Left 4 Dead 2 twofer: 'Edited version' approved for Australia; 'Realism mode' revealed

by Christopher Grant on Oct 8th 2009 12:29PM

We're going to break this post down into three distinct (and clichéd!) categories: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

First, the Good: The suddenly puritanical Australian government -- by way of The Office of Film and Literature Classification -- has seen fit to grant the previously unclassified Left 4 Dead 2 an MA 15+ rating, paving the way for millions of impressionable minds to be programmed into zombie-killing machines.

Next, the Bad: The version of Left 4 Dead 2 that the OFLC approved was an "edited version" that "no longer contains depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment." In other words, it's nothing like the real zombie apocalypse. And when the inevitable human-vs-zombie war reaches Australia's isolated shores, her people will be ill prepared for what they encounter. "Gross, these zombie corpses don't disappear when you kill them! And, what's this? Blood?"

Valve and publisher EA are still hoping to launch an unmodified version, pending the October 22 review by the OFLC board.

Lastly, the Ugly: 1UP noticed a "special modifier" in its Scavenge Mode demo last night: "Realism mode." Valve's Doug Lombardi explained that it was for the serious player: "Take Portal for example: We had our best internal players who could blow through that game in about 30 minutes, but within weeks of launching it we had people on YouTube beating [the testers'] times by 10 minutes or more. Realism is for those players." In other words, it's training for the real zombie apocalypse. If our imagination is any indication, expect Realism mode to feature plenty of realistic pants crapping.

Left 4 Dead 2 - Scavenge Multiplayer Mode

Source – "Left 4 Dead 2 Secures Australian Release" [Edge Online]
Source – Realism mode detailed [1UP]

Tags: L4D2, Left-4-Dead-2, Microsoft, Realism-Mode, Valve, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (72)

Either way, I hope the Aussies get to play some zombie killing goodness. Any self-respecting Australian will just import the game anyway. And I'm sure modders will release horrifying models for the edited version.

I think retail games that have to be registered on Steam are region-locked, so they may not be able to import. I'm sure there'll be plenty of ways around the OFLC to stick it to Atkinson anyway.

I know me and my friends will be importing from the UK, which means the bad news isn't bad at all. With an edited version being released here the game will be less likely to be on customs watch lists and therefor easier to import the unedited copy from dvd.co.uk or wherever.

watchlists? you got a few things wrong.

Like what exactly? Please enlighten me.

I'm 27 years old. I can handle it. I'll just import it from the uk.

Good man :D

Gotta love dvd.co.uk. Yay for one pound shipping!

With gas prices as they are I rather be zombified!

That new artwork is cool, the jockey looks hilarious and the spitter is the most heinous thing ever!

Game companies NEED to stop exporting censored games to countries. If a person want's to decapitate zombies then they should be allowed to. These game companies need to stand up for the rights of game developers and gamers. Sure, game companies are out to make money but eventually this anti-violence stance will trickle to a stance where ANYTHING that the government does not like will be banned. These game companies need to boycott countries like Austrailia and Germany until these ridiculous laws are overturned. The future of the gaming industry and on a larger scale free speech are being put in danger because of these companies bowing down for short term profits.

I'm in the US, so I don't know about their laws and such down under. However, I think the bigger issue is that they may have laws that enable their government to take these kinds of stances on violent video games.

That being said, if their citizens don't approve of censorship, then they need to do the protesting to have the laws changed.

In my opinion, I agree with you to an extent that people should be able to play their violent game if they so choose. However, I personally believe parents (around the globe) need to do a better job of parenting and make informed decisions as to what games their children play.

That's something else that irks me. I think parents are dropping the ball on watching what their kids play. I think many games now are made for a mature audience and many parents still think Pac-Man when they think of video games. I guess the good news is that my generation (child of the 70's) understands what video games are made today and I absolutely will make sure that my kids won't play those games until the appropriate age. That said, it makes me uneasy that governments are increasingly using the approach of blanketing the whole population with censorship to "fix" these problems.

In my experience, the kids that are only allowed to play pac-man and watch disney movies until their 17 are far more likely to turn out fucked up than those that play call of duty and watch R rated movies at 14.

Why don't you go f@#k yourself buddy. You're talking about banning a whole country because of one a-hole in one redneck state full of bikers, prostitutes and conservatives whose main population live in a city run by four wealthy families. Go and look up the term federation and then come back.

i hope realistic mode isnt just that it takes shed loads of bullets to kill a zombie cos lets face it zombies are already dead, bullets shouldnt stop them. it should be decaps only

The L4D zombies aren't already dead. They're just really sick.

i see. an incurable virus with zombie like symptoms....

kinda makes them un-dead which is all the same. contemporary zombie media such as resident evil the films and dawn of the dead show that those that are infected via bites or otherwise were all dead.

Well not really. For instance 28 days later, one of the more obvious inspirations for L4D, shows them leaving the "infected" to starve to death.
Also, saying "If something's already dead then..." as a logical argument is a little odd. When it's the undead there HAVE to be extenuating circumstances by definition. What those are is undefined.

Also, the only zombie-like symptom is that they attack the un-infected. Going beyond that, they also attack each other, and you'll notice they don't eat anybody. They just kick and punch. So they have very little zombie like qualities.

