Left 4 Dead 2 Banned Down Under

Australia’s notorious Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) has struck once again, refusing to award Left 4 Dead 2 an age rating.According to Gamespot’s Australian site, the game refused to meet the OFLC’s standards for an MA 15+ rating, the highest that can currently be awarded to video games in Australia.The OFLC appears to have taken issue with the level of violence in the game, specifically violence inflicted with the game’s melee weapons.”The game contains realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence which is inflicted upon “the Infected” who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently,” said the ruling.”However, it is the use of the “melee” weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage. These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore.”However, it seems that the ruling was not reached unanimously as it states:”A minority of the Board is of the opinion that the violence is strong in playing impact and therefore warrants an MA 15+ classification with the consumer advice of strong violence.”Left 4 Dead 2 is not the first game to fall foul of the Australian censors. Recently Aussie developers spoke out against the OFLC’s refusal to grant a rating to RPG Risen with the GDAA’s Tom Crago describing the country’s censorship infrastructure as “a joke.”