Battlefield 4/COD suitable for children?

My 13 year old son has been begging me to let him play these games. Knowing nothing about egg boxes and train station threes I thought I'd ask you good peeps. Now just what is it that makes these games 18 certificates? On the face of it they appear to be shooters in the Ikari Warriors mould. So is it excessive violence? Blood and gore? Swearing? What?
Post edited by Rebelstar without a cause on
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  • edited December 2013
    Another reason why I don't buy many modern games. The certificates are worthless. There's nothing to tell you what's in them. Same as films really.

    Someone should do a site that tells exactly what's in a film or game. There's a film-only database for overtly religious people, which re-classifies the films based on how many times 'The Lord's' name is taken in vain. Something like this for more general interest would be invaluable, especially for modern gaming.


    I'll be interested to know the answer to this one.
  • edited December 2013
    bit of swearing, bit of blood and violent death. nothing exteme.

    you can switch off the blood and gore iirc

    check out youtube for some gameplay vids, should give you a clear idea of what to expect.
  • edited December 2013
    Graz wrote: »
    Another reason why I don't buy many modern games. The certificates are worthless. There's nothing to tell you what's in them. Same as films really.

    Someone should do a site that tells exactly what's in a film or game. There's a film-only database for overtly religious people, which re-classifies the films based on how many times 'The Lord's' name is taken in vain. Something like this for more general interest would be invaluable, especially for modern gaming.


    I'll be interested to know the answer to this one.

    theres a parental guide on imdb. does games too

    handy to see if there are gonna be any boobs in a late night film. :D
  • edited December 2013
    Graz wrote: »
    Another reason why I don't buy many modern games. The certificates are worthless. There's nothing to tell you what's in them. Same as films really.

    Someone should do a site that tells exactly what's in a film or game. There's a film-only database for overtly religious people, which re-classifies the films based on how many times 'The Lord's' name is taken in vain. Something like this for more general interest would be invaluable, especially for modern gaming.


    I'll be interested to know the answer to this one.

    In the instance of MW/COD it'd be more like...

    Yep this happened in the last game!

    Yup so did this!

    Oh look at that some racism towards the middle east, but it happened in the last game so you should be used to it by now.

    Oh and guess what we thought this would be innovative....but no we already did that about 56 times as well...
    Every night is curry night!
  • edited December 2013
    mile wrote: »
    theres a parental guide on imdb. does games too

    handy to see if there are gonna be any boobs in a late night film. :D


    IMDB says this of Battlefield 4

    Sex & Nudity
    EditHistory 0/10 No sex or nudity

    Violence & Gore
    EditHistory 6/10 Blood is shown when you shoot enemy players. Grenades can be used, however when enemies are blown up only a little blood is shown.

    Profanity
    EditHistory 6/10 Words such as damn and ass are sometimes used but never frequently.

    Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking
    EditHistory Soldiers are shown smoking citrates

    Frightening/Intense Scenes
    EditHistory 4/10 Buildings collapse and are blown up. Leaving destruction all over the map you are currently playing in.


    So if that's correct, then a 7+ rating seems appropriate. But it's an 18?

    I certainly wouldn't buy it based on the rating, but if they were honest then I'd be most pleased.
  • edited December 2013
    stick to chuckie egg
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • edited December 2013
    Haha! I saw a gang of kids once who couldn't have been much older than 7 chasing a guy with a guitar through a level of a multi-story car park to his car. They were throwing stuff and swearing at him, proper little scum kids though. You could tell their Berghaus jackets had gone through at least 3 older brothers before they got them :D

    It was like a live action version of Come to Daddy, minus giant screaming TV monster :lol:
    Every night is curry night!
  • edited December 2013
    Graz wrote: »
    IMDB says this of Battlefield 4

    Sex & Nudity
    EditHistory 0/10 No sex or nudity

    Violence & Gore
    EditHistory 6/10 Blood is shown when you shoot enemy players. Grenades can be used, however when enemies are blown up only a little blood is shown.

    Profanity
    EditHistory 6/10 Words such as damn and ass are sometimes used but never frequently.

    Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking
    EditHistory Soldiers are shown smoking citrates

    Frightening/Intense Scenes
    EditHistory 4/10 Buildings collapse and are blown up. Leaving destruction all over the map you are currently playing in.


    So if that's correct, then a 7+ rating seems appropriate. But it's an 18?

    I certainly wouldn't buy it based on the rating, but if they were honest then I'd be most pleased.

    i guess its not very graphic but the whole game is about war and killing which prolly why it gets a higher rating.

    best checking out youtube footage if your really worried.
  • edited December 2013
    mile wrote: »
    i guess its not very graphic but the whole game is about war and killing which prolly why it gets a higher rating.

    best checking out youtube footage if your really worried.

    killing and war is certainly fine by me. My seven year old self loves that sort of thing.
  • edited December 2013
    Haha! I saw a gang of kids once who couldn't have been much older than 7 chasing a guy with a guitar through a level of a multi-story car park to his car. They were throwing stuff and swearing at him, proper little scum kids though. You could tell their Berghaus jackets had gone through at least 3 older brothers before they got them :D

    It was like a live action version of Come to Daddy, minus giant screaming TV monster :lol:

    How long ago did that incident happen?
    For that matter, where did it occur?
  • Graz wrote: »
    IMDB says this of Battlefield 4

    Sex & Nudity
    EditHistory 0/10 No sex or nudity

    Violence & Gore
    EditHistory 6/10 Blood is shown when you shoot enemy players. Grenades can be used, however when enemies are blown up only a little blood is shown.

    Profanity
    EditHistory 6/10 Words such as damn and ass are sometimes used but never frequently.

    Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking
    EditHistory Soldiers are shown smoking citrates

    Frightening/Intense Scenes
    EditHistory 4/10 Buildings collapse and are blown up. Leaving destruction all over the map you are currently playing in.


    So if that's correct, then a 7+ rating seems appropriate. But it's an 18?

    I certainly wouldn't buy it based on the rating, but if they were honest then I'd be most pleased.

    It does seem the 18 certificate is a bit OTT. I'd definitely prefer my son to be playing war games then watching EastEnders or something like that.
  • edited December 2013
    Graz wrote: »
    killing and war is certainly fine by me. My seven year old self loves that sort of thing.

    yeah they arent as bad as the 'mail' make them out. :D
  • edited December 2013
    Teaching in a middle school as I do, where the oldest children are 13, most of the incidents we hear of/have to deal with are abusive comments and language being used over the headset. This is bad enough when it's between kids who go to school together, but the potential is there to play against anyone from anywhere in the world.

    Personally I don't think kids should be playing them, but it's a decision for each parent to take personally.
  • zx1zx1
    edited December 2013
    Haha! I saw a gang of kids once who couldn't have been much older than 7 chasing a guy with a guitar through a level of a multi-story car park to his car. They were throwing stuff and swearing at him, proper little scum kids though. You could tell their Berghaus jackets had gone through at least 3 older brothers before they got them :D

    It was like a live action version of Come to Daddy, minus giant screaming TV monster :lol:

    Haha! You should write a book about your life in Newcastle, i bet it would be a brilliant read! I would buy it!:grin:
    The trouble with tribbles is.......
  • edited December 2013
    Theres loads of effing and jeffing in battlefield 3 as well as references to getting bummed.
  • edited December 2013
    I think most games where you're running around shooting other people automatically get a 15 or 18 rating these days. COD games do sometimes have some fairly disturbing moments though, like the "airport massacre" part in Modern Warfare 2. Battlefield games seem more like straight-up war games, not so much of the controversial, gimmicky stuff, but then I've only played a couple of games from each series.
  • edited December 2013
    zx1 wrote: »
    Haha! You should write a book about your life in Newcastle, i bet it would be a brilliant read! I would buy it!:grin:
    i wouldnt, id illegally download it
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • edited December 2013
    One thing to note about some of the Call Of Duty games is that they have actual footage of real death...

