Poll: The a blood on/off option be available in violent games

[hermes]

I don't mind if they include the option, even if I don't use it. The same for bleeping language. A great example of that was Brutal Legend. I actually played with the bleeping on, since it make the humor stand up more...

However, I don't know how they could tone down some games... God of War without the violence would make all the execution pointless.

 

[Catie Caraco]

I like having this option. I just like having the option to minimize interference with my immersion. I don't mind blood and violence in games, but I do when it is distracting from the experience. Like in Dragon Age (O and II), I like having blood turned off because when my character walks up and talks to someone after a fight and he has blood all over him it's just... weird. And the blood in Assassin's Creed can be a little distracting sometimes.

This says it all for me. Sometimes the blood and gore just detract from the visual and the flow of the story. The only it made sense in Dragon Age was the City Elf origin, where the guards would attack you on the spot if you didn't change out of your blood soaked clothes. Oh.. and you could have your dog eat the gore off of you to regain health and clean your clothes. Doesn't anyone else find it a REALLY BAD IDEA to feed your dog DARKSPAWN meat? Not to mention the dog gags when Alistair teases it about eating people. Also, your clothes would still be bloodstained, and now also covered in dog slobber. Not cool.

 

[Grimbold]

It is a good option.
The gore in Fallout 3 was censored in Germany so I installed a blood patch because I don't like censorship and the effects are so ridiculously over the top that I wanted to turn them off imidiately, which sadly didn't work.

 

[bbad89]

Why isn't there a "I don't care" option? I mean, I don't mind all the gore in the world, but I know someone cares and I guess it should be there for them, but I don't mind either way.

Because if you really didn't care, you wouldn't be here.

 

[esperandote]

Why not, options are good.

 

[Cazza]

Without the blood I just feel like the graphics are odd. Sure add it for those would want to have it off. I doubt it will be hard to add. Though Dragon age looks so wierd when the characters are covered in blood. Sure in real life they would be covered in blood but they would at least wipe it off.

 

[DestinyDriven]

1. The game was indeed intended for me - I love it. The point that I have stated at least three times at this point, is: THERE SHOULD BE AN OPTION.

And sweet jesus, I'm not even going to bother with the rest of it because it just boils down to one very specific, very simple point. The option should be there for people to make their OWN choice. Not have you or other people say "You can't enjoy this game is the gore is lessened or taken out, you just can't. So you're not allowed to have the option."

That's it, that is all that I am trying to say. I have played and I enjoy Dead Space and its sequel. It stands up as a game on its own because it is designed well, with excellent gameplay and atmosphere. If I had a friend who was interested in playing it but had a problem with seeing such a huge degree of blood - it would be nice to see an option for him to turn it down, or off if he so desired.

And he should NOT be discriminated against just because YOU say it's "not for" him.

You or him are NOT being discriminated against by not having this option in certain horror, gore oriented games. What I am saying is that, if you decide to take out something so big in a game, where the gore aspect uses such tactics TO CAUSE TENSION, STRESS, HORROR, DISGUST, SHOCK AND FEAR ALL THE TIME, which is the type of game they are trying to make, and plays an important part in such a game, and that those tactics are the main point of making such genre of game (other wise it would just be a sci fi action with a bit of a plot).

In removing such gore, you will then end up having a game that is "meh" and not amazing because you are trying to make a game into two different things which panders to two entirely different crowds. It just cannot be done. Not just that, with the amount of gore in DS, you would have to try and change many things just because some people are iffy about a horror/gore oriented game that is for a specific genre and crowd.

What you are suggesting is trying to make Dead Space into something that it is not, and can never be, and will never work as taking the horror aspect out of a horror game and trying to fit it into another genre by just doing that will cause the game to fail. It was never set up to be like that.

By removing something so dominant, prominent and important to the game itself, you are changing what it is. You cannot just make a horror game that focuses on the gore aspect to scare and shock people, to change so it has little to no gore in it to pander to people who don't like gore in the first place.

I mean, what the hell?! It is a horror game that even advertises itself on being so gory. Take out the gore and it will not be able to be a great game, since it was meant to be something very different.

So now you're acting like putting in the option to remove or limit gore would make Dead Space an entirely different game? That's a bit extreme - hell that's way more than a bit extreme, that's just plain wrong.

Supplying the option to lessen the blood and/or gore - hell, most Mortal Kombat games have had options to take the gore out of the game and that hasn't hurt the series as a whole. Why is this? Because the gameplay stays the exact same - same with a huge variety of shooters, most of which have been on the PC as I remember playing Soldier Of Fortune way back when and cranking those gore sliders all the way up because of how hilariously overdone the violence was done. But you know what? If that wasn't for me, I could play the game just like any other shooter, and that would've been fine. I would've got the experience that I wanted to get out of the game.

