Games Least Deserving Of Their "M" Rating?

[Woodsey]

Halo 3 and Oblivion.

From what I remember, Oblivion was only rated M because of nude mods and something to do with the Dark Brotherhood questline.

Actually I think it was only because of the nude mod, which is ridiculous! It's a 15 in the UK, which I'd say is suitable. I couldn't believe they raised the rating because of a third party mod, you can do it to most games, just re-texture the skins.

Mass Effect's rating in the US was ridiculous, it's a 12+ in the UK. The whole Fox News 'Interactive Porn' thing was hilarious.

Hitman: Blood Money (18+) is also no-more violent than the other entries in the series (all 15's I think). And the women in the Borat Mankinis were hardly what I'd call sexual content.

I played the L4D demo and it was hardly violent or scary; it was tense but it wasn't horror.

I think rating systems need to get real, swearing is so normal amongst EVERYONE over the age of about 12 that it shouldn't drive a rating to be over 12+ just because of it. An 'adults only' rating is quite weird to me as well, by the time you're 14/15 the things that's in an 18 won't have bad effects on you like if you're 8.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Halo 3 and Oblivion.

From what I remember, Oblivion was only rated M because of nude mods and something to do with the Dark Brotherhood questline.

These two. Exactly what came to mind.

 

[OddOzZy666]

To all who have said Fallout 3, there is a gratuitous amount of gore, especially with the Bloody mess perk. Theres drug references and swearing in it too. As for the games whkch didn't deserve an M or 18 label. They would be Resi 5, I mean come on! Resi 4 was much more violent. I guess its an 18 because of the racism claims before it was released

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

OT: I'd go with Red Faction too, it's really not very violent at all.

It's possibly rated that way because you are bludgeoning people to death with a blunt instrument, not that I think that's justification for "M", or 16+ as it is here in the UK.

 

[greywolfsage]

The original Halo was also written off as a M-rated game.
For Blood and Gore.

....When you melee'd a corpse.....

There was no blood ANYWHERE else.

 

[letsnoobtehpwns]

Every Halo game, Call of Duty 4 and Oblivion. Didn't Oblivion use to be rated T?

 

[joe182]

OT: I'd go with Red Faction too, it's really not very violent at all.

It's possibly rated that way because you are bludgeoning people to death with a blunt instrument, not that I think that's justification for "M", or 16+ as it is here in the UK.

Oh I know, and it's awesome, but it's not exactly bloody, or really 'violent'.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

OT: I'd go with Red Faction too, it's really not very violent at all.

It's possibly rated that way because you are bludgeoning people to death with a blunt instrument, not that I think that's justification for "M", or 16+ as it is here in the UK.

Oh I know, and it's awesome, but it's not exactly bloody, or really 'violent'.

True enough, but we cannot understand the minds of the rating agencies.

 

[KamachoMcSagget]

All Halo games, Persona 3-FES and 4, Devil Summoner 2, Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4, and Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4

 

[SquirrelPants]

Bioshock probably since it might have "A reference" to drug use either that or the poeple are insane. No nudity or violence here. (I think)

No violence? In one of the trailers, you see a drill shoved through your chest and before that a drill is shoved into your hand
There are scenes with people hung up in a crucifixion like manor

Also, let's not forget the statues made from peoples' corpses. Man, now I want to play that again.

OT: I don't think that Oblivion, Halo 3, or Dawn of War II deserved their ratings. The mature rating, in my opinion, should be reserved for games that are REALLY adult, games like BioShock or Viva Pinata. The rating is thrown around too much to mean anything anymore.

 

[Danny Ocean]

Hmm. We go: 3+, 7+, 12+, 15+/16+ and 18.

Yeah, the U.S. goes:
E which is everyone 3+
E10+ which is, well, everyone 10+
T which is 13+
M which is 17+
AO which is adults only, 18+, which I believe is pointless.

Probably for legal reasons. Can 17 year olds sue?

 

[Beatrix]

Breakdown for the original XBox was rated 18+ for absolutely no reason.
Yes it was a bit creepy, yes it featured shooting guns at soldiers and aliens, but aside from the overly complex plot there was nothing in there to warrant anything over a 13+/T rating.

 

[darthzew]

Bioshock probably since it might have "A reference" to drug use either that or the poeple are insane. No nudity or violence here. (I think)

No violence in Bioshock?!? There's as much blood as there is water!

And to the OP, I'd say Halo. It is simply not deserving of the same rating as games like Grand Theft Auto.

 

[saphiren]

Definitely Halo, I actually saw an ad for the PC version that said it was rated Teen . Following in that vein, I really don't think Return to Castle Wolfenstein really deserved the M either because it's definitely not quite as intense as Halo. Also Counter-Strike, MGS 2 (although if there is something that really makes the M then I haven't gotten far enough to find it yet), and Full Spectrum Warrior. Those are just pretty much what I can think of off the top of my head (yes, they're old games but I can't afford a next-gen system).

 

[WoolyCaterpillar]

Halo 3. Dammit, there's barely any blood in the game, barely any cursing, and most of the weapons look like children's toys.

But imagine how many more kids would be on xbox live! The extra with parents who pay attention to the rating system! We would have more madness!

My thoughts exactly! D: It would be even worse than it already is!

 

[Irridium]

Hmm. We go: 3+, 7+, 12+, 15+/16+ and 18.

Yeah, the U.S. goes:
E which is everyone 3+
E10+ which is, well, everyone 10+
T which is 13+
M which is 17+
AO which is adults only, 18+, which I believe is pointless.

Probably for legal reasons. Can 17 year olds sue?

I doubt it. Hopefully not.

They probably just get their parents to sue for them.

 

[BlackIronGuardian]

Diablo 2.

And Starcraft isn't. This perplexes me.

 

[Treblaine]

50 cent's first game. I had a room mate and I saw him play it on my PS2, it had a giant Red characters "RATED 18 ONLY" and "ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR CHILDREN" on the box art yet it was just seemed to be another generic and pretty boring looking shooter, I don't even remember any blood, gore, dismemberment or even ragdoll physics. Just incredibly bad and poorly compressed rap music (mostly from the star of the show, fiddy himself) endlessly looping in the background.

It is blatantly obvious they only rated it 18 and gave it such a ridiculously sized Ratings label because they didn't like 50 cent's lyrics but that should have been a 15 rating at most.

BTW, in case you ever do this it is pretty NOT COOL to buy a game for a console you don't have but only your room-mate has as it obliges them to hand over the use of their console a lot of the time just so he or she doesn't feel they are ripping off their room-mate.