April 26th, 2010

Red Dead Redemption gets Mature

Published at 12:18 PM PST

The ESRB has updated it's website with the latest batch of ratings. The latest batch includes the rating for Red Dead Redemption. No surprises here, the game scored a Mature rating. What gets interesting is the details the ESRB loves to include with it's ratings.

This is an "open-world" action-adventure game in which players assume the role of John Marston, a reformed criminal on a mission to capture the remnants of his old outlaw gang. Players roam Wild West environments and perform various missions for criminal figures and law enforcement: destroying bridges, helping individuals in distress, delivering packages of drugs (e.g., opium), capturing outlaws, and eliminating rival figures. Players use shotguns, pistols, and rifles to kill enemies in realistic gun battles. Players can engage in melee-style hand-to-hand combat and trigger slow-motion effects by shooting enemies at close-range or by targeted shooting (i.e., aiming for body parts). Blood often spurts out of characters when shot; head shots and knife attacks result in much larger sprays. In one sequence, a bloodied and mutilated corpse can be seen hanging from the rafters of a barn. Players have the ability to shoot pedestrians in the game; however, a "Wanted Level"-penalty system discourages these acts by triggering a law enforcement response. The game contains a scene in which two characters have sex on a table; there is a brief instance of female nudity. One sequence depicts a man injecting himself with a syringe filled with cocaine. Language such as "f**k," "c*nt," and 'sh*t" can be heard in the dialogue.

Nudity in addition to the acts of reproducing? Alert the media! God forbid if Mature people are able to see how we humans reproduce!

UPDATE (12th May 2010): The OFLC, Australia's rating body, has recently passed their rating for Red Dead Redemption as MA15+ for "Strong violence, coarse language and sex scene". The game did not require any editing or additional changes to acquire this rating.

Source: ESRB | OFLC