Guide 2 Games » PC

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Guest Reviewers — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:11:31 +0000

Rating: some-issues

VIOLENCE: The violence in this game is bloodless and not gory for the most part. A drug transforms inmates into a ugly beast, and this change can be kind of gross, but no blood or gore is shown. In normal combat Batman knocks his enemies unconscious (he never kills them), but occasionally he will break their arm or their leg as an 'instant KO'.

LANGUAGE: The language is this game was your usual Teen rated fare. 'Oh my God' is used multiple times, as well as b--ch, d--m, hell, and a--.

SEXUAL CONTENT: Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy both wear revealing outfits, and Joker cracks lewd jokes from time to time.

SPOILERS
DARK ENVIRONMENT: The game features a very, very dark and oppressive environment. The Joker leaves dead bodies strewn across the Asylum, and sometimes in horrifying ways. When Batman is exposed to Scarecrow's gas, the Asylum gets even creepier: Batman imagines himself talking to his dead parents (gruesome white ghouls in body bags), and in one instance Batman sees himself eating a rat.

END SPOILERS

T (Teen), Some Issues, adventure, action, Eidos, DC, Warner Bros Interactive

Borderlands

Eric Taylor — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:06:41 +0000

Rating: not-rated

Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Strong Language This is a sci-fi first-person shooter in which players assume the roles of mercenary treasure hunters on a mission to the fictional planet of Pandora. Players undertake missions/quests that increase characters' skills, eliminate an assortment of mutant creatures, and drive and collide with advanced alien vehicles. Players kill hundreds of enemies (e.g., human bandits and mercenary soldiers) over the course of the game by using a wide variety of guns (shotguns, sniper rifles), explosives, and special ammo types (fire, acid and electricity, etc.). The combat is frenetic, and enemies moan or scream when they are hit. Damage from weapons also results in large spurts of blood, dismemberment, and decapitation. When a human or creature is decapitated, an effect resembling a fountain of blood will shoot from the neck for a few seconds and stop. Some weapons cause enemies to split in half, the top being separated from the waist. During the course of the game, characters make jokes about streaking, body parts, rape, and mothers (e.g., "…more busted than my momma's girly parts"). Strong profanity (e.g., "f*cking," "sh*t," "p*ssy," and "d*ckbag") can be heard in the dialogue.

First-Person Shooter, not-rated, Gearbox Software, 2K Games, M (Mature)

Dragon Age: Origins

John Fox — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:38:06 +0000

Rating: strong-caution

Violence: Blood is a theme. Enemies spurt red blood when hit in melee and a pool of blood forms when they die. Blood covers character when in combat (can be turned off). Some gore can be seem like decapitations in melee combat.

Language: Mild to moderate language is used throughout.

Sexual Content: Suggestive and sexual references skittered throughout. Optional romances end in a "sex scene". Characters can visit a brothel and buy services there. One ending requires a male character to sleep with a female one. A couple female characters are topless or nearly topless and one has her buttocks exposed.

Spiritual Content: Magic is used and gods are mentioned. Demons posses or trick mortals.

Other:Characters act drunk and some crude dialog.

RPG, Xbox 360, Strong Caution, BioWare Corp., PC, EA Games, PS3

Star Trek Online

Eric Taylor — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:20:44 +0000

Rating: not-rated

Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes Set in the year 2409, this game (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) allows players to assume the role of either a Federation Starship captain or a warrior for the Klingon Empire. Players can select a spaceship, navigate around asteroids and debris, and defend against enemy raids—this space combat represents approximately 50% of the game. The more intense combat takes place on the ground (roughly 35% of gameplay), as players use phaser guns to attack enemies in frenetic firefights: the sound of laser gunfire is prominent; characters stagger back when hit, then lie face down when defeated (though some characters get right back up and others disappear after a short period). The game's "Character Creation" section allows players to customize the appearance of their character; players are able to adjust the bust size of certain female characters to exaggerated proportions. Dialogue/text may also contain mildy suggestive phrases such as "I'll be your guide to . . . pleasures of the body" and "the pleasure goddess of Rixx."

