Battlefield Bad Company 2
OWEN WRITES: Hi, Gamerdad I’m 13-years old and I was wondering whether you think Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is suitable for someone my age. It’s rated M for Blood, Strong Language and Violence. My parents don’t care about language and it’s rated 16 by PEGI, an equivalent to T in Europe. Thanks!
GAMERDAD SAYS: Whenever I see the name of this game series I get the song Bad Company (by the band Bad Company) in my head for the rest of the day. This is a bad thing.
I haven’t played Bad Company 2, lets get that out of the way, so I’m going on the ESRB descriptors and the opinion of PEGI, which is the European ESRB. PEGI says 16+ and the ESRB says 17+ so it looks like they’re in agreement and only splitting hairs. It’s important to note that when it comes to violence, Europe is usually the one to draw the line. So, lets say 16+
T-Teen is not the equivalent of 16+ because Teen is 13+.
The ESRB (at ESRB.org btw) says the following the violence is the usual blood graphics and then adds the unusual “knife-stabbing (flesh-impact sounds)” and notes you can use a power-drill in combat. The language is about as bad as it gets but players will hear MUCH worse from other players. I’d like to add that this is a multiplayer game with a single player component that features military misfits (one is apparently a pyromaniac) against fictional Russians, Middle-Easterners and mercenaries. I’m sure these misfits aren’t role models but they can also be found in many, or even most, action movies.
So, we basically have a T-Teen game that has enough blood and salty language to make it an M-game. If your parents are also cool with violence and “flesh-impact” noises then they and you will find a relatively tame M-rated shooter as M-rated shooters featuring drills go.
June 16th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I’m guessing that “Owen” is a fellow Brit (due to him obviously living in Europe and English seemingly being his first language) so I’d like to elaborate on the UK rating system.
We actually have 2 different companies to rate games here in the UK, BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) and PEGI (Pan European Game Information). Most games are rated by BBFC, but some are rated by PEGI. Both have a rating similar to the ESRB’s teen rating (12/12+), both have a rating similar to the ESRB’s M rating (18/18+) and both have a rating in-between (15/16+). PEGI’s 16+ rating isn’t the equivalent of the ESRB’s T rating but it isn’t the equivalent of the ESRB’s M rating either, it lies in a gap between those 2 ratings that the ESRB doesn’t have.
My advice is the same as usual. Maturity is more important than age, but the parents are the best to judge. They know the age rating already, but you could show them some gameplay footage to allow them to make a more informed decision. If they decide against allowing you to get the game, then there’s no point arguing further. Your parents have the ultimate authority here.
June 20th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
BFBC2 is one of those games that really depends on what your parents are comfortable with. The games violence is just violence and everybody witnesses violence every day. the day to day violence isn’t stabbing and shooting but you get the idea.
The language in this game is very strong but I am only 12 and I hear worse every day at school. the blood is actually not that bad. it is around the amount that call of duty mw2 had. The over all point is that if you know that violence in real life is wrong and if you know that you shouldn’t go around cursing all the time, then you should not have a problem playing this amazing game.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Hmm, well the violence is just the same as the first. Just added blood. Which in all honesty there isn’t a whole lot of. Flesh impact sounds are in the first and you CAN use an impact drill. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mangle the face. Just shows some blood particles and poof, one dead player. No gore, no face ripping.
June 25th, 2010 at 10:21 am
I have an 11, 7, and 3 year old and I will not play this game in front of them. If I had a 13 YO I would not play this game with them either.
However, it does come down to what your individual parents are comfortable with, but I find the obsene language unnecessary. Like everyone says, the violence is everywhere, but I rarely hear the type of language I hear in this game when I am out in public, at least at Walmart or the other stores and restuarants I frequent.
Even if I am gaming alone, I actually CRINGE when I hear someone behind me yell “mother******” just before they knife me! That language really isn’t necessary.
Luckily I game with a headset so no one else hears the language.
Chuck
August 24th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I’m 14 and allowed to play halo how bad is it compared to halo I usually mute all the people who swear so that doesn’t really matter