Family Tech Blog

Tag: language

  • Parent Guide: StarWars Battlefront 2 (Story Mode)

    Parent Guide: StarWars Battlefront 2 (Story Mode)

    StarWars Battlefront 2 S.A.F.E. Rating

    Violence: 3 out of 5
    Language: 4 out of 5
    Sexual Content: 5 out of 5
    Positive Message: 4 out of 5

    Total: 16 out of 20 = Older Kid Friendly!

    **This review is for the story mode of StarWars Battlefront 2. Multiplayer content can vary due to downloadable, upgradable, and user-generated content. 

    The Game

    Battlefront 2 is the first in the series to have a story mode. The game contains story elements that are considered “canon” for the overall StarWars story. This makes it an even more appealing feature for this game and the good news is that the story is actually pretty interesting. You follow a couple of characters who were raised and trained in the Empire and have some second thoughts about their loyalty to the Emperor and his followers after events following the battle of Endor. The story takes you through playing as several characters including a Jedi and a Sith Lord. You also get to fly several ships and pilot a few vehicles. The game is still obviously designed for the massively multiplayer online battles and the campaign is designed to highlight all of the online features. If feels very much like a Battlefront game and seems to have a lot of replayability.

    Violence/Gore (3)

    This is ultimately a war game so you find yourself in constant combat. The violence is everpresent with shooting, lightsaber battling, electrocuting, and explosions. There is, however, very little to no gore in the game. Lazer bolts and lightsabers don’t cause you to bleed and if you use grenades, rockets, or vehicles to blow up your enemies they just fly around from the shock of the explosion. There is no loss of limbs or severe damage shown. You can’t go into a StarWars title and not expect to see some violence but this game contains combat of the PG to PG-13 variety, no more than any StarWars film.

    Language (4)

    There is no adult language in Battlefront 2. I will repeat here, however, that that fact changes greatly when you join multiplayer battles and those you’re playing with have microphones. Then, though, the language isn’t coming from the game, but from the people you are playing with.

    Sexual Content (5)

    The story mode of Battlefront 2 had no sexual innuendo or content at all. There is one kiss but it isn’t graphic or adult oriented in any way.

    Positive Message (4)

    As with any StarWars story, the message of Battlefront 2 one is hope and redemption. The rebellion is trying to bring freedom to the galaxy and the Empire is doing everything they can to keep their grip around the galaxy. The main characters are trying to be redeemed from a lifetime of fighting for an Empire they no longer believe in. The reason this game doesn’t get a 5 for Message is that, again, just as in many StarWars titles, the bad guys are super cool in BattleFront 2. It is fun to wield the red lightsabers and the dark side force powers. I obviously don’t believe playing StarWars Battlefront 2 will cause kids to want to turn to the “dark” side but I will say that there is a bit of glory given to those who are on the “bad” side of this story. Good vs Evil can get complicated, especially in real life, StarWars has always kept it pretty clear who is who. Battlefront 2 keeps that tradition alive.

    Final Thoughts

    I have played the Battlefront games for years. It is pretty cool to see them adding a story to the game since StarWars stories tend to be so interesting and inspiring. If your kid(s) has asked you for Battlefront 2 for Christmas it’s important to keep a couple things in mind. First of all, this game, while the violence isn’t brutal and gory, is still a first-person shooter. The risk of attention and anxiety problems in young men increases with more time spend playing FPS games. Secondly, this game has been marred by a bad reputation for getting players to spend money in order to excel in the game. EA, the publisher of Battlefront 2, has had to revamp a lot about how they do microtransactions and upgradable content and characters because players have been complaining and boycotting the game. No matter which side of the fence you or I sit on spending money to buy things in a game you already paid $60 to play in the first place, your children are being marketed to within this game. You, as a parent, need to be aware of that.

  • Parents Guide: Assassin’s Creed Origins

    Parents Guide: Assassin’s Creed Origins

    Assassin’s Creed Origins S.A.F.E. Rating

    Violence: 2 out of 5
    Language: 3 out of 5
    Sexual Content: 2 out of 5
    Positive Message: 2 out of 5

    Total: 9 out of 20 = Recommended for Adults Only!

