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In addition to looking at the lighter and weirder side of the game industry, System Update provides the latest information on weekly console updates, DLC, game-specific updates, and other game-industry flotsam and jetsam.

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Report: Gears 2 filter censors violence, language

Even though it falls squarely in the M-for-Mature sector, Epic Games' smash hit Gears of War for the Xbox 360 found its way into the hands of more than a few underage gamers, a fact evidenced every day by the prepubescent, expletive-laden shouts of glee that blight online matches.

Fully aware that Gears of War 2 will again find its way to impressionable audiences when it is released for Microsoft's console on November 7, Epic is taking a few steps to shield underage gamers from some of the more graphic elements of the game. Speaking to family-oriented blog What They Play, Microsoft confirmed that Gears of War 2 will feature violence and language filters that can be toggled.

According to the report, when activated, the violence filter "turns blood into sparks," whereas the language censor "takes out all the swear words." Although the gore will be removed, the report indicates that players will still be able to rend aliens in two as well as partake in other acts of brutality.

For more on Gears of War 2, check out GameSpot's extensive coverage.

446 Comments

  • Glitchhawk

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 9:49 pm PT

    I love that they are doing this. i find the gears games discusting without them. im 18 and i choose not to view the content. lol i watch the ESRB ratings closely. i wish they would make these games without all the violence but at least they beat most companys by putting the filter in

  • MetalMan300

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 2:09 pm PT

    i like this feature, im 17, and my parents still dont like it when they see alot of gore/profanity in video games. this way, i can play gears without feeling guilty. besides, even if this does allow little kids to get this game, u can always mute them. most kids just buy m games without considering the esrb rating anyway.

  • metalhead364

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 1:49 pm PT

    this game shld be awesome............. some underage gamers play alot of games that are worse than this........ trust me...... so stop complainin please

  • xxhoweamazingxx

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 7:57 pm PT

    Great
    just another way little kids will get their hands on this game
    Mom: o my, it says this game has blood and swearing. Im not getting u this game jimmy
    jimmy: but u can turn it off mommy
    Mom: O then ill get it for u
    see u online little kids

  • ReaperWeed

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 6:07 pm PT

    I think this is pretty cool actually. I'm 20 right now, and so i don't fall in that "underage" **** but it's pretty awesome to have an option where you can enable "fireworks" when killing an enemy haha. It reminds me of SC IV with the hit sparks and what not. Nevertheless, to have gore is nice, and to have "firework" option is an added benefit, well at least for me. I have little nephews running around my room sometimes and when i see them come I can simply turn on the fireworks and things should be "tame down"...just a tad bit though.

    Good job Epic, but it won't stop underage gamers from still getting the game and ruining multiplayer matches by constantly calling us "n00bZ."

  • nspeedrace

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 7:14 pm PT

    guys stop tour b****in your still going to get your copy and u dont need to put this on...who cares if some little kid is playing...mute'em thats what i do...they made the feature for a reason

  • nsmnpc5000

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    New ad from Epic:

    Parents do you feel like is your 8-12 year old missing out the gaming experiences vital to the growth of hair on his/her chest? If so, your prayers for a hairy chested daughter have been answered. How so, you ask? We've ingeniously replaced the blood with, wait for it...Sparks! That's right, as long as your child is slaughtering hordes of what will appear to be hulking, spark flinging, cyborg aliens, then the risk of exposure to soul numbing acts of violence is all but nil. That means that you get to keep a clear conscience.

    In all honesty,everyone is already aware that spark spewing enemies negate the acts of violence. Not to mention that if it doesn't have a soul(cyborgs) and can't feel pain(cyborgs, again), then your child is cleared to kill with a reckless abandon. That's why we've added the options to both replace the blood with sparks and to turn the Locust hordes into a flock of prostitutes.

    What was that you asked? Oh, of course it's cool if little Billy dismembers the enemy one piece at a time. Haven't you been paying attention? It's sparking, not bleeding. That means that your hands are now clean of the responsibility of limiting your child to games that are appropriate to their age and maturity level.

