Sure it took 5 years but Left 4 Dead 2 will finally get its 18+ rating in Australia
Left 4 Dead 2’s 18+ rating means gamers will finally get to see what the sword can really do.
It may have taken 5 years to happen, but Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 will finally get its 18+ certification in Australia, which is the highest rating available in Australia.
Before today the only way Australian gamers could play Left 4 Dead 2 uncensored was by downloading patches that uncensored the violence or by importing a copy from abroad for consoles. There’s also a Steam group called Left 4 Censor which shows Australian and German gamers how to uncensored their games using the 510 fix.
Left 4 Dead 2 was originally refused classification in Australia due to the countries laws on violence that stated that only movies could get an 18+ rating. Valve later resubmitted both the original version and a censored version, the latter of which was given an MA15+ rating.
If Valve hadn’t resubmitted the game than it would have been illegal to promote, buy or sell the game in the country.
The edited version of Left 4 Dead 2 removed decapitation, limb dismemberment and causes the bodies to fade away after the zombies died so players couldn’t continue to desecrate the bodies.
The Australian Rating Board’s stated that “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.”
Left 4 Dead 2 is finally getting a 18+ rating but this picture is still pretty accurate.
They also had problems with the melee weapons saying that “However, it is the use of the ‘melee’ weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage.”
They went on to say that “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.”
This reclassification means Left 4 Dead 2 will finally get its 18+ rating, five years after it was released, and on Kotaku Australia a Valve representative stated that:
“We are delighted that the full version of Left 4 Dead 2 will be available to fans age 18+ in Australia,” Doug Lombardi said “We are making plans to deliver that version to those who have already purchased the game. We will announce more details on that soon.”
Left 4 Dead 2 will finally get its 18+ rating in Australia and while yes its kind of odd that they finally reclassified a five-year old game, this is still a small victory for the gamers who campaigned for a 18+ rating for video games in Australia as far back as 2010.