F.E.A.R 2 Banning successfully appealed

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 10:43

Your IT - Entertainment

Originally banned for high level violence that exceeds the MA 15 + classification, it now looks as if F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin will hit shelves after all.

An appeal by Warner Bros Games to the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification has had the ban against Horror/Shooter F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin overturned.

If you will remember back last month , the game was refused classification (Australian not having an R18 + classification for video games) because:

“ [The OFLC] have found that the violence in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin has a high impact which exceeds levels acceptable in an MA15+ title, and have made a few references to in game examples to illustrate their point - such as this scene:

...Michael uses his sub machine gun to explicitly bisect an enemy, the two parts of the body lying separately on the ground, with copious blood spray. There are also a number of explicit close range decapitations involving both human and mutant creatures. The decapitations are the result of close-up throat slashing from behind and close-up gunshots to the throat. “

Warner Bros Games appealed the decision, and the OFLC overturned the banning with a published statement.

In part the statement reads “After considering extensive submissions and demonstrations of game play across all levels, the Review Board concluded that the level of violence in the computer game, whilst strong, could be accommodated within the MA 15+ classification”, acting Classification Review Board Convenor, Trevor Griffin said.

So now all Australians can sleep soundly at night, knowing the appeal system is working well.

Sleep soundly that is, until they play through the horror and violence contained in the game.