    Gears of War 2 and Epic Games, FTW.

  • jtamezv

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 10:23 am PT

    Well, know there will be a lot of annoying little kids playing this game. What's wrong with EPIC, this game will probably (99%) be classified as "Mature" no matter what they do, this is just a way to attract more people and sell more.

  • stretchngrowl

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 6:55 am PT

    I don't think this is being done to try to lower the Mature rating on the game. I think that Epic is being realistic in knowing that their product is going to end up in the hands of kids....annoying, high voiced, you tube raised kids. To actually give the option to tone down the violence and foul language is taking away from the artistic expression and the attempt to bring the gamer into a world that is in a war, but what does a child care about that? I remember the first time playing Gears online and getting this weird cold feeling in my stomach like I was actually being HUNTED. It's what made the game so great to play. No respawns and you could be killed by a monster with a chainsaw that is strapped to a machinegun! The experience is visceral and purely adult in nature and practice, and should be kept that way. It's nice to see game designers that are actually taking measures to be more responsible than parents when it comes to this. Is the filter going to be used for every kid that plays? Probably not. But the ponit is that it helps to disarm the protesting of these games containing an unneccessary amount of violence. If every game designer did this, that would be fantastic (plus, if you were to replace blood with gum drops and cursing with the sound of a whoopie cushion, I think I'd have the content filter on the entire time, just based on the amount of hilarity that would ensue).

  • Cheesefreak33

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 5:51 am PT

    I find it ironic that now instead of exploding into several body pieces and a cloud of gore... the characters will explode into several body parts and a cloud of sparks. And somehow I think each character's dismembered bodies will still litter the floor, allowing you to shoot them for more clouds of sparks.

    I see what this is about. EPIC will have created one of the greatest third person shooters AS WELL AS one of the greatest fireworks simulators.

  • charrr1234

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 5:48 am PT

    And while your at it, make a mode that replaces the greys with bright pastel colors, to shield the kids from dangerous grey colors.

  • Incetardis

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 10:08 pm PT

    what's all the fuss about? i thought Gears of War wasnt violent enough.

  • PieCrusher

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 8:25 pm PT

    Well i guess that will shut up the people who point the fingers at a great game blaming it for everything under the sun. It is a good idea. Especially if kids aare around. Cause i know that this game is just down right brutal.

  • V-Nine

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 7:39 pm PT

    ...too bad those snot nosed brats know how to operate the X360 way better than their parents, rendering the parental lockout useless in most cases because parents either dont know where it is or could care less to even worry bout' such things.......

  • dannydego

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 7:32 pm PT

    Of course they are trying to cover their a$$es. Thats nothing new. It's quite smart, in fact. Children in the first place should not play this game or any like it. "But i cant watch what my kid is playing all the time!" I hate you lazy, excuse making parent. This is absolutely your fault. Don't let your children put themselves in situations where they will be subjected to language and violence. If you have raised your child so terribly that they cannot tell the difference between real life and a video game, you should have worn a condom. Simple fix: Take your child's x-box away if they are playing games they should not play/ make sure they are not hanging out with other little brats who play these games. Epic is smart, cover yourself from these pathetic excuses for parents that let their CHILDREN call the shots. Make your money and make more of these games. Parents, get control... you morons.

  • masterchief1994

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 3:48 pm PT

    Hmm.... I read every-bodies comments and everybody has a good point . Some people say the filter is useless and others think it will be good and some think it something Epic used to cover their a**'s from angry parents. Well guys if you haven't noticed Epic is trying do something new. GOW 1 was the only game to have a blood filter but nobody really used it. Epic wants gamer 's to like them because the filter shows they do care for younger kids. Some might say how does turning off the blood and gore get rid of the violence it doesn't. Epic is making it so if a little kid is playing they won't get sick from the blood and gore or if some one was playing with a little kid and they cared about them.

