10 Genius Ways Video Games Punished You For Killing
7. "Child Killer" - Fallout
Even in games that stress complete freedom, killing kids is still a no-no. In your sprawling sandboxes and kill-a-thons today, the younger NPCs all force you to put your weapons down, and you can see why. With the increased realism of games, it's a disaster waiting to happen if someone can go out and start gruesomely picking off the young'uns - no matter how fake they may be.
It wasn't always like this though, and in older RPGs like the original isometric Fallout titles, you really did have 100% freedom. That doesn't mean that the devs didn't pass judgment on your actions though, and if you did strike down a child in those titles, you'd be branded for life.
After a couple of kills in Fallout you'll be branded "Child Killer", and understandably will be shunned by most NPCs. You can keep playing, but your karma tanks, you'll be hunted down by mercenaries in the wasteland seeking revenge and some vendors will become off limits.
Despite these in-game penalties, the title still ended up being banned in Europe until the developers removed the child NPCs entirely.