Gears of War 4 Has Gore and Explicit Language Filter
By Dalton Cooper 26 March 2016
The Coalition head Rod Fergusson reveals that the upcoming Gears of War 4 will have a filter that allows gamers to remove gore and explicit language from the game.
One of the hallmarks of the Gears of War franchise is its explicit violence, gore, and strong language. Every game in the series has earned its “M for Mature” rating, and Gears of War 4 will be no different. However, gamers that have children that may be hanging around when they’re playing the game or gamers that are offended by that kind of content will be happy to learn that Gears of War 4 will have a mature content filter.
The optional mature content filter in Gears of War 4 will extend to both its violence and strong language. When it comes to swearing, the mature content filter will remove the “hard” swear words, but leave the less offensive ones in, as Gears of War 4 head developer Rod Fergusson feels that some swearing is important to the characters. After all, the characters of Gears of War 4 are AWOL from the COG military and are fighting for their lives against horrific creatures, so it’s hard to fault them for swearing here and there.
As for how censoring Gears of War 4‘s gore will be handled, Fergusson didn’t give many specifics. It seems like this would be harder to pull off from a game development standpoint, considering how Gears of War 4‘s weapons are all designed to be especially brutal, violent killing machines. Moreover, the enemies in Gears of War 4 are grotesque in nature, and look gory before anyone has even shot or stabbed them, let alone sawed them in half with a chainsaw lancer.
Of course, past Gears of War games have also had a similar mature content filter, so one would just need to look back on the history of the series to have an idea of how Gears of War 4 will utilize the feature. Based on past games in the series, the mature content filter does make the game less gory, but it is still a very violent game by nature – as can be seen in the Gears of War 4 E3 2015 reveal trailer – so that is worth taking into account when playing the game around little ones.
Some may scoff at the mature content filter, and say that it robs Gears of War 4 of its violent, adult-oriented nature, but remember that it is completely optional. It’s good that The Coalition has given gamers a choice to experience the game as originally intended, or play through a version that tones down the explicit content. More options in gaming is never a bad thing, and as long as The Coalition’s original vision for Gears of War 4 remains in the game, there’s nothing to complain about in regards to the mature content filter.
Gears of War 4‘s advanced graphics means that it will be the most realistic-looking entry in the series to date. This will no doubt extend to its violence and gore, meaning those that were already squeamish when playing through the previous games in the series may want to opt out of playing through Gears of War 4, mature content filter or not.
What do you think about the mature content filter in Gears of War 4? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments below.
Gears of War 4 will be available later this year, exclusively for Xbox One.
Source: GameSpot
