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A first for the Halo franchise, Microsofts latest title has received a T for Teen rating by the ESRB.
According to the ratings board, "This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a super soldier (Locke) searching for a missing character. Players use pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, and futuristic weapons to kill alien and human enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, explosions, and occasional blood-splatter effects. Characters can also use "assassinations" to kill characters by snapping their necks, or by stabbing them with bladed weapons. The word "a*s" appears in the dialogue, as well as occasional taunts/insults (e.g., "I have copulated...with your genetic progenitors!"; 'Your father was a filthy colo and your mother was a hole in the wall!')."

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Halo going for a teen rating is an odd decision on the ESRB's part, considering the game isn't any less tame than previous entries in the series. Is the ESRB getting a little more lax?
The mention of guns being used to kill human players is also an interesting tidbit, that could point to the inclusion of Arbiter/Elite style levels returning, ala Halo 2.

You can watch some of the new Halo 5 Guardians gameplay recently released at Gamescom below.

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[RevPokemon]

If you've got years of training under your belt. Apparently snapping necks is kind of difficult. My dad was in the Army and he trained with a purpose made dummy to 'snap necks'. He said it took incredible strength and precision of grip to do it properly.

But I know what you mean - but I think the ESRB is thinking the lack of blood makes it okay. They tend to look at stuff like blood, sex ,nudity, swearing and other graphic depictions to rate it M. Maybe they just are getting lax.

Off course we as a nation are getting more lax. Many games today would have been rated harder in the 90's when thier was controversy over doom, columbine, and mortal kombat where the worst things but new games are more revealing sexually, more blood and more violence (compare say doom vs no more hero's). I'm not saying its bad to be lax and I support the right for artists but generally society gets more accepting and OK with certain things over time. Like it used to be music labels said cursing would kill an album but now all the top 40 stuff has parental advisory for lyrics.

 

[G0R3Z]

Off course we as a nation are getting more lax. Many games today would have been rated harder in the 90's when thier was controversy over doom, columbine, and mortal kombat where the worst things but new games are more revealing sexually, more blood and more violence (compare say doom vs no more hero's). I'm not saying its bad to be lax and I support the right for artists but generally society gets more accepting and OK with certain things over time. Like it used to be music labels said cursing would kill an album but now all the top 40 stuff has parental advisory for lyrics.

It's just how our culture evolves with the times. Kids are being to exposed to more than I was when I was their age. I'm 25 and I never would've been allowed to play stuff like COD when I was 11/12. I had resident evil, the remake for gamecube, but that's it - and that was because I actually bought it with my own money and never told my mother XD

Well, I wouldn't know about music, I haven't listened to top 40 stuff since I probably was about 11-12. I only listen to folk rock and metal really.

I see more 12 year old girls dressing like prostitutes. And people can say it's fashion but no, it's just slutty; they're fucking half naked. But that's because it was so unnatural when I was young. You had girls in short skirts but it was never quite as revealing.

 

[RevPokemon]

It's just how our culture evolves with the times. Kids are being to exposed to more than I was when I was their age. I'm 25 and I never would've been allowed to play stuff like COD when I was 11/12. I had resident evil, the remake for gamecube, but that's it - and that was because I actually bought it with my own money and never told my mother XD

I see more 12 year old girls dressing like prostitutes. And people can say it's fashion but no, it's just slutty; they're fucking half naked.

Well some progression is good like better treatment for LBGT person but some changes are bad like I see 12 y/Os dressed like they are 16.

But here is something from killer Mike that is so true


So it seems our people starve from lack of understanding
Cause all we seem to give them is some balling and some dancing
And some talking about our car and imaginary mansions
We should be indicted for bullshit we inciting
Hand the children death and pretend that it's exciting
We are advertisements for agony and pain
We exploit the youth, we tell them to join a gang
We tell them dope stories, introduce them to the game

That's basically how we are raising our kids as a nation

 

[G0R3Z]

Well some progression is good like better treatment for LBGT person but some changes are bad like I see 12 y/Os dressed like they are 16.

But here is something from killer Mike that is so true


So it seems our people starve from lack of understanding
Cause all we seem to give them is some balling and some dancing
And some talking about our car and imaginary mansions
We should be indicted for bullshit we inciting
Hand the children death and pretend that it's exciting
We are advertisements for agony and pain
We exploit the youth, we tell them to join a gang
We tell them dope stories, introduce them to the game

That's basically how we are raising our kids as a nation

Our children of today, a great deal of them are entitled. Kids don't have priorities and think they'll have a job, money and a house and car handed to them on a damn plate. It doesn't work like that and real work is involved the real world.

I genuinely heard two 14 year old girls arguing just the other week. No joke I overheard "You wore the same top as I did in front of him! You ruined my fucking life!". Damn, those are some priorities.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

It's just how our culture evolves with the times. Kids are being to exposed to more than I was when I was their age. I'm 25 and I never would've been allowed to play stuff like COD when I was 11/12. I had resident evil, the remake for gamecube, but that's it - and that was because I actually bought it with my own money and never told my mother XD

Well, I wouldn't know about music, I haven't listened to top 40 stuff since I probably was about 11-12. I only listen to folk rock and metal really.

I see more 12 year old girls dressing like prostitutes. And people can say it's fashion but no, it's just slutty; they're fucking half naked. But that's because it was so unnatural when I was young. You had girls in short skirts but it was never quite as revealing.

It also varies from country and culture. I for example was allowed to play games of any rating that I wanted as well as movies 'cause it's just entertainment and you gotta realise it it's for fun and well, entertainment.

