The Last of Us is not the type of game that you should play while devouring a plate of spaghetti bolognese. Naughty Dog’s survival horror opus is packed with more blood, guts, and gore than a butcher’s backroom. Alas, the European release doesn’t quite boast the same level of spew-inducing viscera as its North American counterpart.
Hot on the heels of a handful of bemused forum posts, the fine folks over at Movie-Censorship.com have run a sequence of comparison tests on the first-party favourite, and learned that the PAL version of the PlayStation 3 exclusive lacks the multiplayer dismemberment details of its overseas alternative, making online deaths slightly less grisly in the old world.
This is not the first time that a Sony published title has been censored in Europe, with last year’s Twisted Metal reboot and God of War: Ascension also succumbing to a slightly less brutal fate. The issue appears to stem from the platform holder’s reluctance to publish multiple versions of the same game in a single territory, with more lenient locations such as the UK held to the stricter standards of other nations. Still, we suppose that the PS3 is region-free for a reason, huh?
[source movie-censorship.com]
Comments 7
Uuuhm why? Oohw i know thank hou germany. After WW2 blood and gore is forbidden there. Blood has a green colour in games for le germans
I don't think it needs too much gore personally. It adds nothing.
@Snorky To be honest, I tend to agree. However, it's still frustrating when you don't get to see a developer's original vision for reasons that don't necessarily apply to the country that you live in.
Is it only the American version that has or do the Japanese and Australian versions have it too?
@Snorky: It's supposed to add realism, I think...although that's debatable. This is very much the kind of game that benefits from the gore, though; helps hammer home the desparate situation the world's in, IMO. Dunno how that translates to the multiplayer, 'cause I'm not done with the story yet.
@Lopezdm: As the article points out, the PS3 is region free, too...so that's already a non-issue.
@Sanquine That's just not true (anymore). Most games get released uncensored/unaltered in Germany...and the times of green blood instead of red one are long gone, luckily. It is true however, that games are still being changed (as happened here) if they are too brutal or the brutality seems "senseless" or not related to the story or such.
But I honestly don't know how the German rating board decides. Gears of War 1 and 2 are banned in Germany, whereas Gears 3 is available. Uncut. Same with GTA...all former parts were changed in a way, GTA IV is uncut. Can only explain this with the publisher coming in and going: "Hey, you guys want to rate GTA IV? Oh my, look at that...somebody left a truck full of money in front of the building...what can we do about that?"
And yes, the censorship in Germany sucks. Happens often enough that movies or games get cut, but since I am an adult, I think I can pretty much decide for myself what I wanna see and what I can endure. But hey...since PS4 will be region free, this shouldn't be an issue anymore.
Of course I think that games like the Last of Us or CoD or such are not for children...and I despise parents who're too uninformed or lazy and let their kids play those.
But hey...since PS4 will be region free, this shouldn't be an issue anymore.
@Lopezdm: It appeared to me that your comment implied it's a non-issue next gen but not necessarily this...as though to suggest one could not simply import a gorier version of this game for PS3...which one could, in fact, do if one wanted.
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