BBFC On Heavy Rain's 15 Rating

05 Jan 2010 at 16:24:45 by Bill Vaughan

IncGamers has spoken to the British Board of Film Classification following the revelation that the upcoming PS3 title 'Heavy Rain', which contains child murder, serial killer and prostitution themes, has received a 15 rating.

Heavy Rain, which plays out almost like a film due to its intense scenes and stunning graphics, “contains strong language, violence and sex”, according to the classification. The BBFC has also noted that the work was passed with “no cuts made”.

"The videogame was classified on its level of violence and detail," said a spokesperson for the BBFC.

"It's not uncommon for people to die in videogames and a lot of videogames have death in them. People are always being killed in videogames."

The themes mentioned above may seem a bit heavy for a 15 rating but because the BBFC uses the same guidelines as film classifications when deciding the appropriate age of the consumer.

"These are obviously not real people, or real people acting, and it all depends on the level of blood and violence. We use the same classification for games as we do for films, and this game is suitable for a 15 audience."

Other games last year which had a 15 rating included Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, with Splinter Cell: Conviction and Mass Effect 2 scoring a 15 rating too for their future releases.

Make sure you read our Heavy Rain preview for more on this upcoming title, and we're sure glad we're not living in Australia...

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