Ada Wong - Reception

Reception

Ada was generally very well received by critics. Lara Crigger of The Escapist found Ada to be an admirable feminist icon in light of the philosophies of French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir. In 2007, Ada was featured by Rob Wright of Tom's Games among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history (with a suggestion that she should be played by Kelly Hu in the live-action Resident Evil series). That same year, she was ranked second on the list of top "video game chicks" by ActionTrip, and, together with Leon, she was also included by Alexander Villafania in The Inquirer's list of the most memorable video game love teams. GameDaily featured her as their "Babe of the Week" in 2007 (described as a "gun-toting hottie" with capabilities to star in her own video game), also including her in the 2009 Babe of the Week galleries Asian Beauties and Girl Power (listed along with Claire Redfield, Jill and Sheva Alomar). Also in 2009, IGN's Jesse Schedeen included her on the list of characters they would like to see returning for Resident Evil 6. In 2011, Complex ranked her as 19th on the list of "most diabolical video game she-villains", noting her "dragon-lady qualities." In 2012, Complex's Larry Hester also ranked her as the eight best Asian character in video games, adding that this "bad girl killed zombies like roaches with the sophistication of a ballet dancing gunslinger."

Ada has been often described as one of the most sexy female characters in all of video gaming. In 2008, UGO ranked Ada as fourth on their list of "videogame hotties", describing her as "drop dead gorgeous" and stating that they anticipate what the series has in store for her in the future, while GameDaily's Chris Buffa ranked her as 12th on their list of "hottest game babes". In 2009, MSN featured her in the list of "gaming's hottest babes", calling her "the kinda babe guys dream about!" In 2010, The Times of India listed her among the nine "sexiest babes" of action games. In 2011, Elton John of Complex ranked her as 24th on the list of "best looking sideline chicks in games", commenting on Ada's resemblance to Nikita from La Femme Nikita, while PSU.com featured her among the sexiest PlayStation characters, adding, "super hot Chinese lady killing zombies, what is not to love?" In 2012, Larry Hester of Complex ranked her as 28th of the "hottest" women in video games, "enshrined in fanboy canon forever more."

On the other hand, there was also some criticism of the character. Play editor Gavin Mackenzie criticized her perceived "bitch" personality in Resident Evil 4 in retrospective from the events of Resident Evil 2, while Matt Cundy of GamesRadar found Ada's outfit from Resident Evil 4 to be unsuitable for the game's theme, ranking her iconic "out-of-our-price-bracket Shanghai hooker" look as the most impractical of all main outfits of the series' stars and commenting that anyone dressing like she does to fight zombies "would have to be certifiably mental." According to Li Bingbing, the character is very popular in China. According to Retribution producer Jeremy Bolt, fans were "were very, very pleased with all of our choices, particularly Li Bingbing, who plays Ada Wong. They visited us on set last week, and they were really blown away by her." Contrary to Cundy's opinion, some film critics expressed a positive opinion about the practicality of Ada's high-slit dress.