    The Game

    Assassin’s Creed Origins is the 11th game in the Assassin’s creed series. The game is set in ancient Egypt around the time of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Like other Assassin’s Creed games, Origins is set in a historical alternate timeline in which your character is changing the course of history by completing your missions. The story is complicated because it is also set in modern/near future timeline. In this timeline, you are a researcher who is using the DNA of a historical figure to move into the past and become an assassin. The multiple timelines and characters make for an interesting, while at times confusing, story. In Origin’s you’re working to take out a secret society who is behind the dark times your country is experiencing. Eventually, you make your way to Rome and take part in one of the largest Assassinations in history. If you’re a fan of history, Assassin’s Creed games are interesting even though they’re obviously based in fiction. The setting and politics of the story are well crafted and keep your attention well. Origins is an open world game which means you have multiple missions all over the game world that you can complete outside of the main story. This lends itself to replayability beyond “beating” the game.

    Assassin’s Creed isn’t the best game I’ve seen, the controls seem heavy and the combat is a bit “clunky” but it is interesting and seems to be what Assassin’s Creed fans want out of a game in the series.

     

    Violence/Gore (2)

    You take the role of an assassin in this game so obviously, violence is a major part of the gameplay. You kill people in multiple ways including bows, swords, axes, blunt force weapons, and even ships. There is a stealth element to the game that is meant to reward the player by giving them multiple ways to kill their foe quietly. There is a lot of blood involved in every assassination and some beheadings and slit throats as well during cinematics. Your violence is celebrated and is, in fact, considered the goal of every mission of the game. Killing is, after all, the job of an assassin.

    Language (3)

    The language is interesting in this game. Words that would be considered “adult” are used in some of the dialog but they are often (not always) spoken in Egyptian or Latin. The translation is shown in the subtitles, however. In the modern day/near future timeline there is adult language throughout including F—, Sh–, D—, and H—.

    Sexual Content (2)

    While the main characters’ sexual encounters are treated as PG or PG-13 there are multiple instances of nudity and even sexual situations. Many of the village women are topless and bare breasts are shown while you’re just riding your horse around the game map. One mission takes you to a brothel in which you see many topless women and even a couple in a sexual situation. They are in the background and not the focus of the mission but what they are doing is very obvious. Cleopatra has women dancing for her, some are topless, and she speaks to men about spending the night with her and being killed the next day telling them that it would be “well worth it.”

    Positive Message (2)

    Assassination is literally the name of the game here. The goal is to kill and do it creatively and effectively. Murdering person after person in a video game has a way of getting satisfying. I believe this is a cause for concern. Especially for younger audiences.

    The only reason this doesn’t receive a 1 out of 5 for the positive message is that there isn’t much question that those you’re killing are the worst of the worst and those who work for them. Also, there is a focus on a couple of female characters in this game that I am glad to see. They are portrayed as powerful and passionate and even their costumes are tasteful and make sense. They aren’t just in the game to be eye candy. They play major roles in the story and they are fun to play as.

    Final Thoughts

    I recommend that this game is reserved for those over the age of 17, just like the rating says. Blood and gore, drugs/alcohol, violence, nudity, language, and sexual content all make the highlights list and for good reason. The playthrough I watched exhibited multiple examples of each of these themes and they are presented in ways that are very much geared towards an adult audience. When your 13-year-old asks for an Assassin’s Creed game for Christmas, this is what he is wanting. Maybe redirect him to something a bit more age appropriate.

  • Parent Guide: Call of Duty World War 2

    Parent Guide: Call of Duty World War 2

     

    
Call of Duty World War 2 S.A.F.E. Rating

Violence: 1 out of 5
Language: 2 out of 5
Sexual Content: 4 out of 5
Positive Message: 5 out of 5

    The Game

    Call of Duty has been the “Belle” of the FPS (first person shooter) ball since day Halo. COD games are created with extremely high budgets and make intense amounts of money for the developers. These games are released on nearly every gaming platforms and each version seems to outsell the previous. Needless to say, many parents are being asked by their young teen or even pre-teen kids if they can go out and get the game for Christmas. Be sure to read this post before you decide to stuff their stocking with this Rated-M game. Here’s my breakdown.