I remember spending tons of hours running over people on GTA 2 and Driver 2 which predates how GTA became such a success in 3D. There was a time when I left the car in Driver 2 and the police couldn't kill me. Funny bug.

 

[G0R3Z]

It also varies from country and culture. I for example was allowed to play games of any rating that I wanted as well as movies 'cause it's just entertainment and you gotta realise it it's for fun and well, entertainment.

I remember spending tons of hours running over people on GTA 2 and Driver 2 which predates how GTA became such a success in 3D. There was a time when I left the car in Driver 2 and the police couldn't kill me. Funny bug.

My upbringing was a little....strict. So I didn't really get what I wanted most of the time. I had to work and earn for everything I had most of the time. My mother told me that I could only have a new bed (as my old one was falling apart) if I earned to pay for it myself.

Video games were a rare commodity on our household. If my mother knew I had a lot of games that I did, she probably would've given me a good slap.

 

[VinsCool]

There was a time when I left the car in Driver 2 and the police couldn't kill me. Funny bug.

"Walks backward and pass through the building, drowned"
Yeah, buggy, but still fun

 

[RevPokemon]

It also varies from country and culture. I for example was allowed to play games of any rating that I wanted as well as movies 'cause it's just entertainment and you gotta realise it it's for fun and well, entertainment.

I remember spending tons of hours running over people on GTA 2 and Driver 2 which predates how GTA became such a success in 3D. There was a time when I left the car in Driver 2 and the police couldn't kill me. Funny bug.

Any way how old where you then?

 

[WiiCube_2013]

My upbringing was a little....strict. So I didn't really get what I wanted most of the time. I had to work and earn for everything I had most of the time. My mother told me that I could only have a new bed (as my old one was falling apart) if I earned to pay for it myself.

Video games were a rare commodity on our household. If my mother knew I had a lot of games that I did, she probably would've given me a good slap.

Loved the 90's as when we were kids we could go anywhere outside and not worry about a thing happening. 00's were still really good too, I had fun playing PS1 demo discs rather than the full games (it was the cheap option to play new PS1 games at the time ).

Any way how old where you then?

Around 10-12.

Oh yeah, my pops used to use pirated satellite box to access all channels so when I was alone I'd watch the naughty ones.

 

[G0R3Z]

Loved the 90's as when we were kids we could go anywhere outside and not worry about a thing happening. 00's were still really good too, I had fun playing PS1 demo discs rather than the full games (it was the cheap option to play new PS1 games at the time ).

Same here. My favourite was the theme hospital demo disk, which also had ghost in the shell on it. Both great games.

 

[RevPokemon]

Loved the 90's as when we were kids we could go anywhere outside and not worry about a thing happening. 00's were still really good too, I had fun playing PS1 demo discs rather than the full games (it was the cheap option to play new PS1 games at the time ).



Around 10-12.

Oh yeah, my pops used to use pirated satellite box to access all channels so when I was alone I'd watch the naughty ones.

Well that's not too bad to play an M game compared to others. I remember I was alot younger when I secretly played my first M game

 

[Foxi4]

I hope this doesn't mean that the game will be sanitized of all mature elements. I still maintain that Halo is one of the best shooters in history in terms of storytelling, not because it was terribly complex, but because you need a certain level of maturity to understand the intrigue of the original trilogy and its extended universe material.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Same here. My favourite was the theme hospital demo disk, which also had ghost in the shell on it. Both great games.

I have been planning on getting a PS1 copy of Ghost in the Shell but it's going for £30 on Amazon and eBay so.. no. I've got a backup of the game on my PSTV and it's not as good as my nostalgic memories recall (the controls aren't as good as they used to be compared to games from PS2 and so on).

 

[omgpwn666]

That's..never gonna happen for online games no matter the game being played. I hope that was sarcasm.

You're being a bit naive, don't you think?

It was sarcasm. I'm sorry that didn't translate well through text. lol

 

[the_randomizer]

It was sarcasm. I'm sorry that didn't translate well through text. lol

How is sarcasm usually supposed to translate in text? Sorry XD

 

[omgpwn666]

How is sarcasm usually supposed to translate in text? Sorry XD

I don't think it ever does, so it's easier to use a /sarcasm. I usually just feel if a statement is very stupid it's sarcasm, but you can never be too sure. lol

 

[Hells Malice]

Should be rated S for Shit.

Anyway as others have said, it's likely just the ESRB being more lenient. The whole idea of ESRB is flawed anyway, it doesn't mean anything. It's like putting numbers in a review, it's completely arbitrary.

Or it could be 343 stripped the game for a T rating. I wouldn't put it past them, they're pretty bad. But I doubt it.

 

[RevPokemon]

Should be rated S for Shit.

Anyway as others have said, it's likely just the ESRB being more lenient. The whole idea of ESRB is flawed anyway, it doesn't mean anything. It's like putting numbers in a review, it's completely arbitrary.

Or it could be 343 stripped the game for a T rating. I wouldn't put it past them, they're pretty bad. But I doubt it.

I think it should only tell you what content it has with an example (say on thier site) as that would be better

 

[WiiCube_2013]

How is sarcasm usually supposed to translate in text? Sorry XD

Just take another look at it again:

Rated T? Yay! That means people will be nicer on the online games, and wont cuss as much.

This is what sarcasm is all about. It shouldn't be needed to leave at the end the usual "/sarcasm" so those unable to tell know it's sarcasm.

 

[Deleted User]

Halo has always had a similar rating to T in other countries. Up until Halo 4 they were R16 in New Zealand (many T games end up R16, R13 or M here) and Halo 4 was M (different M from US) then raised to R13 post launch. I think 4 and 5 have been getting lower ratings because of the less realistic graphics compared to other games of their time.