  • xbox360progamer

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 2:25 pm PT

    that sucks if some young fart wants to play a mature game then thats them dont spoil it for the rest of us

  • zyxomma100

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 1:18 pm PT

    I used this option in the first game. While I'm mature enough to handle the gore (certainly more mature than many of the people playing the game), I didn't see the need to play a game that gratuitously splattered blood only in the direction of the camera for the shock effect. That and it got in the way of gameplay.

    If I get the second, I'll probably do the same thing, but leave the language filter off.

  • tiamat555

    Posted Aug 10, 2008 10:17 am PT

    You are missing the point ChampMLG. It doesn't matter what they do. The actions that the people in the game take are still violent. They could cover all of it with rainbows and bunnies and i still wouldn't give it to my kids. All this is doing is enforcing the belief that violence has no consequences. That if I chainsaw someone in half they will just fall apart like a Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry cartoon. And forget saying that it is not M$ or Epic's fault. It is their fault. It is a low down, underhanded and sleazy thing that they are doing under the pretense of being concerned about the people who buy the game. They just care about getting more people to buy their game.

  • ChampMLG

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 9:38 pm PT

    There was an option in Gears 1 to turn off "mature content." I don't know if it turned the blood into sparks I believe it just got rid of the blood. And I don't think it turned off swearing. However I know that people didn't get chainsawed in half still. It just went into the cinematic, and they fell over and died.

  • googlematt123

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 2:26 pm PT

    ummmmmm...didn't the first game have the same filter?

  • KnightwingX7

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 3:33 am PT

    Calling All Idiots...this ISN'T NEW! THE ORIGINAL GAME has this feature.

  • pyro-freak

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 3:04 am PT

    imo, if your voice sounds like a little kid, then you shouldnt be playing m-rated games. but if your voice has matured and youve matured, then im pretty sure they can handle all the gore. obviously the parents who dont care, the little kids wont care either. they wont turn it off themselves. as long as your voice is mature enough and your able to handle the game, idc who gets on. (im a gamer on live)

  • ssjlinkx

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 11:54 pm PT

    So basically, there is an option to make it like Power Rangers. Interesting....

  • trw534

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 11:44 pm PT

    thats stupid if they dont want underage kids playing it dont let them play its not microsofts or epics fault that some parents let there little kids play

  • tiamat555

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 10:25 pm PT

    This is idiotic. Who is M$ trying to fool?So what if you cut out the swearing and the blood. When you chainsaw someone to death and they scream in agony isn't that just as violent? When you stomp on an enemy's head or use them for a shield, how is that better? Are they saying that if I crush your head into the pavement it is less violent because you don't see blood? So M$ in other words is showing younger people that it is okay to chainsaw someone because sparks will fly out and not blood? Or it is okay to slam a person's head into the ground because he really won't be hurt? Also I think the people they are targeting are old enough to know how to mouth the curses that are bleeped out. So much for "caring" about the gamers.

  • yankeefan338

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 6:30 pm PT

    what f a g would do that

  • Masterdj1992

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 5:42 pm PT

    Being in the upper tiers of high school, yet 1/2 a year short of M standards, this will help my case with the higher powers (aka my parents) who only allow certain M games such as Halo,COD4,and BF Bad Company. If only more games could follow suit, as optional of course.

  • jakob_187

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 2:16 pm PT

    THANK GOD!!! It's about time that someone did this. The game center where I work is family-friendly, but we do carry some Mature-rated games with blood and gore as well as strong language. We had to put in TVs with headphones in order to keep things under control, but it means that we can only put certain games on 8 of the 20 Xboxs. With a feature like this, we can put Gears 2 on any TV now!!! This means people can enjoy the game on a 70" screen rather than a 32".

    Very nice move, Epic. Now...if Company of Heroes would follow suit... = /

  • christopherneal

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 2:09 pm PT

    I'll stick with the Adult Version, thank you.

  • mr_squibble

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 10:31 am PT

    This is a great idea. I'm interested to see how well it is implemented. I don't really care for blood, gore and language in my video games, so GOW2 will be *much* more enjoyable for me if I can switch some of the stuff off.

