it comes down to two things: flow and balance. While both are important for multiplayer level design, each if specifically more important for one type of multiplayer. Basically flow is important for deathmatch/free-for-all game types, while balance is the important factor for team based game types.

Flow, or what I mean by it in terms of level design, is the way players travel through a level, but also it’s about controlling the areas where players will battle. Having good flow in a level is helps keep the players from getting lost, but also helps direct them towards their objective. Which in deathmatch games is to kill the other players, so it’s about directing them into places where they can have battles. These areas are typically more open than other rooms, and are designed for clusters of players to battle without it feeling too chaotic.

For good examples of flow in a free-for-all style map I would look at some of the Unreal Tournament 2004 maps, as well as the Quake 3 maps. These maps generally did the best job in regards to flow, because the levels were constructed basically as mazes that wrapped back in on themselves. This made it so that players, even if they got lost, would eventually find themselves moving from the smaller hallways of the level into the more open areas where much of the fighting took place. Additional those hallways served as places for players to escape to to restock weapons and health, but the more powerful weapons and power ups are placed in the open areas to draw players into those spaces.

Balance is a little easier to explain, level balance for a team based game is so that the level is constructed in such a way as to not give either team an advantage. Most of the time, in order to balance the game for the teams, the level itself has to be designed to favor one team over the other in order for the game to work as intended. For instance in a capture the flag type game where there is only one flag, one team might be designated to protect it and lose if the other team manages to capture it. In this case the map would need to be balanced to give the defending team an advantage in order to make it challenging for the other team to win, but not too advantageous that it is too difficult for the attacker.

The best examples of balance come from the maps in Team Fortress 2, specifically Dustbowl for asymmetric balance and Badlands for symmetric balance. With symmetric maps the balance is a bit easier then the asymmetric stuff, since the map is the same on both sides. So whatever one team has the other team has, whether that is a weakness or a strength in how the map is designed.

However there is a bit more to it then just giving each side the same level layout. The way Badlands (control point gametype,) is designed is so that most of the battling occurs around the central map point (as you can see in the heat map of the level below, which shows the places where players die frequently.) It does this by making the second control point (which is the next point a team has to capture after the center point,) very difficult to defend as an attacker. So once it is taken by the attacker they need to move quickly to the last point before they lose it.

TF2 heat map of CP_Badlands

It is also not easy for the defending team to protect it either, at least not directly. Because the point is on a spire of sorts, it is higher up then any other part of the map that the player can get to. So even protecting it you can only shoot up at it. There also is not much room around the point itself, which makes it hard to set up a defense on the point, especially with sentry guns. Which makes it so that the defender is pushed to defend by stopping the attacker before they reach the point, and it laid out the map in such a way as to give them the ability to do so by making the area around this point very open. But they also provided the attackers with a more round about route to the second point which could allow the attackers to thwart the defense by flanking it.

Additionally the final point itself is even more advantageous to defend. Although there are a number of avenues for the attacking team to enter the room from, all of them are easily defendable with a few sentry guns. Now the need to give the defender such an advantage at this control point, and the previous one, is that the defender needs to be able to more then just defend they also need to attack. So by giving them an advantage in defending the expectation is that this will allow a few of the players to go on the offensive to try and take the attacker’s point so that they can maybe shift the momentum of the match.

Now with asymmetric maps like TF2′s Dustbowl (control point gametype,) one team is always on defense and the other is always on offense. Generally though asymmetric is a lot like a symmetric map once someone has taken the middle point, although there are some differences that need to be accounted for.

For instance the defending team doesn’t need to go on the attack at all, so having something like Badlands’ second point would be a poor choice for an asymmetric map since it was designed to have a lot of back and forth fighting over. Which is not something you have at all in an attack/defend map since once a point is taken in this mode it can’t be taken back. For that point to work in this type of game mode then it would need to be changed to allow the defender to actually defend the point directly, rather then be forced to defend in indirectly as I mentioned earlier.

