AUSTRALIA: F.E.A.R. 2 banned

Despite being supposedly one of the most laid back nations on earth, the Australian ratings board is at it again with the news that Warner Interactive’s F.E.A.R. 2 has been blocked from release in the territory.

Gamasutra reports that the game has been denied classification, meaning its sale has been effectively illegalised. Monolith’s shooter is the latest in along line of titles to fall foul of the fact that the Aussie regulators currently have no adult rating for games, meaning anything dubbed unsuitable for the under 15’s is denied release.

Other titles to succumb to the harsh regulations include Dark Sector, Fallout 3 and Grand theft Auto IV, the latter two of which were eventually granted MA15+ certificates after a spot of censoring by the publishers.

Despite always being billed as a sequel to successful shooter F.EA.R., F.EA.R. 2 had previously been entitled Project Origin, but following the studio’s purchase by blossoming games force Warner Interactive, the rights to the game’s true name were acquired from former publisher Activision-Blizzard.

F.E.A.R. 2 is due out in February.