Halo 5 Receives T Rating From ESRB
Until now, every main title in the Halo series has scored an M from the ESRB. Though Halo tends to be less graphically violent than other first-person shooters of its breed, this is the first time a main Halo sequel has squeaked under the requirement to be legally purchased by thirteen-year-olds.
A glance at the descriptors attached to the rating tells little about how this happened, as nothing looks to be that different from past Halo games. “Players use pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, and futuristic weapons to kill alien and human enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, explosions, and occasional blood-splatter effects. Characters can also use ‘assassinations’ to kill characters by snapping their necks, or by stabbing them with bladed weapons.” The ESRB also notes that the word “ass” is in the dialogue but mentions nothing stronger.
While the softer rating should put the more prudish among us at ease, parents should be warned that the game contains the line “I have copulated…with your genetic progenitors!”
A couple of spinoff titles in the Halo series have received T ratings in the past. Halo Wars and Halo: Spartan Assault both got Ts in their day, but those were also top-down, isometric games where the violence was seen in less detail.