TF2 heat map of CP_Dustbowl

So while there needs to be an advantage for the defender here, there also needs to be an advantage for the attacker. The attacker advantage is to give them a number of ways to get at the control point, but also to give them a place where they can set up to assault the next point. This area for a fire base is needed since the respawn area for Dustbowl doesn’t move during the round for the attacker. It also allows the defending team to have a more active defense that goes out to deal with these bases, rather then simply sitting and waiting for the attackers to make their move. This however is more about player psychology then level design.

Now while I’m specifically highlighting balance and flow as two major aspects that should be the concern of a level designer for a multiplayer FPS game, they are obviously not the only ones. Especially in regards to the type of game mode the map is intended for, or what unique gameplay qualities one game has over another. While those levels I mentioned before work in TF2, they probably wouldn’t if they were ported to a game like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, or Battlefield: Bad Company 2, because of the gameplay mechanics involved in those games.

And as I said across different game types even within the same game require different considerations. For instance in TF2 there is a map called Well which started as a control point map, not unlike Badlands, but then they created a capture the flag version of this map. The CTF version has been altered a good deal, taking a rather large chunk of the map away, and replacing it with some new terrain, because that area in the CP game was the central point and was a good place to setup a firebase or for one team to defend from. Which in a CTF game would quickly cause a map to fall out of balance since it would make it difficult not only to get through to get to the flag, but also for the player to travel back through to bring the flag to their base. While also making it easier for the other team to take the flag since most of the map would essentially be in their control.

So to wrap this up; flow is the most important aspect of level design for free-for-all deathmatch style games, since its about drawing the players into specific areas of the level where they can have interesting battles. Yet also provide them with ways to escape or regroup if they need to get away from a player or players. While balance is the most important aspect of team based games, because you want to make things as even between the teams as possible, such that the only factor in deciding which team wins a match is based on their skill, tactics and strategy.

7. Faith (Mirror's Edge)

#7
Faith was the most recent addition to the list since I only just picked up Mirror’s Edge during Valve’s crazy holiday sale, and finished it a few days ago. The thing about Faith is that she is a strong female character, who is basically in what would typically be a male role (also the voice in her ear is a guy, which is usually a girl in most games.) She’s also badass, but not really in a beat you up anytime she wants sort of way, but more of a quick thinking/street smarts sort of way, since the game isn’t about fighting through the levels (which it sometimes thinks it is,) but is more about finding to traverse the environment quickly (it’s sort of platforming through puzzle solving.)

6. Jade (Beyond Good and Evil)

#6
Jade falls into a similar category of badass as Faith does, where she’s badass not for beating up people but for the other things she does. She runs an orphanage with money she gets from being a photojournalist. And not taking simple photos, but rather taking some pretty risky jobs to not only make her money, but also to help reveal evil doings for the greater good. She’s a really endearing character that you can’t help but want to root for.

5. The Ladies of the Street Fighter series

#5
I had initially planned to make this just Chun-Li, but then I remembered that Cammy was also pretty awesome (yeah she’s wearing a rather tight unitard, but she’s the head of a secret operations strike force.) Then there was Sakura who admires Ryu, learned some martial arts from him, but then by herself created her own style of fighting. And then there’s Makoto, and Ibuki, and so on.

While the character might have aspects that would have otherwise put them on the other list, like Cammy being sexualized in a tight outfit, or Chun-Li following in her father’s footsteps to be a cop and even seeking revenge for his death. Even so they are more then just that, and aren’t defined by them. Cammy is sexualized, but she’s not tall and busty, she’s flat and muscular. Unfortunately most of these aspects to their characters aren’t seen in the games but rather in the comics and whatnot that have built up around them.

4. Samus Aran (Metroid series)

#4
So Samus is…. well… she’s Samus!