I'll say it again - god, I'm tired of saying it but it's fundamentally something that is near impossible to be argued against and a really, really simple concept. I'll try and break it down:

YOU
You like gore.
You think that Dead Space needs to be played with gore.
You play Dead Space with gore.

SOMEONE ELSE
They don't like large amount of gore.
They would like the option to lessen the impact of the gore/blood.
They don't play Dead Space because a really simple thing hasn't been implemented.

SOMEONE ELSE, WITH THE OPTION
They don't like large amount of gore.
They would like the option to lessen the impact of the gore/blood.
They have that option, they play the game. Maybe they enjoy it, they'll probably pick up a sequel.

Now - numbers in the poll above are currently 70 percent in favour of allowing the option. This Dead Space tangent is the most extreme of cases, and was chosen for that reason I suppose - because it for one reason or another in someone's head makes it harder to argue against, but still the point stands that you are not someone else. That's it.

The integrity of the game as it is seem IN YOUR EYES is entirely moot when you are enjoying the game that way. If I were to sit down and play Dead Space - only to find out that there was less gore, I would STILL personally be put off by the dark atmosphere, the bodies, all the freaky shit that happens. I don't NEED blood to complete the experience, but I would like it anyways.

Someone else, might not.

I accept that.

Someone might enjoy watching a movie with closed captioning.
I don't.
I don't watch movies with closed captioning.

I like playing games on normal difficulty.
Someone else might think that the game isn't worth playing unless it's on hard.
He plays the game on hard, and I play the game on normal.
We both get exactly what we want to out of the experience on the game that we have purchased.

I'm playing a game with customizeable powerups.
I don't like certain powerups, I decide to remove them.
Someone else thinks that these powerups should be left in because they make the game fun for them.
They don't make the game fun for me so I leave them off.

You just don't get it. Dead Space a sci- fi horror/action game that bases it's scares on EXTREME GORE. Taking the gore away will just leave it to be an sci-fi action game (and a poorly done one since it isn't meant to be that in the first place). Dead Space is not a fighting game. A fighting game does not need gore unless that is what the devs want. A horror gore game that bases it's scares on mainly the actual gore itself, is totally different. It needs gore to be scary. It is what drives the game. Since that is what the devs want to use in order to make you scared.

What are you doing playing an ACTION/HORROR game that does indeed need the gore in order to give you scares, if you don't like or want the horror!? You just want a sci-fi action game? Go play Mass Effect or Halo. Dead Space is a different genre. A horror genre. It cannot be changed for people who do not like horror in the first place because it is first and foremost, a horror game that uses gore to give you scares.

If you can't understand that there are different genres, and that a lot of horror games use gore to make you scared, and they base their games on the gore to make you feel scared, then I don't know what else to say. You don't like horror, obviously. So just ignore Dead Space. Just do not try to fit it into a genre that it cannot possibly become.

 

[DestinyDriven]

You just don't get the fact that I get exactly what you are saying - and you can drag this back to Dead Space being whatever way you see it all you want. Dead Space is a survival-horror game plain and simple, however you want to classify it or try to someone make it a situation where the game NEEDS gore and that just can't happen. Seriously, it can't happen because Dead Space is still fundaementally Dead Space with lessened (which isn't something you've acknowledged as being an option) or removed gore. It still would play the EXACT same way.

AND FOR THE THIRD (at least) TIME, I ENJOY DEAD SPACE. I enjoy most ALL survival horror games, but as I have stated OVER AND OVER, I am arguing from a wider point of view instead of the narrow one that you are struggling to hold onto.

I am not being narrow minded. I am being truthful. Dead space is meant to be gory. Making an option for it to not be what it is intended to be the whole time is just stupid. It's not something like Mass Effect where the gore doesn't effect the plot, atmosphere, scenes etc in any way. Because in this game it does. It is not scary without the gore, and I am sure other horror fans will agree. It will only have very, very minor creepiness to it. Like the Husks in Mass Effect. It won't be scary enough. And Dead Space is marketed to be gory and scary. It is not meant for people who do not like gore. It really changes it in a big way. At least for it's intended audience, anyway.

But OK, I will dance to your tune. This changing of gameplay to market to a broader audience. So, exactly what do you class as too gory? Do you feel the necromorphs are too gory? Because I am sure there will be MANY people who think their design is. So why not change them just to look like actual people? And of course, the blood will be gone. And the shock horror scenes will be edited out or made to look like something else for people who don't like gore. What else? I am sure there are MANY things that people find too gory in DS. You could pick it apart for hours and hours. Or are you just happy with having an option to turn the gore that you find unacceptable off and leave the rest you can handle?

