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Germany gets all sensitive over The Darkness photo

In the most recent act of censorship in a long line of many, The Darkness has now attracted the evil eye from German officials -- who demand that a few "changes" need to be made before Take-Two can have any hopes of releasing the game on the land that Hitler soiled. So what appears to be the hold up? Well my pretties, it seems that two things: The appearance of Nazi symbols (which I haven't noticed in the game), and those gory finishing moves that make this game shine.

The Nazi symbols will of course be removed, and the current finishing move of having "Darklings" feasting on the hearts of enemies will be replaced with, get this, a yellowish-green-fog representing soul absorption instead. Did anyone else just smack themselves in the head out of frustration right now?

Anyway, the release date has been pushed back until July 27th, so that Take-Two can sanitize the game for those overly sensitive German folks. However, if you happen to live in the United States or the jolly old UK, you're laughing to yourself, and enjoying this fine game for what it is -- a horror game. I can only wonder if they are allowed to play Mortal Kombat over there.

[Via Gamesindustrybiz]


Continue: More The Darkness stories





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31 comments | showing # 1 to 31

Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/29/2007 15:05
It's classic, huh? You'd think the National Socialists never left the place.
LeeMon's Avatar
LeeMon at 06/29/2007 15:06
And by "long line of censorship," you mean "every game with Nazis released in Germany since Wolfenstein 3D." :)
Gameboi's Avatar
Gameboi at 06/29/2007 15:07
The whole world has become prudish. I feel for the future generation of gamers who will be stuck play Spongebob if we can't sort this mess out for them.

Thank goodness, horror movies get more respect than this, or I'd never have a reason to turn on the TV.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/29/2007 15:08
That, and Manhunt 2 and the Dark Sector trailers.
Gameboi's Avatar
Gameboi at 06/29/2007 15:09
@LeeMon

*laughs* Good one. I was commenting about censorship in general, outside of and including Germany.
Analog Pidgin's Avatar
Analog Pidgin at 06/29/2007 15:17
Gameboi:
"I can only wonder if they are allowed to play Mortal Kombat over there."

They were, that one time, but we won, so they have to ruin it for generations here on after.

oooooh! Germany, you got Burned...
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 06/29/2007 15:21
What does Germany think will happen if a swastika pops up somewhere? Are Germans that volitile that if they see a swastika they all grow jackboots and SS uniforms and start killing minorities?

It must suck for Buddhist and Hindu Germans.

AngelsDontBurn's Avatar
AngelsDontBurn at 06/29/2007 15:21
Wow, that's absolutely ridiculous.
LeeMon's Avatar
LeeMon at 06/29/2007 15:24
Well, I eagerly await the tone of writing used for the upcoming Destructoid article about Ubisoft's Mind Quiz getting pulled for calling a British woman a "spaz."

I'm guessing the headline now: "Woman needs to get over her dead child: Draconic censorship tortures Ubisoft into recalling game that makes you smarter and whitens your teeth".

Or maybe it won't get the proper treatment because the game doesn't decapitate someone and hump the skull.
Gameboi's Avatar
Gameboi at 06/29/2007 15:25
dvddesign:
"Are Germans that volitile that if they see a swastika they all grow jackboots and SS uniforms and start killing minorities?"

That quote made coke come out my nose. Thanks!

Mauer's Avatar
Mauer at 06/29/2007 15:25
Take-Two made The Darkness? I thought it was 2K Games.
LeeMon's Avatar
LeeMon at 06/29/2007 15:28
You know what? Never mind me. I'm starting to use exactly the tone of writing I'm protesting being used in the articles. I'll quit while I'm behind.
Dizzy's Avatar
Dizzy at 06/29/2007 15:41
Sucks to be a German gamer is this is to be the new trend.
Zanch's Avatar
Zanch at 06/29/2007 15:45
Germany sucks and they've been doing this for years. They're overcompensating for their violent past by banning violent media. Every violent game that comes out there has to first be revised just for them. It costs the devs extra money and if you ask me, isn't even worth it. Germany doesn't even have that large of a gaming market. Achtung motherfuckers...get with the program.
Salamande's Avatar
Salamande at 06/29/2007 15:55
That's disappointing. I love the little animations the Darkness heads do when eating hearts. My favorite one is when they fight over it, tugging back and forth before it rips apart.
jerrt's Avatar
jerrt at 06/29/2007 16:02
this is getting out of hand alot faster than i imagined. pretty soon, there is going to be alot of games that people were looking forward to that they won't be able to buy. its sad that it has to get to that point before people start to make a stand. [unlike the fine work done here]
sbshootme's Avatar
sbshootme at 06/29/2007 16:36
We are used to getting imports from Austria anyway when publishers are once again being forced to change their game.