Ok, maybe that’s not quite enough. She was pretty much the only non damsel in distress female character Nintendo had for a long time. Not that you even knew you were playing as a woman anyway in the original Metroid, at least not until people started to finish the game fast enough that it was revealed that she was a woman when they showed her without the suit on.

As such it was probably the first game to show that a girl could be a badass action hero. She was basically Lara Croft before Lara Croft, and did it without being overly sexualized (mostly due to graphics that weren’t that detailed, and the fact that she always wore her suit.) She was just Samus, the female space bounty hunter who got shit done.

3. Alyx Vance (Half-Life 2 series)

#3
Alyx is so many great things that combine into one awesome package. First she’s probably the first AI character that follows you through a game that you don’t feel like you have to babysit. She can actually take care of herself, not just in cut scenes and story wise but actually in the gameplay! Secondly, because she’s always around, and not this burden to you she becomes a character you actually care about having around. Thirdly, she’s ridiculous smart. Probably not as smart as they imply Gordon Freeman to be, but she’s obviously very tech savvy and has a bit of street smarts that Gordon doesn’t seem to have.

2. Elena Fisher (Uncharted series) and Chloe Frazer (Uncharted 2)

#2
Originally this was going to just be Elena, I had kicked around the idea of putting Chloe on the list but decided that I preferred Elena to Chloe. Then I read a great analysis article on Gamasutra about the sexual politics in Uncharted 2. It says better then anything I could why Chloe is on this list so I’ll leave it at that. Elena on the other hand I will talk about.

Elena is a lot like Alyx Vance, in that she’s placed on the same level as the player’s character (in this case Nathan Drake.) She’s also another AI partner that you don’t have to worry about, which goes along with putting her on equal footing the the male lead. In a lot of ways she’s a lot like Nathan except she has more common sense. The unfortunate thing about the first Uncharted is that at the end of the game she ends up as a damsel in distress for really no good reason. Luckily they made up for that in Uncharted 2 where she see a return to form.

The thing though that I like about Elena is that she seems the most like a real person. Nat is supposed to be the sort of everyman, but considering all the crazy jumping and climbing he can do he certainly isn’t exactly an everyman in that sense. Elena however is a normal person, she’s not really an adventurer, she just get tied up in Nat’s adventure while (in both games,) trying to get footage for her story.

Even so she’s able to keep up with all the crazy jumping and shooting Nat does, and yet she’s not experienced in doing either. Which to me seems a lot more impressive then someone like Nat who does that sort of thing for a living, or at least has experience in it.

1. The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater)

#1
In order to talk about why the Boss is number one, I am going to have to talk a good deal about the history and world of the Metal Gear Solid games, because much of her importance steams from who she is in regards to the games’ timeline.

So the Boss was not only a female soldier for the US during World War II, but she was also the founder of the US Special Forces (a unit of elite soldiers.) On top of which she led the Allied forces during the Invasion of Normandy (aka D-Day, or Operation Overlord,) while she was pregnant. Not only that, but she gave birth on the battlefield after being shot. And that’s all before the start of Metal Gear Solid 3.

In MGS3 she’s in her 40′s still kicking ass, and is made to look attractive. Although her attractiveness is similar to that of Street Fighter’s Cammy, or even Faith from Mirror’s Edge, not as a busty curvy babe but as a trim and muscular woman.

Now during the game she serves as one of the main enemies of the player (having defected to the Soviet Union from the US,) but she was also Naked Snake’s (the player’s character,) mentor, so even though you are trying to kill her you can’t help but respect her for who she is and what she’s done. Which means although you have to kill her, you really don’t want to.

Finally at the end of the game, after killing her, Naked Snake is given the title Big Boss to represent that he has become superior to her. However while that is going on you learn that you really weren’t, that what happened not only had to happen but she orchestrated to happen. That she really hadn’t defected, but was actually under very deep cover. So when things went wrong she had to become the scapegoat and die so that war wouldn’t break out, and the US wouldn’t be the bad guy. Which makes her out to be better then Snake in the end, not because she was won a fight, but because of the person she was and the self sacrifice she made for the greater good.