Seriously, this is not just slightly changing the brightness of a game. DS is impossible to censor without changing everything very heavily. It may as well just be a different game. Which is what it would be, minus ALL the gore and scares that people find unacceptable. I will basically be two different games. No. It won't work, and requires massive change to suit the needs of people this game isn't even targeting. Have you ever heard of a Target Audience? Without an actual target, and dedication to trying to deliver to that target audience, you will have no real pull to certain fans of certain genres. Media basics 101. It's never a good idea to try to pander to everyone. Without an actual vision, and understanding and dedication to bringing your product to your intended audience, you will fail. A miss match of ideas that don't work.

Just let Dead Space do what it's good at, and that is gore.

EDIT: Oh yes, and another thing. You said it yourself somewhere that Dead Space is an extreme example of violence/gore. So, by taking the gore out of Dead Space, isn't that also an extreme difference?

You aren't happy with the gore that is very extreme and is everywhere, almost if not all constantly, yet you don't think that by taking the gore out it will change much? It changes the whole feel of the game. It contradicts what this game is all about. Don't say it's all about the gameplay either. You could easily have two very different games but with similar gameplay and you prefer one over the other because one is horror/gore, the other is action/adventure.

The fact is that you like some of the gameplay, but not the genre. That happens to me all the time. It does not mean I think that game should try to pander to me instead of the actual target audience, wanting to change big parts of the game and maybe even it's genre just so people like me would enjoy it more.

 

[orangeban]

There is no real reason not to have a blood off button. I don't suppose it's too difficult to program (wouldn't really know, I'm guessing there) and not having one just means that people who are squeamish about blood will avoid your game, so you get less sales.

 

[DustyDrB]

If the blood is ridiculous looking like it is in Dragon Age: Origins, then yes. I always turn off persistent gore in that game.

 

[RubyT]

I don't get people sometimes.

Games with a blood & gore are usually violent. And in most countries, the packaging is legally obliged to tell you that. So just don't buy them.
You shoot a virtual enemy in the head and you're repulsed by him bleeding? WTF is wrong with you?!

If the devs feel like adding the "sissy"-option to expand their target audience to weird people, fine. It's their choice. But demanding it as some sort of standard is idiotic. A game is an art product, not a fridge. It's not about options.

"Oh, I feel like Metallica should re-release the Black Album with an option to turn off guitar solos, 'cause I don't like those."

"Yeah, and there should be a new version of Indiana Jones with pics of puppies instead of the Swastikas, because they disturb me."

Half-Life 2 should've included the option to change the voices of the combine to something friendlier, if you shoot them they should just sit down like in laser-tag, there should be a story-only-mode where no-one shoots and they just try to verbally discourage you and of course there should have been an option to turn Alyx into a dude called Steve. You know, it's all about choices. Also, in the beginning I would have liked to remain in the train and go to a different city and play a totally different game...

 

[Lukeje]

You just don't get the fact that I get exactly what you are saying - and you can drag this back to Dead Space being whatever way you see it all you want. Dead Space is a survival-horror game plain and simple, however you want to classify it or try to someone make it a situation where the game NEEDS gore and that just can't happen. Seriously, it can't happen because Dead Space is still fundaementally Dead Space with lessened (which isn't something you've acknowledged as being an option) or removed gore. It still would play the EXACT same way.

Wait; you're arguing that a game in which the primary fighting mechanic is dismembering the creatures would be the same without gore? Seriously?

 

[Lukeje]

You just don't get the fact that I get exactly what you are saying - and you can drag this back to Dead Space being whatever way you see it all you want. Dead Space is a survival-horror game plain and simple, however you want to classify it or try to someone make it a situation where the game NEEDS gore and that just can't happen. Seriously, it can't happen because Dead Space is still fundaementally Dead Space with lessened (which isn't something you've acknowledged as being an option) or removed gore. It still would play the EXACT same way.

Wait; you're arguing that a game in which the primary fighting mechanic is dismembering the creatures would be the same without gore? Seriously?

You could still dismember the fuck out of them all you wanted to - tone down the amount of blood and gore that comes out, and you've got something that could be discussed.

So... you cut off a leg and it just disappears? Do you not think that that's slightly immersion breaking?

 

[Lukeje]

As far as Dead Space goes, all I am saying is that there could be an option for lessened gore. Just because you cut off a limb it doesn't mean there HAS to be tons of blood and parts, for example - it can just be treated as a cut off limb. If someone is going to take the path of choosing to have a lesser amount of gore in their game, that's something that they're going to have to deal with immersion wise.

...and a cut off limb doesn't count as gore?

Are we talking about just removing blood? Or removing gore? Because (and as a case study Dead Space is relevant) in order to remove the gore, one would have to completely redesign the monsters. They are inherently gory. One would also have to remove the dismemberments -- that counts as gore. And without the monsters and the dismemberments Dead Space is a completely different game.

If you are however talking just about blood (which is not what you were saying in the initial post I quoted) then yeah, why not. But I really don't see the point. It doesn't make the game any less violent.