No Censoring for GTA IV; Thank You BBFC!

Posted Friday 4th April 2008 by Tom P in Uncategorized.

Fans of the Grand Theft Auto series developed by Rockstar Games will be jubilant at news that the latest offering, GTA IV has made it through the ratings procedures unscathed and uncensored. Despite having copious references to sex, drugs and violence the game has made it through under the 18 certificate. The BBFC played the game for nearly five and a half hours and based its decision upon this experience.

Unfortunately the expanded review of the game, giving details of cuts scenes and scripts was removed from the BBFC site at the request of Rockstar who claimed it would spoil the game for players. Before it was removed however news of the game was recorded and unsurprisingly “violence is a central theme of the game.” Gamers will be fully aware that the GTA series has always had a strong violent theme combined with sexual and narcotic elements.

The review however did contain references to some of the weapons that would be present in GTA IV. With machine guns, Molotov cocktails and RPG’s fans of the game will be fully aware of the uses of these weapons in previous titles. With bloody violence, the game certainly deserves its 18 certificate and as long as parents do not go and buy the title for “their little darlings” the certificate should work well.

The classification system has worked well for many years and we in Britain are fortunate to have a body that independently classifies films and games. With fears that the government would become more involved with classifications after the release of ultra violent title Manhunt 2, this seemed in jeopardy. Hopefully we will not reach the situation where someone who is an adult by law cannot play a title that contains violence; with the ongoing encroachment by the ‘nanny state’ in all walks of life, the BBFC seems the last vestment of common sense. Seemingly the BBFC have it got it right again, censoring should be reserved for purely the most excessive releases; not a game that simply follows on from the themes in the rest of the series.

GTA IV will most probably bring nothing new in terms of themes; gameplay and graphics will naturally improve but ultimately this is a game series that has had violence, sex and drugs at its core from the outset. The games may have become more graphic thanks to technological developments but the ethos of the game is much the same from the top down view of the first Grand Theft Auto. I for one cannot wait for this new title in a series that has thrilled gamers for a decade.

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