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Left 4 Dead 2 banned in Australia

It looks like the dead won't be rising down under anytime soon with Left 4 Dead 2 being the latest game refused classification in Australia.

James Kozanecki
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James Kozanecki

It looks like the dead won't be rising down under anytime soon.

Limb dismemberment highlighted in the Classification Board's decision. (Credit: Valve)

Valve's zombie-survival shooter has received a major set-back after being refused classification by the Australian Government's Classification Board. The ruling states that the game fails to adhere to guidelines for material warranting an MA15+ rating, and is therefore ineligible for classification. Without classification it is illegal to buy, sell or rent the game in Australia.

In a breakdown of the decision, received by our colleagues at GameSpot Australia, the Classification Board indicated that violence was the key concern for the team assessing the game.

The game contains realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence which is inflicted upon 'the Infected' who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently... However, it is the use of the 'melee' weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage. These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore.

Left 4 Dead 2 is the fourth game banned in Australia this year, and adds further fuel to the debate as to whether the government should introduce an R18+ classification for video games, similar to the system used to classify the suitability of movies. For a detailed discussion of the debate check out GameSpot Australia's Censory Overload feature.