Treyarch Toned Down Black Ops' Grisly Animations

[Wylade]

Wow, alot of the hubbub sounds to be about CoDs ``realism``, and you all seem to be ignoring the glaring fact about all the previus games- They arn`t realistic. just because you can kill someone with 2 bullets doesn`t make it realistic. The knife is still a more powerful attack than a Deagle shot, and the most played game mode`s only objective is to get x ammount of kills (which is fun, just not realistic). I for one am all for this, because it sounds like they`re not getting rid of it, just toning it down. allthough, an option to flip this on/off would be a good idea.

 

[Unesh52]

Ok, you are murdering someone. That type of action, if reproduced faithfully, should be discomforting and gruesome. That it provokes that sort of response is a good thing.

I don't just think it's PC for them to decide to do this (it is, and I think that's a problem too), but it's a sacrifice of artistic integrity. It's be like filming a rape scene in a movie and covering up the girl's screams because it might upset the audience. Now, I can't speak for how it fits into the game as a whole, but the Call of Duty series has always had a focus on realism in the "war is hell" sense. Thematically, for the series as a whole, this is a step backward.

...besides, I kind of like being grossed out, and I want to see the crazy neck-snap face!

 

[Zhukov]

If the act of killing in a game is unpleasant enough to make players uncomfortable, isn't that a good thing?

Uh... well... sort of?

Oh I don't know. It's not a big deal.

Either way, now I'm just curious to see what was so gruesome that the devs didn't want to show it to the world.

 

[bob1052]

I take it that Treyarch wasn't a big fan of Tanya's fatality in Mortal Kombat 4?

Spoiler: Obviously, NSFW!

While I can understand that a neck snap might come off as really gruesome, it is also a lot more graphically "clean" compared to a slit of a throat. So I have to question whether this change was really necessary.

That said, I don't really play FPS games for gruesome violence. As long as the consenquences of actions are not too detached from reality, I don't mind.

Some people really need to read more than one line in the center of the OP.

The neck-snapping wasn't too gruesome and isn't being changed, the facial animation that occurs as the neck is snapped is the issue. Comparing neck-snapping to throat-slitting is unrelated to the issue here.

Ok...so what difference is a different facial animation going to make? The most gruesome part of a neck-snap is the sound of bones crunching, not the expression on the person's face. If they don't change the sound, they are, quite frankly, not changing anything.

As you are someone who has only witnessed death in video games and movies, I can assure you you do not know what you are talking about. Seeing someones face as they die is one of the worst things ever. Even in a fictional sense it can be very disturbing.

 

[Poomanchu745]

Did anyone ever consider that maybe Treyarch just found it too disturbing? Really some of you seem to be so eager to call out developers for being cowards over trivial things

Seriously. The video game nerds are starting to piss me off. Quit moaning when something minor like this is changed in a game. Game Devs make decisions like this all the time when making a game. There is probably tons of other stuff they took out in their day to day decisions that they didn't make public that would have made these kids piss and moan too. The game is going to be amazing because it sounds like they actually listened to the player base on major issues like kill streaks and noob tubes.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

I take it that Treyarch wasn't a big fan of Tanya's fatality in Mortal Kombat 4?

Spoiler: Obviously, NSFW!

While I can understand that a neck snap might come off as really gruesome, it is also a lot more graphically "clean" compared to a slit of a throat. So I have to question whether this change was really necessary.

That said, I don't really play FPS games for gruesome violence. As long as the consenquences of actions are not too detached from reality, I don't mind.

Some people really need to read more than one line in the center of the OP.

The neck-snapping wasn't too gruesome and isn't being changed, the facial animation that occurs as the neck is snapped is the issue. Comparing neck-snapping to throat-slitting is unrelated to the issue here.

Ok...so what difference is a different facial animation going to make? The most gruesome part of a neck-snap is the sound of bones crunching, not the expression on the person's face. If they don't change the sound, they are, quite frankly, not changing anything.

As you are someone who has only witnessed death in video games and movies, I can assure you you do not know what you are talking about. Seeing someones face as they die is one of the worst things ever. Even in a fictional sense it can be very disturbing.

Obviously, I am talking from a purely fictional perspective. I certainly hope never to have to experience anything of the sort in real-life. Quite frankly, if someone did die in such a manner in front of me, chances are that I wouldn't be focusing on what was gruesome about it and simply be in utter shock and terror of bearing witness to someone's demise.

Anyway, we are talking about fiction here and how it impacts people and that is what I am focusing on. From a fictional standpoint, I believe it is the sound of crunching bones that is the most gruesome part of such a manner of death and what has the biggest impact. So I do not believe that merely changing facial animations is going to cut it (afterall, I doubt the face of a person who has had his throat slit would be any more "pleasant"). Quite frankly, if they want to avoid making it too gruesome, they would be best off just removing scenes with neck-snapping entirely.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

Unacceptable! I demand exploding heads, gallons of blood, mutilated limbs, bisecting of entire bodies and gore-filled explosions everywhere. I demand levels of gore that make L4D2 look like a Leapfrog game.

Ah well, this is kinda why I prefer multiplayer games not based on real life conflicts. It lets the creators go wild without having to worry about uniformed backlash from special interest groups who proceed to shit all over the game without looking past the names and violence. I guess they are trying to avoid the media backlash that plagued Medal of Honor.

 

[deadxero]

A good sign. It shows they're more concerned with the game rather than shock value a la the airport in MW2. Id rather see a game sell on it's own strength rather than because of contraversy.

 

[duchaked]

wait what? whyy?
I mean, it's not that I find pleasure in killing digital people

but it's always kinda weird when their faces are just cutout images that never change expressions
(okay some grab their crotches if you are so mean to purposefully/accidentally land a shot there but that's body language)

 

[archvile93]

I don't know if toning it down is a good idea. More realistic and disturbing imagery is just more gripping. Probably my favorite scene in MW2 for example is when you stab a guy from above and watch the life drain out of him, shown by his eyes glazing over and drifting off.

 

[BrionJames]

Figures, I wish more studio's had the balls that raven software did several years back when they made the first two "Soldier of Fortune" games. Dismemberment, disemboweling...with guns.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Well as long as they don't completely nerf the gore and violence I'll be happy.

 

[Corpse XxX]

Well, another reason not to buy it..

Ultra realistic awesome violence is cool, and it was the sole reason why Manhunt was any popular at all..

 

[Syntax Error]

Kinda reminded me of that one instance in the final mission of MW2. I felt like that soldier was staring deep into my soul as he goes into cardiac arrest.

 

[SinisterGehe]

War is not bretty, now we could have had used that as counter attack for people who say "Video games are making war look clean and nice."

but Meh...

 

[VanBasten]

"Hey, we want some controversy around our game but can't be bothered to do anything actually controversial so let's throw the videogames-are-violent-and-produce-murderers nutters a bone"