Not Child's Play

Another game banned from Australia because minors can't play it.

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By Nathan Davis on 17 April, 2009

In Australia, the only legally recognised type of gamer is the minor. Apparently, we’re all fifteen years of age and under, even though research [PDF] clearly shows that the average age of an Australian gamer is double that. Unfortunately, such an archaic view on the world causes adult games to often fall victim and end up being banned from our shores, gaining the Refused Classification (RC) rating.

Many games really aren’t suitable for minors to play, so the Classification Board – which is often wrongly the target of attack from the ignorant – has no option but to resort to handing a game Refused Classification if it falls beyond the embarrassingly low threshold set by the Attorney-General’s department. The primary reason for our lack of an adult rating for games, of course, is the horribly uninformed South Australian attorney-general, Michael Atkinson.

The latest game to fall foul of our backward system is a relatively little-known title called NecroVision. Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, it’s a supernatural first-person shooter set during World War I. You play Simon Bukner, a young American soldier who quickly discovers that German soldiers aren’t his only concern. An ancient yet secret war between vampires and demons ensues beneath the World War battlegrounds and it’s been losing some of its secrecy, now spilling over into your world.

According to a report sent to New Enthusiast, the Classification Board says NecroVision “contains depictions of violence that exceed a strong playing impact and as such the computer game cannot be accommodated at the MA 15+ classification and must be RC.” As mentioned earlier, the problem is plainly spelled out: “It is unsuitable for a minor to see or play.”

Judging from its assessment, it sounds very much like Soldier of Fortune (itself, no stranger to the ban hammer), with the ability to decapitate enemies and wade through flying chunks of flesh and streams of blood. “When the player shoots an enemy combatant, a large volume of blood spray results and the enemy may be dismembered or decapitated,” says the report. “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.”

For those unaware, Refused Classification means it’s illegal to sell, hire, advertise, or otherwise exhibit the game in Australia. So, no screenshots for you, but I’m sure you know how the internet works.

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