Australia is notorious throughout the world for its censorship of video games. The absence of an R18+ classification for video games means any game deemed 'unsuitable' for those aged under 18 years in this country will be refused classification. Last year was particularly depressing when it came to big titles failing to meet the Classification Board of Australia's standards, with Dark Sector, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, Fallout 3 and F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin all being refused classification. The latter three games were eventually allowed back into the country--some with slight modifications--and finally, Silent Hill's turn has come. The game was originally refused classification in September last year, with the Classification Board of Australia citing 'high impact' violence that included 'copious blood spray, decapitations, partially dismembered corpses, numerous scenes of attacks, fights, torture and death'.

　　It's just not a Silent Hill game without dismembered corpses, torture and death.

　　But the board revised its decision in early January this year when Atari re-submitted the title for classification, giving it an MA15+ rating. The game is due for release next week, and while Atari has so far kept silent on what changes it was forced to make to appease the Classification Board of Australia, GameSpot AU spent some time with the first two chapters of Silent Hill: Homecoming on the PC to find out just how violent the Aussie version of the game is.

　　The game doesn't waste any time getting into the swing of things--the opening cut-scene reveals protagonist Alex Shepherd being wheeled through a dark and decrepit hospital while scenes of torture and mutilation are visible around him. After leaving Alex alone in an abandoned operating theatre, his doctor is impaled by a large blade outside the door.

　　The hospital's lights seem to have all blown, so you're left wandering around the hospital rooms in the dark, with only your flashlight as a guide. It soon becomes clear something not all too pleasant has occurred: large bloody marks and barbaric-looking hospital equipment furnishes most of the rooms. After meeting the brother you're searching for, you must give chase to him throughout the hospital. The only enemies you'll encounter in this part of the game are zombie-nurses wielding scalpels.

　　Killing scalpel-wielding zombie nurses doesn't produce much blood spray.

　　You can effectively deal with them using your only weapon, a knife, with a combination of heavy and light attacks. Using a video walkthrough of the US version of the game as a comparison, the modifications to the Aussie version are easy to spot: there is far less blood spray (if any) when killing enemies, and the actual wounds inflicted upon enemies are smaller and duller in colour. This is compared to the deep, bloody gashes you can inflict on enemies in the US version of the game. You will, however, encounter several dead bodies and partially dismembered corpses as you move through the hospital--an aspect of the game that was mentioned in the original Australian Classification Board report on why the game was refused classification.

　　The second chapter of the game deals with some of the 'fantastic and grotesque creatures' described in the original Australian Classification Board report. Alex is now in his hometown, where he pays a visit to his mother, who wants him to hurry up and find his brother. An ominous noise from the basement interrupts their conversation, so Alex goes to investigate (no points here for plot originality). Here, you're introduced to Lurkers, weird creatures with a slit for a face and some nasty claws. A quick knife fight deals with the problem, again devoid of any blood spray or severe wounding.

　　Alex goes to work with his trusty lead pipe on the Lurker in his mum's basement.

　　After solving some flooding issues with a generator, you begin to make your way through the town looking for your brother, starting off with the graveyard. New enemies you'll be introduced to in this chapter are Ferals (red, rabid, skinless dogs) and Smogs (ghost-like creatures that emit noxious fumes to attack); while they'll be more numerous and quick than the first chapter, you can still walk around for long periods of time without encountering one. By this time you will have acquired a new weapon, a metal pipe, which inflicts the same amount of damage on enemies as the knife. When killing Ferals, a rapid combo will allow Alex to repeatedly stab the dog once he's thrown it on the ground. This emits a very small and rapid blood spray. Defeated enemies will also disappear from the ground once you have walked away.

　　Skinless dogs are just some of the 'fantastic and grotesque' creatures you'll meet.

　　While the Australian Classification Board initially refused to classify Silent Hill: Homecoming on the grounds of 'high impact' violence such as 'copious blood spray, decapitations, partially dismembered corpses, numerous scenes of attacks, fights, torture and death', it appears the only thing missing from that list in the Australian version, at least in the first two chapters of the game, is the copious blood spray--while there is some presence of bloody spray in the second chapter, this does not extend to spraying onto objects and the camera lens, as described in the original Classification Board report. The report also describes a scene when an electric drill is forced through Alex's right eye socket, remaining there while Alex screams in pain and blood sprays from the wound, but this takes place later in the game so we cannot say if it has been edited or not.

　　Rest assured that unless you're a big fan of 'copious blood spray', these minor changes in no way affect the experience of playing the upcoming Silent Hill title in all its gory glory, and by no means take anything away from the gameplay.

　　Stay tuned for GameSpot's upcoming review of Silent Hill: Homecoming.