That being said, I still call them zombies in the game for the sake of convenience. It's much easier to just yell to your partner "zombies at the back door!", but when you have time to breathe, Zoey is right - "I'm calling zombie bullshit."

It would be AWESOME if Realism Mode made the zombies slower, take more hits to kill, but at the same time made you slower as well, have fewer bullets available, take more damage per hit (maybe 40-50 HP per hit?), and make it more difficult to aim. Zombie apocalypse simulation, woo!

Ever since Left 4 Dead launched, I've always wanted a custom map set in a blizzard in Pripyat where the gameplay resembled the aforementioned gameplay mode. Maybe that will finally become a reality. ^_^

:pours one for his Aussie homies:

Captain Planet, you're a hero. Why don't you take these censorship laws down to zero?

You're our powers magnified, so won't you fight on the gamers' side?

When it comes to games, the Aussie's always get screwed

Whether in price or lack of content, we do love a good screw!

So does the UK.
But without the censorship so much. More like extortionate everything else.

Well, if it's really "realistic" then 1 bite and you're done. That's hardcore.

If it's realistic, you'll likely shit your pants and die of a heart attack upon seeing the first zombie. Game over, man.

If it's realistic, then you'd just spend the entire game trying to run away.

Rule #1: Cardio.

I have no earthly clue why that was downvoted, but I agree Ziggy.

If I were a 26 yr old Aussie, I'd have a serious problem with this being edited along with all kinds of great games. As a country, your gamers need to rise together and protest. But that's just IMO.

The Teletubby mod would be perfect for this censored version!

You know those Australian beer commercials where the men on it are really tough? That obviously isn't real Australia. The Aussie Gov sounds like a bunch of 40 year old mothers. Thinking everything will corrupt their sweet children.

Obviously it worked, otherwise you'd all protest. All I know is, if the US gov does something people don't like, they will bitch and whine until everyone is happy.

It was downvoted because we don't care about his stupid band on MySpace. Go plug that crap somewhere else.

I have no idea how they [Australian government] figure censoring a game in this manor makes it any more morally suitable, you're still firing a god damn gun at monster.

How is removing its arm any worse than shooting the living fuck out of it in general?
Is the Australian government some sort of Zombie-sympathizing regime?
God, even given the restrictions imposed nowadays, I'm glad I live in the US.

It was probably down voted for the vaguely related comment in fractured English and subsequent link pimp.

People, free speech is granted in the US Constitution and whether or not you believe that should apply to other countries, the reality is that it doesn't.

On another hand, it's kind of ironic that a country once a penal colony is now prohibited from images of violence. You would think that after 150 years, it would be out of their system. However, once an alcoholic....

It's not guaranteed by all constitutions but it should be. Free speech is a human right no matter where a person lives.

Free speech isn't deemed an inalienable right. Freedom of speech is seen as a right granted by government. You probably view it as a universal right since you have grown up with it and it seems like the right thing to do. I think that we could all agree on some aspects of speech that people shouldn't be free to use and which the government should censor. The Australian government happens to believe that zombie guts cross that line.

I beleive that he means it should be a right that everyone is allowed.

Saying "I'm so pissed off at [political figure]" should not have you killed or thrown in prison.

America was a penal colony long before Australia was discovered. You know what they say though, once an ignorant redneck...

Adam, exactly when was Australia "discovered"? I believe that the natives have been there a long time and weren't part of the penal colony. Oh, and Australia didn't start out as a penal colony.

You know what they say: better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

It was discovered by Cook in 1770 and established as a settlement by Phillip in 1788. Western Australia was discovered by the Dutch in the mid 17th century but as they found no usable land (WA being mainly desert) they made no claim to it. Now if you could kindly point out when I said it started out as a penal colony I'll apologise and be on my way. OH, THAT'S RIGHT, I DIDN'T.

Unlike America, Australia actually teaches their kids history. As you seem to be ignorant of most things Australian (and American apparently) I'll let it slide.

Apparently jokes haven't hit the land down under yet. I can't tell if you thought I was insulting you because you're Australian or because you're an alcoholic. I'm glad to see that you've somehow turned this topic into a debate of the failed US public education system and their inability to teach history. You seem to have a lot of bottled up emotion. Were you wronged by an anonymous person on the internet once? Maybe you're just upset because a dingo ate your baby...

just your signature? Hey dumbfuck this is joystiq not a forum, your ass is will get banned soon and good riddance.

The reality is the US gets censored by default, you can kill a million people in gruesome ways, but don't you dare show any nudity!

It's really ridiculous and hilarious at the same time, especially if you see it from an outside perspective.

The difference is that in Australia, it can't legally be sold; in the US retailers just choose not to sell it.

Seriously, I could make a game with nothing but nudity and violence, get an AO rating from the ESRB, open a video game store, and sell it. I wouldn't do it for monetary reasons, but there's no reason legally why I can't do it. That's not the case in Australia (and, thus, the reason why people are upset).

Hmm, point taken. Thanks.

I can't wait to get my hands on this game.

wouldn't realism mode have no zombies at all?

Logic Bomb right there.

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Left 4 Dead 2 twofer: 'Edited version' approved for Australia; 'Realism mode' revealed

Left 4 Dead 2 - Scavenge Multiplayer Mode

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