I’m of the mind that terrible violence on the scale that theGears of Warseries has always shown us is a good thing. Bullets, and especially chainsaws, should always cause a massive amount of havoc on an alien body. In the originalGears, pools of blood erupted all over the place, including the player’s camera. This earned the game a very understandable ESRB rating of “Mature.”Gears of War 2will have the same rating and level of violence, except according toWhatTheyPlay, Microsoft will now give parents an extra option to turn off naughty words and replace blood “with sparks.”
I haven’t had the pleasure to see the spark-laden action, but I instantly get the image of the “Grunt Birthday Party” skull inHalo 3when I think about this. Of course, violence filters are nothing new when it comes to “Mature” rated games. TheMortal Kombatseries has always been kind enough to gives us green blood when the action gets too intense.
My question is, if you are this much of a concerned parent, why even bother with buying your child a game that promises to be as violent asGears of War 2? There are tons of alternatives available on the market. Games likeViva Pinataand the upcomingBanjo Kazooie: Nuts and Boltswill be plenty of fun without gore, guns, and chainsaws. Perhaps the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff were on to something when they said, “Parents just don’t understand.”