IT’S OVER
So that’s the end of those lists, be sure to leave a comment below about what you think. What you agree or disagree with me about, or maybe your own lists.

7. Ophelia (Brutal Legend)

However during the writing of that, and thus working out my thoughts on them, I started to realize that a lot of the issues I’ve been finding with the bad female characters can be broken down into three categories. They are either over sexualized, are defined by the men around them (or in their lives,) or are the classic damsel in distress. Which isn’t to say that one of those things will necessarily make a female character bad, but it certainly puts them at a disadvantage.

So rather then talking about each character individually, what follows is my list of the 7 worse female videogame characters, and then more on the three aspects that put them on the list. I should also note that this list only contains characters in games I’ve played, thus there might be worse characters who were in games that I haven’t played.

6. Roll (Mega Man series)

5. Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII)

4. Ivy (Soul Calibur series)

3. Kairi (Kingdom Hearts series)

2. Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros. series')

1. Sophia (Maximo: Ghosts to Glory)

Most of the characters on the list seem to suffer from at least two of the issues I mentioned earlier. For example Kairi and Princess Peach are both damsels in distress who are defined by the men around them. Peach is defined by Mario, and Kairi by Sora and Riku. Ivy is an overly sexualized character (somehow wearing less and less clothing with each game,) who also has father issues (aka defined by the men in her life.)

Tifa is also presented in an overly sexualized manner, and started out as a rather awesome independent woman (had her own bar, and working for AVALANCHE,) but as the game goes on that great part of her gets ignored.

Then there is Ophelia who is arguably defined by the men around her (Eddie, Lars, and Doviculous,) but is mostly on the list out of my disappointment in how her character develops in the game. Starting out as a no nonsense, can take care of her self girl, who then becomes this completely ridiculously lame emo chick after a poorly constructed turn of events. Which takes her from being completely trusted by Eddie, to being tossed away for the sole purpose of being able to bring her back as a villain, who can then be rescued in the end from her evil emo ways. So much potential squandered.

Now Sophia is an interesting one, and there is a good reason she’s #1, even though she is for all intents and purposes the Princess Peach of the first Maximo game. She’s the classic overly sexualized damsel in distress who is the player’s reward for finishing the game, but there’s more to her then that. When you finally defeat the “final boss,” you are then rewarded with Sophia turning herself into a giant demon and trying to kill you. It’s a great plot twist, but when you think about it it says some really bad stuff about women (ie: they are power hungry, conniving, two face, etc.) So you can see how that’s worse.

Now hopefully the 7 best female videogame characters post I intend to do will take less time then this one did. It’ll certainly be more interesting to write.

Although I can understand to an extent why they are doing this (helps to prevent piracy, more ad money from ads on their servers, etc.) it seems to me that they don’t really understand the point of dedicated servers in the long run. Now I wrote a whole thing a few months back for a class about how a dedicated server can become an important social space online (you can read it here.) But basically what I said was that they can become meeting spaces, places for people to gather, because you begin to connections with the people that frequent the server, as you yourself frequent it more and more.

That sort of thing doesn’t occur in match making games, where the odds are pretty low that you are going to play with someone over and over, unless they are a friend and you specifically work that out.

Add in that there won’t be including mod tools, either for modding servers (since their aren’t any dedicated ones,) as well as none for actual game modification. The second I think is a pretty big blow, because when you look at what the modding community does not just in what they are able to produce, but also that these modders often times then go on to build real games in those game engines they are familiar with from doing the modding. This is where Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Day of Defeat, Natural Selection, and many other games came from.

The removal of dedicated servers from the PC version has certainly caused me to question a possible purchase of the game. Not of just the PC version, but the game in general. Right now the only way I see getting it is for the Xbox 360, and getting it used, so that I’m not giving them money for the game. It seems a bit harsh to do it that way, but its the only way it seems to show them my displeasure at their choice.