I think it's actually a shame they give into this bullshit system and change the game at all.
It usually takes some time to be indexed and then, the store can still sell the game "under the counter"(don't know if that expression fits), they're just not allowed to display it for sale or advertise it.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/29/2007 17:06
LeeMon: ur funny
Clockwork's Avatar
Clockwork at 06/29/2007 18:01
I'm missing something. Doesn't the "underworld" levels in The Darkness take place in WWI? From what I was taught in Western Civ, Nazis had nothing to do with WWI. And if thats so, why the hell are there swastikas (I haven't seen any)
SubOrbital's Avatar
SubOrbital at 06/29/2007 19:01
Yes, shame on Germany. Right. They should be happy that the Nazis are getting such good press this long after slaughtering all those jews and let this game out to glorify old Adolf again. Shame on them.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/29/2007 19:15
Yeah, I heard the game says that Nazis are awesome, SubOrbital. Also, a magical elf told me that if you deny the Nazis ever existed, six million jews will magically come back to life. Oh what a shrill and happy day to think that we can pretend something never happened. That will fix everything.

Are you Jack Thompson? Fur reelz?
SubOrbital's Avatar
SubOrbital at 06/29/2007 19:24
No, but some things still make the survivors of that experience or the descendants upset to this day. Do you really think they should have their pain trivialized like this? And just because I don't agree with you, I'm Jack Thompson? If being sympathetic to people's anguish makes me that ass, so be it.
Kfizz's Avatar
Kfizz at 06/29/2007 20:39
Well two world wars where they were kinda the bad guy would kinda make you not want to deal with that. Since it just makes them feel bad and gives there history a bad tased in there mouth. They are pretty crime free in thous areas so maybe we can learn from what we have done in the past.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/29/2007 21:19
Sub: You seem obsessed with criticising our coverage of these issues, while continuing to read it, presumabley just so you can complain. That's pretty Thompson-like.
3r0t1c n3rd's Avatar
3r0t1c n3rd at 06/29/2007 22:44
Imports FTW!
Vos's Avatar
Vos at 06/29/2007 22:56
Wow, didn't Germany grant mass murderer/psychopath Adolf Hitler absolute power over their entire country oh a couple of decades ago? I guess looking back it is understandable to percieve them as total pacifists now because of how terrible the events of WW2 were, but i mean seriously....this cherry picking crap is going overboard. There are numerous other games on the market with equivalent gore and violence. Which if you look back at the Manhunt 2 fiasco recently, leads me to believe this actually IS a trend. I'm not going to sit here and say demons eating hearts is quote quote "good", but hell i am old enough to be able to grasp the distinction between reality and The Darkness. Then there is the whole human nature element. If Germany and the rest of the world wants to look at this in such a passivist perspective then why is no one banning pornography, R rated films, and heck, even literature that contains violence? It is ridiculous because the only thing they should have to do is take a glance at the rating system. However, we must all remember.....

There is no difference.
SubOrbital's Avatar
SubOrbital at 06/30/2007 01:25
Well actually I read all the other articles too. Because I'm a Destructoid reader from before the dawn of this current gen. The fact you only notice me here is not my problem. But I find it disheartening that you attack people who frequent your website and have done so since long before any of this issues came up. Especially considering you're a contributor to the site. If this is how you handle anyone who doesn't agree with your point of view, you should just state so at the top of your articles instead of making offensive remarks of a personal nature at a Destructoider.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 06/30/2007 07:25
I give back what I get. That is all.
Pangloss's Avatar
Pangloss at 06/30/2007 15:04
@dvddesign: Swastikas are the full moon to Germany's werewolf.

@SubOrbital: the whole "Holocaust survivors/descendants thereof get offended" and "we're trivializing their pain" arguments are what lead to the paralyzing Must-Be-Politically-Correct movement we're plagued with today.

Wiping the earth clean of the Nazis' legacy sounds like a noble goal, but that's just denying the past. If we don't remember what led to the prominence of the Nazi party, as well as the result, not to mention the power that kind of thinking holds in some circles, we are asking to be victimized by that phenomenon yet again. So that hurts the feelings of some relatives of Holocaust victims? Deal with it.
SubOrbital's Avatar
SubOrbital at 06/30/2007 16:05
@Jim: Because I called you Jack Thompson right? You're giving, not getting. Your initial argument is incorrect as well because I think the banning of the trailer is ridiculous. Is that issue specific to America only, because it's regulated by the ESRB? I've never heard of a trailer being banned here in NZ and in Australia.

@the guy above: You raise a very good argument. I agree with it in principal, but I still can't help but think none of it means anything in this example because of the context in which it is being used. Having said that, I think this is all a moot point because I just realized something. Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Did Germany ban that too? If not, surely they can't expect to regulate this too, since I'm sure RTCW had a lot more Nazi exposure than this game. I believe I've just been swayed to your side of the argument now that I've realized that point. Thanks for your thoughts.

STB's Avatar
STB at 07/01/2007 08:34
Oh Germany, how I love thee!

Yeah, when it comes to videogames it sucks living here.
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