MMORPG, Atari, T (Teen), Cryptic Studios, not-rated

Mass Effect 2

Eric Taylor — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:19:55 +0000

Rating: not-rated

Content descriptors: Blood, Drug Reference, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence Rating summary: In this action role-playing game, players' objective is to defeat an alien enemy that is silently abducting entire human colonies. Players must assemble a team of henchmen, command a space ship, and travel to distant planets across a futuristic galaxy. At its core, the game involves a combination of conversation/interaction with characters, and ground-based (i.e., "run-and-gun") space battle: Players use assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and pistols to kill humans, robots, and aliens in the frenetic third-person firefights. Some enemies emit large splashes of blood when shot (particularly with "head shots"); several enemies lie stagnant in pools of blood—factors for the Mature rating. Henchmen are able to freeze and shatter enemies, engage in melee attacks, set robots on fire, and use telekinesis to disable aliens. A handful of cutscenes depict dramatic interrogations in which human characters are threatened, punched, kicked, and shot (in the leg) by alien creatures. The game contains themes of illicit drug use, addiction, and trafficking—often focal points to the branching storylines; for example, "Morinth likes dancing while on a drug called Hallex," "Narcotics flooded my veins when I attacked," and "The asari injecting so many drugs into me was terrifying." During the course of the game, players may enter a bar where alien pole dancing exists (choreography highlighted on big-screen monitors) or hear suggestive comments such as "krogan sexual deviants enjoy salarian flexibility" and "if this is just about sex, maybe you should just f**king say so." [Italics added] Players can also choose to have "romantic encounters" with the alien/human henchmen characters; this involves watching a guided cutscene in which two characters flirt, kiss, and/or embrace: clothed alien/human characters may prop a partner on top of a space console, clear away the clutter from a bed-slab, unzip a future-blouse, or just talk it out. Though an alien/human may gyrate her hips while on top (fleeting—one-to-two seconds), actual sex is never depicted—the camera cuts away to space furniture and ceilings.

RPG, BioWare Corp., M (Mature), adventure, EA Games, not-rated

Lego Batman

SeriousGamer — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:42:07 +0000

Rating: some-issues

Mild Violence: Mild hand-to-hand combat and some gun and projectile combat against LEGO figures, enemies fall apart and disappear.

Destruction: Explosions, some vehicle-to-vehicle combat, parts of the environment can be destroyed

Mild Suggestive Content: One female character wears a skimpy outfit of leaves, a few kisses are seen

Other Negative Elements: Game offers the chance to play villain characters.

adventure, action, Some Issues, E10+, Traveller's Tales

Need for Speed: Shift

Eric Taylor — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:21:01 +0000

Rating: not-rated

Content descriptors: Mild Violence This is a racing simulation game in which players can select and customize a car to compete against other drivers on city streets and professional race circuits. Players earn "profile points" for performing certain skillful actions in the game (e.g., passing a car, mastering a corner on a difficult track, etc.), and can use their points to upgrade their driver profiles. Drivers also can earn "aggression points" for erratic driving or bumping into other cars; when racers collide with objects and cars on the track, they sometimes grunt in pain.

Racing, Slightly Mad, E (Everyone), not-rated, EA Games

Left 4 Dead 2

Eric Taylor — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:36:28 +0000

Rating: not-rated

Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language Infected zombie-like creatures roam the bayous, backwoods, streets, and parishes of a distinctly Southern United States in this first-person shooter set in the aftermath of apocalyptic pandemic. Groups of one-to-four players (i.e., the "Survivors") work cooperatively to battle the "Infected" zombies and reach safehouses at the end of each round/chapter. Player-Survivors use realistic pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, and assault rifles to kill hordes of zombies throughout the game; chainsaws, machetes, axes, and baseball bats can be used in frenetic close-quarter combat (i.e., melee attacks). In most cases, large sprays of blood shoot out of injured zombies, and they can stain the ground, walls—players' screen; for example, the "Boomer"-Infected explode in a shower of blood and bile when shot, which clouds players' view of the impending zombie swarm. Bladed melee weapons and direct hits from rifles, shotguns, etc., cause decapitation or dismemberment; intense depictions include: piles of the Infected in a pool of blood along the roadside; intestines spilling out of abdominal wounds; zombie gibs shooting in all directions; charred innards; and skeletal bits and unclaimed torsos. While the litany of somewhat "gruesome" depictions attests to the Mature rating, the over-the-top onslaught is, in some ways, mitigated by the exaggerated menacing evil (camp?) of the drone-like zombie horde; the genre homage (horror, zombies, . . . cricket paddle) is palpable. Consumers might also wish to know that the game includes profanity, such as "sh*t," "a*shole," and "b*tch"; however, it is the intense violence, the blood and gore that are the primary factors for the Mature rating.

