ESRB Dishes the Dirt on Skyrim’s “M” Rating
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Find out exactly why the latest Elder Scrolls game will be rated Mature.

Blood, viol­ence, drink­ing games, sexual con­tent, and many other reas­ons will make sure a game has a giant “M” stapled on the front by the ESRB. This is all in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Here is the excerpt the ESRB has released on the game:

This is a fantasy role-playing game in which play­ers assume the role of Dovakin, a proph­esied fig­ure with the power to com­bat dragons in the fic­tional world of Skyrim.”

“As play­ers tra­verse through moun­tain­ous open-world envir­on­ments, they com­plete mis­sions and quests that impact the even­tual fate of their char­ac­ter. Players use swords, bows and arrows, axes, and magic attacks (e.g., fire­balls, ice shards) to kill vari­ous enemies (e.g., wolves, dragons, human ban­dits and sol­diers).

“As play­ers engage in melee-style com­bat, some sequences are high­lighted by slow-motion effects, par­tic­u­larly for decap­it­a­tions. Large blood-splatter effects also occur dur­ing com­bat, and some envir­on­ments are stained with blood or body parts (e.g., heads impaled on spikes). Some sequences allow play­ers to injure/kill non­ad­versary char­ac­ters, includ­ing pris­on­ers chained to a wall; they scream in pain amid splashes of blood or fire.

“As the game pro­gresses, the dia­logue and on-screen text con­tains ref­er­ences to sexual mater­ial (e.g., “. . . all the whores your heart, or any other organ, desires,” “She . . . raped the men as cruelly as Bal had rav­ished her,” and “Remember when you thought [he] was . . . intent on mak­ing you . . . into his per­sonal sex slave?”).

“Alcohol such as wine, mead, and ale can be pur­chased and con­sumed by play­ers’ char­ac­ter through­out the game; and in one sequence, play­ers can engage in a drink­ing con­test with another char­ac­ter, which even­tu­ally res­ults in slurred speech (e.g., “One more. No prob­lemsh . . . Thash grape!”).

Sounds like a jolly good time when you add all of those yummy inde­cen­cies in there! The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will launch November 11, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.