Zombie hunters in Australia are going to have to make do with an edited version of Left 4 Dead 2. After being refused a rating by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification in September -- thereby banning the game from sale -- Valve appealed the decision, hoping the OFLC would reconsider its decision. After all, the original Left 4 Dead was released uncensored in Australia. But sure enough, the OFLC has again determined that L4D2 should not be assigned a rating, instead being slapped with the dreaded RC (refused classification).
An official statement (PDF, via GamePolitics) reads in part:
In the Review Board's opinion, Left 4 Dead 2 could not be accommodated within the MA 15+ classification. The computer game contains a level of violence which is high in impact, prolonged, repeated frequently and realistic within the context of the game.Tags: NEWSIn addition, it was the Review Board's opinion that there was insufficient delineation between the depiction of general zombie figures and the human figures, as opposed to the clearly fictional 'infected' characters. This was a major consideration of the Review Board in determining the impact of this game on minors.
