Ignoring increasingly whiny pleas for Half-Life 3, Valve went ahead and developed a sequel to their hit zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, basically taking everything that was great about the first game and turned it up to 11. It also added a plethora of new modes and weapons. Melee combat was a particular highlight. Going crazy with a katana and seeing a pile of severed heads and limbs accumulate on the floor is strangely satisfying. The chaotic violence of the zombie apocalypse was deemed too much by the Australian and German governments. Much to Valve's shock, Left 4 Dead 2 was refused classification. With a release date looming over their heads, Valve decided to release a censored version of the game while appealing to get the original version approved. The censorship of Left 4 Dead 2 was so over-the-top it ruined the overall gameplay experience by making your actions feel like they have no impact. Zombies disappear immediately after being killed, limbs and heads can't be cut off and blood has almost been completely removed. It gets worse: riot gear zombies were taken out and fire damage is no longer visible, meaning that zombies just flail around for a bit and disappear when subjected to flames. Using a pipe bomb no longer sends dozens of bodies and limbs flying through the air in all directions. Instead, the majority of zombies disappear in the explosion and only a handful of fully intact bodies get launched skywards. The impact this has on the game overall cannot be understated. It's hard to feel any sense of accomplishment when everything you kill simply fades into thin air. The gritty, realistic atmosphere of Left 4 Dead is completely absent, having been replaced by an empty shell of a game, devoid of any sense of palpable fear and tension. What makes this sad case of censorship even more tragic is that Valve lost their appeal, meaning that German and Australian gamers are now stuck with the censored version forever. Have you encountered a case of game censorship that's not in our list? Let us know in the comments!
