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

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]

Reader Comments (72)

I don't think that a kid should not be able to play a violent game until their 17+, I just think that a parent needs to be aware of what their kids play and not allow games that they should not play at their age. Many kids are mature enough to play a game like COD at 14 but the problem is the parents who have kids who are not mature enough and are playing COD with the parents not knowing or the parents not caring.

That is easy to say, but when you grow up in a situation like that, where everyone around you is allowed to play those games, and you do not experience the same way as everyone else, people look down upon you, you gotta do whats right for your kid socially, To be a parent is to support them socially and provide for them the best situation growing up. And if you do not know both sides of the coin then what is the point of instructing a certain way that does not let them succeed with their peers.
Or be an outcast, and to get more respect is a way to give the kid confidence so they will act normal in the first place, the more you censor the more you take away the more they will act immature in the first place.
http://myspace.com/fearofyours

Buried for implying that hating on Myspace = antisocial behavior.

Some clarifications:

myspace is not inherently social, and social != myspace
Hating on myspace would be considered anti-myspace, not antisocial

Antisocial definition:
Shunning the society of others; not sociable.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/antisocial

By your logic, we're antisocial for hating on myspace. We're engaging in approximately the same amount of social interaction through Joystiq as we would through Myspace. If we're already particiapting socially, how are we antisocial? We just despise the way Myspace goes about dealing with others.

tl; dr: Antisocial doesn't mean what you think it does.

wow, good for you.

now talk about the damn game like you suggested earlier or shutup. people don't like the link because you have to make an effort to put it there, so we must assume it's important. also you've already made several posts, so you don't have to keep throwing the link up.

The job of a parent is not to support the kid socially but teach the kid what is right and wrong. If his peers are playing games at an age when they are not mature enough to handle the game then it's the parent's responsibility to stop their kid from playing the game himself. This is probably the core of the problem right here. Parents are to busy being their kid's friend and not their kid's parent. Yeah, it's tough to be a parent in today's world but difficulty and "not wanting to upset the kid's social status" is no excuse to allow wrong behavior.

You're reply-failing all over the place! I think it's Joystiq telling you to stop. People don't take well to advertisements in this part of the internets.

I Want to see how Yahtzee will review L4D2 ,now since he's going to get the Censored version

Pretty sure Yahtzee will be able to secure an un-censored copy without too much hassle.

Anyway, all of you aussies are welcome to visit NZ and pick up an uncensored copy of L4D2 while you're here.

I clicked on the link; there's nothing there of any merit or talent. Move along, folks.

Oh, and Ziggy: calling yourself a "band" when your recordings are all poorly-constructed MIDI-files? Please.

Hang on! What about Fallout 3? It had all the gore just the morphine was changed.

That's great news for those in Australia that were interested :)

Also your band's name is either an Ian Brown or a Monolith rip-off.

So much hate not enough hate repellent here.

dont you think thats a little harsh dudes...

You keep coming back so it's obviously not harsh enough.

Easy solution guys: Just import the 'real' uncensored PAL version from the UK, sorted! Not that hard really, and given how new games could be up to $120 AU bucks anyway you'll save some cash too

WTF? How are they antisocial for telling to stop spamming in your comments? Yes, here in Joystiq we call that spamming because you are promoting your band. This is a video game site so please go spam youtube or some other site unrelated to Joystiq. And how is not having a myspace means your antisocial? Ever heard of friends and face-to-face communication? Or a cell phone? Yeah I doubt they are antisocial just because they dont have myspace even though I'm sure they do have a myspace or facebook account...

kids acting so serious is kids acting seriously.
Other words i just trolled you.

I doubt that. You got burned and now your backpedaling.

Tch. I'm willing to let the stupid attempts at deriding Australians slide, and direct my ongoing fury at the OFLC.

They actually have to censor every fucking piece of literature that's to be viewed by the Australian public, whether books, movies, videogames, whatever. They do their job well, for the most part. The problem is that all of the members, every single one of them, has no idea about videogames. They are all too old to be in touch with the more technologically-oriented generations, and as a result we Australians sometimes get fucked around when it comes to videogames.

I mean shit, I can count the number of videogames the OFLC has called for banning or editing on both hands. And no, I'm not Tasmanian so I don't have extra digits.

The OFLC is FUBAR, they need a younger generation who knows what the fuck they're doing to be a sub-board and review videogames. It's not a matter of the Government telling us what to think, it's a matter of the OFLC thinking they know what's best, and influencing the Government.

If I shoot a zombie in the neck, will it turn into pixie dust?

Previous 50 Comments

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

Left 4 Dead 2 - Scavenge Multiplayer Mode

Reader Comments (72)

Posted: Oct 8th 2009 2:13PM Clownzilla said

Posted: Oct 8th 2009 3:20PM illuminatieverywhere said

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