Treyarch Toned Down Black Ops' Grisly Animations

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Treyarch Toned Down Black Ops' Grisly Animations

Some of the death animations in Call of Duty: Black Ops [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B003JVKHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287871013&sr=8-1] had to be changed after Treyarch decided that they were simply too unpleasant to stay in the game.

When a game says it contains graphic violence, it usually means that there's going to be a lot of blood and probably a few limbs separated from their bodies for good measure. But it wasn't arterial spray or dismemberment that had the folks at Treyarch wincing - it was the expressions on the dying men's faces.

Black Ops director Dave Anthony said that that the team have completely changed the way it did facial animations, and that the work done on Viktor Reznov, the character voiced by Gary Oldman, was especially good. But in a few instances, the animation was a little too good. One of the contextual kills - a soldier having his neck snapped- proved to be too realistic, and resulted in the team changing it for the final product. "There were situations going too far," said animation director Dominique Drozdz. "The throat cutting [is] nasty, but [the neck break] was worse."

This news may disappoint a few videogame violence enthusiasts, but for the rest of us, it will probably come as something of a relief, as I doubt that most people are playing Black Ops is order to feel uncomfortable and a bit grossed out. It does suggest however, that interacting with the NPCs - the one's you aren't killing at least - will be a pretty immersive experience.

Call of Duty: Black Ops comes out for Xbox 360, PC, Wii, and PS3 on November 9th.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=271261?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-News-RSS]


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ImprovizoR

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Dec 6, 2009
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You mean, the content is unpleasant because kids wont be able to buy the game if it's too violent. Fine, PC community will find a way to restore the violence. With dedicated servers come mod possibilities.
 

Ringwraith

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Jan 15, 2009
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At least you can't accuse them of not having boundaries, so it's nice that they tried something, then took it out.

Logan Westbrook said:
... - a soldier having his next snapped- ...
I wasn't aware that they brought their clothes from Next[footnote]Should be 'neck' not 'next' I presume?[/footnote] and that breaking them could have such an effect, shame maybe?
 

Fangface74

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Feb 22, 2008
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What crazy world do Treyarch live in where a neck snap is worse than throat slitting!!!
 

Fraught

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Aug 2, 2008
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Ringwraith said:
Logan Westbrook said:
... - a soldier having his next snapped- ...
I wasn't aware that they brought their clothes from Next[sub][1][/sub]
and that breaking them could have such an effect, shame maybe?

[sub][sub][1] Should be 'neck' not 'next' I presume?[/sub][/sub]
Oh, you "presume"?

Look'ie, boys. We got ahrselv's one'a dem geniuses 'ere.
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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Well, I'm not too fussed what gets taken out, as long as it keeps stuff in. Neck breaking is cringe worthy in MGS, so in Call of Duty, when it makes a living off being half realistic, I guess I can understand stuff being taken out. Especially, since World at war did things over dramatically. Showing his ribs torn apart etc.

Calumon: Jack won't be let me see. He says I'm too young, and I don't even know how old I am! Niether does he!
 

vrbtny

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Sep 16, 2009
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Damn, i was hoping for realistic neck-snapping!

Hey! Wait, I didn't even know there was going to be neck-snapping!
 

Nifty

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Sep 30, 2008
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They're just toning it down for all the under age kids who'll buy it. Because, if XBL is anything to go by, 80% of Call of Duty's fan base are under 15 and/or socially disconnected to the point of autism.
 

therandombear

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Sep 28, 2009
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oh noes, we make shooter game with "realistic" weapons and such, but realistic deaths? omigosh!


Seriously though, I thought this was a 18 rated game....that means adults are playing it, in theory atleast. And there are a lot "worse", to use that term in movies, why would they change how someone looks when they die in a game because it was to realistic, but in a movie it's a-ok?

By gosh, I'm peeved!
 

bob1052

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Oct 12, 2010
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Fangface74 said:
What crazy world do Treyarch live in where a neck snap is worse than throat slitting!!!
The point they were making was not that a neck snap is worse than throat slitting, try reading it again.

The facial animation was too realistic, and in the case of the neck snapping (throat slitting not so much), was too extreme.
 

theSovietConnection

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Jan 14, 2009
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Nukeforyou said:
seriously? losing my faith in video game industry a little more every day
Hey, would you rather Treyarch made the conscious decision themselves, or the government told them to take it out?
 

Alon Shechter

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Apr 8, 2010
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Fraught said:
Ringwraith said:
Logan Westbrook said:
... - a soldier having his next snapped- ...
I wasn't aware that they brought their clothes from Next[sub][1][/sub]
and that breaking them could have such an effect, shame maybe?

[sub][sub][1] Should be 'neck' not 'next' I presume?[/sub][/sub]
Oh, you "presume"?

Look'ie, boys. We got ahrselv's one'a dem geniuses 'ere.
I laughed like a retarded idiot because of you..

If he mean that someone having his head blown off and we get to see it squirting blood with the tongue pulled out and pieces of the brain melting outside, I will actually agree with dear Dave.
 

Lunar Shadow

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Dec 9, 2008
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I see why they did it, but I am dissapoint. I want this kind of thing in the game, but that's mostly cause of my dad's stories.
 

Adzma

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Sep 20, 2009
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Translation: "The ESRB were going to give it an AO rating so we toned it down to make more money."

Meh, I have no interest in Black Ops anyway but I wish developers would grow a pair from time to time.
 

Chrono212

Fluttershy has a mean K:DR
May 19, 2009
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I wonder if they are going to try and move away from the silly story of MW2 and back to something as unexpected as the first Modern Warfare...
LoL, expecting the unexpected :p
 

Darkgoosey666

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Jul 18, 2010
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Nifty said:
They're just toning it down for all the under age kids who'll buy it. Because, if XBL is anything to go by, 80% of Call of Duty's fan base are under 15 and/or socially disconnected to the point of autism.
woah there cowboy, are you implying that being under 15 is a bad thing? im 15 myself, so i dont mind you saying that, but being so close to the cutoff is worrying.

a bit unfair to say all below 15 year old players are annoying, just the ones with mics and extremely high voices.

OT shame they have to tone it down, i mean whats the point? its already going to be rated 18, for whatever good that does, and its going to sell millions anyway. If anything some more brutality would be good for the series. but ok treyarch, your call.