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Necrovision sees the light in Australia

Classification Board lifts ban on WWI supernatural shooter; Aussie version "modified."

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Last month, Necrovision received the dubious honour of being the first game in 2009 to be banned by the Australian Classification Board. However, it seems the vampire-infested World War I shooter has joined the likes of Fallout 3, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, and Dark Sector--games that were initially refused classification down under, only to be reclassified after content changes were made.

The game was initially refused classification for excessive violence, but the Classification Board has confirmed to GameSpot AU that Necrovision has now received an M rating after a modified version was submitted for reclassification. According to the Board, the violence in Necrovision has been toned down to the level where it is "moderate in playing impact and justified by context." Because there's no R18+ rating for video games in Australia, any game deemed unsuitable for the MA15+ rating is effectively banned.

"Players frequently kill zombie enemies with gunfire or by employing dynamite or hand-to-hand, ‘melee-style’ combat. Some of the violence includes shooting with a nail gun, implied stabbing or slashing with bayonets and entrapment using barbed wire," the Board said in a statement. "The Board notes that blood detail appears throughout the game as a grey 'dust' effect when enemies are hit. Zombies fly into the air or their bodies jerk when bullets impact. However, no further injury or wound detail is visible."

In its original ruling of the game, the Board specifically called out excessive blood spray and the ability to continue to inflict damage on bodies as key reasons for the initial banning. "When the player shoots an enemy combatant, a large volume of blood spray results and the enemy may be dismembered or decapitated. Injury detail is high with pieces of flesh seen flying from bodies when shot or a high level of wound detail visible on bodies. Post mortem damage occurs when bodies are shot resulting in blood spray, dismemberment and decapitation," the Board said.

Check out our in-depth feature on Aussie game classification, Censory Overload.

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