  • necronaux

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 10:24 am PT

    So this will work how exactly? Will there be a parental lock on the toggles? I assume, the parent buys the game, sets it up for junior, toggles all the good stuff off, and lets junior go at it. What would be to stop the little ones from just resetting the game toggles?

  • Phantom_2

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 9:38 am PT

    now i can let my lil bro play gears now. hell be happy. =]

  • staylorhogs

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 9:21 am PT

    This is a great idea. I, for one, try to stay away from games with strong language. The gore stuff don't bother me, but to hear all that language all the time drives me insane. I had GOW and returned it just because of the language. I wish all Mature rated games came with this feature.

  • djwood84

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 9:16 am PT

    On a related note, they are also releasing a version of Resevoir Dogs with the blood and swearing removed.

  • Sik_and_Twizted

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 8:12 am PT

    There are a great deal of parents out there that know that letting their children play violent games won't have any substantial affect on them, but it's been proven time and time again that adopt any language in which they're immeresed.

  • juggleJUGGLER

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 8:09 am PT

    whats so bad about blood, gore, and swearing?

  • ipl49

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 8:03 am PT

    jasonziter1-- i agree with the first part, but disagree with the second, why ruin it for the underage children who can still handle it? I'm 16 and almost 17 so it ruins it for the [poeple who are my age or a year or two under.

  • Ahiru-San

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 7:16 am PT

    they could make a "stuffed-locust" mode. imagine using the chainsaw and balls of cotton popping out of them! even a 5yo would be able to play that!

  • butt-pie

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 6:02 am PT

    you could turn off the blood in tony hawk games : )

  • shaun_mcwayne

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 5:22 am PT

    u could turn off the gore in gears 1, so its not that new an idea.

  • jasonziter1

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 4:53 am PT

    Good for you Epic. The problem is, if underage gamers are getting their hands on the game (ie their parents bought a rated M game for them) what makes you think the parents are responsible enough to enable that feature? Second...the problem is not the game....its the parents. Therefore gamers should be REQUIRED to "unlock the game" by entering a valid ID (drivers license or state ID). If they dont have a valid ID it AUTOMATICALLY goes to the limited content mode.
    If the parents can not be responsible then maybe the rules should be enforced.

  • americahellyeah

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 4:20 am PT

    thats stupid... without the gore/violence/cussing.. what does GeoW have!? basically nothing beyond any average shooter these days.

  • huggy_bear64

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 1:51 am PT

    JEEEEEEEEEzuz, people, Epic is just making a statement, this option is not actually supposed to do anything, it's just to say to parents: if you let your children be exposed to this kid of stuff, it's not our fault, it's yours, so stop complaining.

    also, i know it's a bit off topic but; Australia needs a f***ing R rating already, I'm sick of this game banning and censorship

  • cocomonk22

    Posted Aug 8, 2008 1:26 am PT

    More games should have this feature, especially as games are becoming more and more over-the-top. Features like this are what makes games better than other media, since it allows the player to customize the gaming experience to fit themselves.

  • s0njas0n

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 11:42 pm PT

    i think it's a good idea. i don't have to worry about the language when playing with my nephew. it's not like you have to do it. i don't get the big deal.

  • agni_1

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 10:59 pm PT

    "aliens? I bet this was the same editor that thought gears of war took place on earth. Come on gamespot do your homework! it's part of your job. as for the filter, sure makes sense . That way epic can sell more copies of the game." How true..gamespot's quality has fallen so far so soon. Its sad

  • INFAMOUSHAVOC

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 10:40 pm PT

    why do that for gears is not halo no little kids game

  • ghost89x

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 9:41 pm PT

    thats actually a great idea. they know those stupid little kids are gonna turn the blood and language on but it sure saves epic and microsoft's asses by adding that feature cause that way it's the parents problem not the gaming industries

  • makemeweak

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 9:13 pm PT

    That's a great idea - I hope they include this in more games from now on.

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