Why was this game rated AO?

[AbeAwesome]

A serious question here - especially if a developer is reading - what was the actual cut-off that sent this from M to AO?

I just saw a video of some of the gameplay, and it doesn't look nearly as violent as something like Hotline Miami (and that's not a criticism, just an observation).

I get a very Crusader: No Remorse vibe from it. Really looking forward to it. :)

[mortuus]

Uh hotline miami looks like the old postal even worse... have u seen the executions u can perform in this game ?

[AbeAwesome]

Originally posted by mortuus:

Uh hotline miami looks like the old postal even worse... have u seen the executions u can perform in this game ?

Yeah, I was just watching gameplay. Sure, the graphics are more realistic then HM, but the executions are also not much worse then stuff in Spec Ops: The Line (though obviously in Hatred many of the targets are civilian); Or maybe the dismemberment in Solider of Fortune.

I don't know - it really doesn't seem all that out of the mainstream to me. I don't understand why it got an AO.

[WastingSanity]

The Dev believes the following.

Originally posted by helepolis1980:

There is no such thing as tortures in Hatred, just quick elimination and execution that last few secs. We got the AO prolly because of context and lack of violence justification.

Originally posted by helepolis1980:

Imagine that you use executions in the combat as healing, and you have 5 cops shooting at you at the same moment. Long execution will not work with combat mechanics, that's not the point of gameplay we planned.

With the lack of justification for violence and add in the fact that the player heals himself when s/he executes a soccer mom with a shotgun, I believe this was the leading factor for this game to be AO.

[ifisch]

I'm a game developer and have filled out ESRB applications before. The way it works is you put together screenshots and video footage from your game, and answer a few questions. They don't actually play your game.

This means you are somewhat in control as to how material gets presented. Most game developers are trying to get a T or M, and doing whatever they can to NOT get an AO. So they will try to make the game seem less graphic than it is, while not technically misrepresenting it. Grand Theft Auto 5's application, for example, probably wasn't a montage of civilian killing.

I have a feeling the developers here did everything they could on their ESRB application in order to gain an AO rating, to drum up publicity. That means their application probably stood in stark contrast to every other application the ESRB gets. It may have been written in blood, for all I know.

So that's my theory.

[Tatsuya Hiroki]

Originally posted by Z3K0N15:

A lot of people are not realising the fact that the game didn't get AO for just the violence.The ratings are based on multiple things and one of them is the setting itself.This is what is really irritating me at the moment as people think just because its not violent enough basically deserves a teen rating.

true but still like AO when the violence level is still somewhere around GTA V?

[Hardtarget01]

Its NOT rated AO according to this investigation video into the matter by MundaneMatt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa6OGm7j7iY

[10% Butz]

Because "muh context"!

Obviously it's ok to kill other "people" when it's fun and the characters make epic jokes about it.

[Tatsuya Hiroki]

Originally posted by Z3K0N15:

plus no one gives a ♥♥♥♥ about mundanematt anymore anyway

the amount of people who watch it seem to disagree with you

[RILDOODTYRONE]

because of sjw tears

[Tatsuya Hiroki]

Originally posted by Z3K0N15:

lol

can you do better than him? ;)

[WastingSanity]

Originally posted by Z3K0N15:

even if it dosent get an ao rating the mods will sure make it ao lol

It could have been a media stunt. If it becomes M instead of AO. They greased some palms at the ESRB for the temp AO rating prior to launch. Hype hype.

[Hardtarget01]

It has always felt strange to me why this game would have an alleged AO rating when there are so many much more violent M rated games out like:

Gears of war trilogy
God of war trilogy
Call of duty Modern warfare 2
Doom trilogy
The last of us
Ninja Gaiden trilogy
Most Rockstar games

The list goes on...

[Hardtarget01]

Originally posted by WastingSanity:

Originally posted by Z3K0N15:

even if it dosent get an ao rating the mods will sure make it ao lol

It could have been a media stunt. If it becomes M instead of AO. They greased some palms at the ESRB for the temp AO rating prior to launch. Hype hype.

I would give it an M rating, doesnt really matter will still buy it but this over the top moral panic after the equally over the top launch trailer is probably why some assumed it would be AO.

[Neutralize]

It would all be much more socially acceptable if you were killing Nazis, since ya know, Nazis weren't/aren't people.
Or if you were killing Russians. Because, ya know, Russians aren't people, either.
Or if you were killing Arabs. Arabs are definitely not people.
Orrrr...you were killing Zombies. Zombies were kind of people, but not anymore, so fair game. Unless, of course, they are Nazi, Russian, or Arab zombies, then don’t even hesitate or feel an ounce of remorse to begin with.
And lastly, it's perfectly fine to kill extraterrestrials, since they are definitely not people. N...no really, they actually aren't. By all means, eradicate those higher life-forms that have traveled millions of light years with extreme prejudice.

{Please note, all of the above was sarcasm just to highlight how subjective, biased, and summarily nonsensically stupid the entire premise of a ratings board selecting some kind of arbitrary measurement for the different levels of acceptable violence being portrayed in fantasy (important word here, FANTASY), and its correlation to some equally arbitrary notion of an emotional maturity to accept it at certain age demographics. Not to even mention the total lack of any real tangible physical evidence to support even the slightest notions behind any of it all.

Russians, Arabs, and yes, even Nazis too, are human beings, and crazy as it is to say, I personally feel that ALL real-life (important word here, REAL-LIFE) intentional, malicious acts of violence against living beings should be perceived as abhorrent and morally wrong. Even regardless of any particular “setting” or the victim(s) and antagonist(s) and their affiliations. Ya know, the Golden Rule, “do unto others”, yada yada.}

So to surmise it, it’s rated AO because violence against people is wrong, unless your government or your religion or whatever other social construct you subscribe to tells you it’s okay.

My 2 cents. /rant

[Hardtarget01]

Originally posted by Z3K0N15:

even if it dosent get an ao rating the mods will sure make it ao lol

That is very likely but MODS dont have anything to do with ratings boards decisions.