EA Games, not-rated, Survival, First-Person Shooter, Valve Software

Assassin’s Creed II

Eric Taylor — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:28:12 +0000

Rating: not-rated

Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language

Players "relive" the life of an assassin during the Italian Renaissance in this open-world action adventure game. The goal is to exact revenge upon conspirators who have framed and executed loved ones; the goal is to be accomplished through assassination. As players roam the crowded streets of Florence, Italy, they can creep through catacombs and corridors, undertake diverse side-missions, and tail-and-assassinate all manner of human targets—politicians, Templar soldiers, conspirators. Players can also brawl with family rivals or engage in sword fights with Templar soldiers, but in most cases, they use stealth techniques to complete the mission; for example, players can sneak up on enemies from behind and kill them with hidden daggers, poisoned daggers, spring-activated blades, and swords. When blades connect, blood shoots out in a fountain-like manner as targets groan or scream. These stealth-kills are sometimes depicted close-up and are somewhat graphic: the camera follows the "herky-jerky" thrusts of the blade; the player hears a distinctly "wet" flesh-impact sound. The most graphic depictions of violence occur during cinematic cutscenes (the following two scenes do not involve players' character): A businessman, crawling away from a Templar leader, gets pinned to the ground by a sword through his neck; a young nobleman is ambushed by rivals, begs for mercy, then gets stabbed multiple times in the chest amid screams of "Muori! Mouri! Mouri!" [Die! Die! Die!]. The spurts and sprays of blood that accompany some of the stabbing attacks can be intense.

The game contains strong sexual overtones. During one "seduction mini-game," players are able to press buttons to kiss a woman and remove her dress; with the woman's back facing the camera, the two characters lower to bed and blow out a candle. Some scenes take place inside brothels, though no nudity or sexual acts are depicted. The dialogue contains the following sexual references: "So the whip or the paddle today?" and "Does your wife know about your page-boy fantasies, Captain?" Character backstories, narrated through still-frame vignettes, explain how villains and historical figures achieved their notoriety; some biographies include references to adultery, sodomy, prostitution, and rape (e.g., "Caterina was captured and sent to Rodrigo Borgia . . . who kept her imprisoned for a year and is rumored to have raped her alongside his son."). One cutscene depicts a man and a woman wearing translucent, flesh-toned bodysuits as they flee from danger. The digitized lighting effects, the glow from their futuristic suits, obscure most of the details, though outlines of breasts and buttocks are partially discernable (i.e., not definitively nudity). Consumers may also wish to know that the game contains strong profanity, both in English and Italian (e.g., "f**k," "sh*t," c*zzo," and "m*rda"); the most explicit instance occurs when a man frantically describes a "vision"—"I'm at the opera . . . the soprano is so beautiful . . . I'm in bed with her, she cries as I f**k her."

M (Mature), not-rated, action, Ubisoft

Panzer Dragoon Orta

Guest Reviewers — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:19:28 +0000

Rating: some-issues

Violence: Energy and laser beams, explosions, blood, missiles, gun fire, mechanized arms with grappling claws, and dragons.

Spirituality: Evolution. Artificial creation of life.

Language: D--- and h--- are shown in the subtitles.

Adult Content: Polygamy, some risque attire, and strong melancholy.

Misc. Negative: A boy curses and yells back at his father. A creature and her young are brutally shot down. The option to play as the enemy.

Positive: Friendship and family are encouraged. The main character and her companions show sacrifice in the face of peril.

Some Issues, T (Teen), Sega, action

Guide 2 Games » PC

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Rating: some-issues

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Borderlands

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