    Violence/Gore (1)

    Call of Duty is a war game. You’d expect a fair amount of pew pew pew gun action and bloody gore and that’s exactly what you will get. In the first few minutes you see someones face blown off, arms and legs missing, and a explosions blowing people and pieces of people into the air. When you have a chance to fire back you see the brute force of your weapon as people’s faces and bodies become covered in blood when you shoot them. The level of gore is dependent on the weapon you are using but it never truly lets up. There is continuous shooting, explosions, stabbing (bayonets and knives), and hand to hand combat. Some of the violence isn’t just to soldiers, there’s discussion about how prisoners are handled, as well as civilians being killed.

    Zombies

    The gore does pick up, however, when you play the Zombie portions of the game. So does the language. Imagine half decomposed, limbless bodies coming after you over and over again in increasing numbers. Then imagine you have nothing but a shovel to defend yourself. The gore STARTS there and just gets more brutal as the game continues. In the Zombie levels you have to get past puzzle like obstacles while fighting off these waves of the undead. You get stronger weapons and unlock traps and boosts to kill the onslaught in more affective, yet, gruesome ways. The Zombie section isn’t a separate purchase or something you can lock or unlock, it’s a part of the game.

    Language (2)

    The language is rated R from the very beginning. You’ll hear F—, Sh–, D—, H—, G–D—, and D— throughout the game. It’s your basic FPS, war game vocabulary. While I can’t guarantee I’d be saying gosh and golly gee during hardcore WWII combat, that doesn’t change the fact that we have to look out for our younger kids and young teens and decide if the language in games like Call of Duty World War 2 is something we want them to take in.

    Sexual Content (4)

    No sexual content besides a bit of “locker room” talk between a few of the soldiers. There is discussion of girlfriends and fiancé as well as some chatter about meeting women when they get to Paris. Any sexual content or conversation pretty much ends at jokes and innuendo.

    Positive Message (5)

    This was the most surprising part of Call of Duty World War 2 for me. I wasn’t expecting such positive vibes from the game. The focus on the heroism, the discussion on PTSD, commitment, sacrifice, and what you must withstand to face combat. It was all very very interesting and quite emotional at times. If you play the story mode you will get a sense of belonging to the unit you fight with during the game. You play as a soldier named Red Daniels, and live a bit of his history, future, and present day life in combat. This story takes you from D-Day until you secure the bridge across the Reign, the river that you must cross to get into Germany and eventually Berlin. The epilogue takes you a bit beyond that even. (Don’t want to spoil it.)

    The generation of men and women who fought in WW2 are looked upon with honor in this game. There are speeches given by some characters in the game that really emphasize the sacrifice the young (and old) people of that day had to face as they fought the evil that was the Nazi regime. I was impressed by the attention given to the human sacrifice during the time of WWII and feel like, if a teenager or adult is old enough to handle the content, the message will be a good one for many of us to hear.

    MULTIPLAYER

    I didn’t test multiplayer in this game but I will say simply that there are no ratings listed for multiplayer on any video game. The reason for that is that the conversations had while you play online with other people can and will turn ADULT very and very quickly. My recommendation is that online, multiplayer, gaming be something is only approved for your older teenage kids that you trust can handle the onslaught of adult language and innuendo.

    Final Thoughts

    This game is rated M for Mature. That means it was CREATED for people aged 17 and older. No doubt, your younger teen will be asking permission to play this game. Hopefully you will take all the information in this article into account before blindly allowing them to play a game with content that’s intended for users up to five years older than they are. There’s a big difference in the mental maturity of at 12 year old and an 18 year old.

    I absolutely wouldn’t recommend games like this for kids with any kind of attention problems or anxiety. The game is very stressful and barely lets up for cut scenes and story elements. Shortly after any kind of break in the action, though, you’re right back into it and the fighting is very intense. This action includes explosives going on all around you, being shot at, meeting objectives before you lose members of your squad. It’s all very high impact and the “fight or flight” response would be very very extreme during this game. The drama during some of the cut scenes could even be a bit much for some kids and teens because it deals with heavy and dark topics like PTSD, losing friends in combat, and the mistreatment of civilians and prisoners.

    Be wise with games that have an M rating. Know what your kids are getting into and don’t buy them the game just because they wear you down and you give in. Be smart enough to protect them from content they may not be ready to see. It will definitely be worth it.