Reception
When Cortana's role greatly expanded in Halo 3, Fairfax New Zealand noted that the character "has inexplicably had a sexy makeover." According to Cinema Blend, the "love story" between Master Chief and Cortana in this game provides "a focus to the game that an epic war between species can not accomplish. As Chief, the player needs something to anchor them into the story, and that happens to be Cortana."
Part of Cortana's appeal has lain in her good looks. In 2007, the character was ranked as ninth on the list of top "Xbox babes" by Team Xbox, featured by GameDaily's "Babe of the Week", and listed as the sixth most "disturbingly sexual game character" by Games.net. In 2008, GameDaily ranked her as the 38th "hottest game babe". In 2009, 1UP.com ranked the character as the fifth best video game computer, noting that as Cortana's sanity waned in the video games, her clothing appeared to decrease as well. In 2011, UGO.com included her on the list of the 50 "video game hotties", calling her "a certified hottie" in spite of being "just...a big pile of ones and zeroes." In the "battle of the beauties" feature, Complex chose her over GLaDOS for her more human-like voice. In 2012, MSN included her among the 20 "hottest women in video game history".
Aside from appearance, the media found other aspects to praise. In 2007, Cortana was named one of the 50 greatest female characters by Tom's Hardware for the character's determination and fearlessness, which meshed perfectly with the game's protagonist. In 2010, Cracked.com ranked her as first on the list of the supporting characters in video games. In 2011, UGO.com ranked her as the second best video game companion, while Maximum PC included her in the list of the 25 of gaming's greatest sidekicks. In GameSpot's poll "All-Time Greatest Game Sidekick", Cortana got to the semi-finals.
Read more about this topic: Cortana/Cortana Letters
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“Aesthetic emotion puts man in a state favorable to the reception of erotic emotion.... Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art.”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)