Left 4 Dead 2 Refused Classification in Australia

Post by Dan @ 11:09am 17/09/09 | 37 Comments

Valve's zombie shooting sequal Left 4 Dead 2 The latest title to miss the MA15+ maximum over at the old Australian Classification Board earning the title (in it's current form) the dreaded RC which prohibits distribution in this country.

We won't know specifically what pushed it past MA15+ until an official report is released but it will be interesting to find out as from what we've seen of the game, it didn't seem any more violent or gory than the original Left 4 Dead.

Of course, it's not the first high profile game to receive this prestigious honour on its first pass and in all likelihood will be tweaked for re-submission, but it is sure to once again re-ignite the push for an R18+ category for videogames in Australia.

For more details on Left 4 Dead 2, stop by our hands-on preview from E3 2009.

Update: We've since gotten a hold of the official report and you can find out the specific reasons for the rating right here.

left 4 dead 2 r18+refused classification

Latest Comments

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$ack
Posted 11:11am 17/9/09

FAIL

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mission
Posted 11:13am 17/9/09

It's probably a good thing for the game developer people.

Generates a bit more interest and will surely increase sales?

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infi
Posted 11:14am 17/9/09

how s***.

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Mephz
Posted 11:15am 17/9/09

This is getting ridiculous, It's getting tiresome and old, these ancient wankshafts still living in the 60's telling us what games we can and can't play that are/aren't good for us.

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CHUB
Posted 11:15am 17/9/09

I don't want sales, I want a more violent/bloody/scary sequel.

I assumed L4D2 would have these things.

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Jim
Posted 11:16am 17/9/09

you'll still be able to post about it as though you actually played it much and were awesome at it

teehee

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$ack
Posted 11:17am 17/9/09

I wonder if creating a US steam account through a proxy on my US server and purchasing the game as a gift for my account would work?

Sopose there would be no aus servers to play on tho :\

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 11:20am 17/9/09

So if we import from overseas will we be able to play it on Steam? What About Xbox Live?

What's next Diablo 3?

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Spook
Posted 11:23am 17/9/09

god damn this makes me angry;
i dunno that i would have played the game, but i should be allowed if i wnat to!

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thermite
Posted 11:27am 17/9/09

They recently classified a photograph of a man with another man's fist up his arse as 'PG' because it was art. It's hard to look up the photo to prove this :/

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Pinky
Posted 11:33am 17/9/09

SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson is the main barrier to an R18+ classification for games.

AFAIK you can buy retail Steam games from O/S then activate them on Steam in Australia. I would never condone such a heinous crime, though.

Also, I can confirm thermite's reference to some of Robert Mapplethorpe's (hardcore) art being classified PG. That specific art piece is very dark and not like a shiny well-lit photograph. It's hard to even tell what's going on really. But yeah, PG rating is a joke for it.

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boba
Posted 11:28am 17/9/09

[10:57:22] <+boba> banned for being a money grab
[10:57:24] <+boba> imo

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Obes
Posted 11:30am 17/9/09

Banned because boba rang the OFLC imo

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Beanith
Posted 11:43am 17/9/09

We won't know specifically what pushed it past MA15+ until an official report is released but it will be interesting to find out as from what we've seen of the game, it didn't seem any more violent or gory than the original Left 4 Dead.

It's probably the fact you can dismember zombies with melee weapons. I think Deadspace had to tone that down to release here didn't they?

Or it could be something as retarded as the pills 'promoting drug use' (change the name to vitamins imo)

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The GuVna
Posted 11:45am 17/9/09

Probably over the stupidest little thing, like hitting a female zombie with a frying pan can influence domestic violence in the kitchen or something along those lines.

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CHUB
Posted 11:46am 17/9/09

Probably over the stupidest little thing, like hitting a female zombie with a frying pan can influence domestic violence in the kitchen or something along those lines.

Are we allowed children zombies?

That would be awesome!

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$ack
Posted 11:51am 17/9/09

and zombies with crutches and wheelchairs.

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ctd
Posted 11:54am 17/9/09

Wasn't sure about purchasing this game because the first one got old really fast however would like the option. I guess the online shops and maybe steam will still sell it.

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CHUB
Posted 11:57am 17/9/09

Wasn't sure about purchasing this game because the first one got old really fast however would like the option.

I agree, it's no TF2, but for $50USD I was definitely going to buy it.

I got my $50USD worth out L4D easily by running through each of the campaigns a dozen times each.

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ravn0s
Posted 11:58am 17/9/09

i would say its banned becasue of drug use. afaik there is pills like in the first game, but i think they also added syringes of adrenaline and maybe others they havent revealed yet.

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 12:25pm 17/9/09

This is absurd.

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Trauma
Posted 12:29pm 17/9/09

GAME UK.

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HERMITech
Posted 12:30pm 17/9/09

Actually it's probably cause it has clowns and some wanker on the OLFC was abused by one as a child and is now completely creeped out.

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ViscoS
Posted 12:33pm 17/9/09

Rack up another point on the OFLC's fail tally.

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luden
Posted 12:43pm 17/9/09

play-asia, cdwow, etc etc

If they don't want our money in the middle of a financial crisis, don't give it to them.

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deep
Posted 12:46pm 17/9/09

As far as I know Steam games don't require a rating. Valve could release an RC version on Steam. Though they'll probably edit the game for retail and more sales.

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ravn0s
Posted 12:47pm 17/9/09

i thought cdwow sells aussie versions of games.

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ctd
Posted 12:48pm 17/9/09

UK/European I think.

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ravn0s
Posted 12:51pm 17/9/09

ahh thats right. i remember l4d had euro printed on it.

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deadlyf
Posted 01:12pm 17/9/09

Didn't they edit the first game for Aussies by making it so you couldn't mutilate zombies after they were dead? Possibly the version they submitted didn't have that edit applied to it from the first?

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Midda
Posted 01:20pm 17/9/09

It's probably the fact you can dismember zombies with melee weapons. I think Deadspace had to tone that down to release here didn't they?

Dead Space was all about dismemberment, it was all in-tact in the Aussie version.

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RockitMan
Posted 01:34pm 17/9/09

Wasn't sure about purchasing this game because the first one got old really fast however would like the option.

I felt I got my value from the first week of play but then campaigns are done. After that it's just mucking around in survival and versus. Definitely needs more campaigns.

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Khel
Posted 01:47pm 17/9/09

As far as I know Steam games don't require a rating. Valve could release an RC version on Steam. Though they'll probably edit the game for retail and more sales.

Steam games still require a rating, I think what you're thinking of is the loophole where games that are played fully online and have no single player component (such as most MMOs) don't require a rating.

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E.T.
Posted 01:50pm 17/9/09

Left 4 Dead 2 Refused Classification in Australia

It's not April the 1st again is it!?

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HyperJ
Posted 02:29pm 17/9/09

Would it have been an issue if the had made it DLC for the the original L4D?

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Khel
Posted 02:47pm 17/9/09

Probably not, because then you wouldn't be getting any new features, just another campaign.

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Dan
Posted 02:49pm 17/9/09

Sorry to start another thread, but we've gotten a hold of the official report and taken a closer look over here.

http://www.ausgamers.com/forums/general/thread.php/2787015

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