    In World At War for instance, they show a couple of executions of real soldiers and civilians from WWII in the intro movie...
  • edited December 2013
    As others have said, it's not so much the game itself that you should be wary of (big name games don't dare be too gory or upsetting), but if your son can listen to other players (say on XBox Live!, for example), then he will hear the sort of language that no film/TV program/game would dare use. Plus there is all sort of racist/threatening/sexual drivel from the teenage virgins who know they are safely anonymous and probably thousand of miles away from the people they are so bravely deflaming.

    zx1 wrote: »
    Haha! You should write a book about your life in Newcastle, i bet it would be a brilliant read! I would buy it!:grin:

    Boozey's never been to Newcastle in his life. He lives in Windsor, and his real name is Lord Earl Tarquin Rupert Falcon Smythe Caruthers Smythe the fourth, Duke of England.
  • edited December 2013
    deadpan666 wrote: »
    One thing to note about some of the Call Of Duty games is that they have actual footage of real death...

    In World At War for instance, they show a couple of executions of real soldiers and civilians from WWII in the intro movie...

    but is there a real problem with kids actually seeing / learning about real death or what happens in war? whether its a game, a book or a tv documentary

    its like meat, most people dont want to see or know where meat comes from or watch the animal being killed etc but happy to consume its flesh when it looks nice
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • edited December 2013
    but is there a real problem with kids actually seeing / learning about real death or what happens in war? whether its a game, a book or a tv documentary

    True, but kids don't have to see a real execution to learn about history.
  • edited December 2013
    GreenCard wrote: »
    True, but kids don't have to see a real execution to learn about history.
    no it doesnt BUT does it prepare people for the realities of life..........and death? after all some will grow up to become soldiers, why hide (as discharge put it) the realities of war?
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • edited December 2013
    but is there a real problem with kids actually seeing / learning about real death or what happens in war? whether its a game, a book or a tv documentary

    its like meat, most people dont want to see or know where meat comes from or watch the animal being killed etc but happy to consume its flesh when it looks nice

    Yeah, but I just think it's maybe slightly out of place in a game like Call Of Duty. I wouldn't have a problem if they explored it in a bit more detail and it added something to the game, but it's just a throwaway montage at the start...

    And it's not that I'm not willing to accept footage like that in games, it's just I thought it was worth mentioning in case people thinking of buying it for kids didn't know it was in there, so they can make the choice of whether to buy it or not. Not everyone wants their kids to see such stuff until they're 18! But if they do it's up to them...I can't preach about age restrictions, I watched American Werewolf in London when I was 7! :D
  • edited December 2013
    they do kinda explore it as the first scenes in the game are of a japanese soldier about to execute a pow.
  • edited December 2013
    no it doesnt BUT does it prepare people for the realities of life..........and death? after all some will grow up to become soldiers, why hide (as discharge put it) the realities of war?

    I agree, but it depends on the child I guess. Not every kid handles seeing something traumatic the same way.
  • edited December 2013
    deadpan666 wrote: »
    I watched American Werewolf in London when I was 7! :D

    i was a bit older, maybe 12 or 13 at the local youth club lol

    also zombie flesh eaters, evil dead, exorcist, the bogeyman, omen, entity

    mi dad wouldnt let me go to watch texas chainsaw massacre tho :(
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • edited December 2013
    How long ago did that incident happen?
    For that matter, where did it occur?

    Either late 2005 or 2006, not sure which, and it was the multi story car park near Marks & Spencer in Newcastle, they chased the guy through the entrance in Eldon Square located near the Green Market, and I think where the food court used to be (Not sure if it's still there now? Or even if it was still there then? I think Monument Mall put it out of biz as their food court is 2 or 3 stories of food places above the 2 levels of shops?).

    Anyway if it was you, you walked right past me and (at the time the future) missus Boozy. I remember she said "Should we help him out?" as the guy wandered off across the car park and I'm sure one of the kids tried to grab his guitar. I think we stood and watched for a little while. Then I said to the wife "Let's be real they're little kids, they try anything for real like pulling a blade, and he swings that case he'll kill them all in one swoop. I think he'll be fine".

    If it was you and they beat you up and nicked your guitar I'm sorry :D
    Every night is curry night!
  • edited December 2013
    Either late 2005 or 2006, not sure which, and it was the multi story car park near Marks & Spencer in Newcastle, they chased the guy through the entrance in Eldon Square located near the Green Market, and I think where the food court used to be (Not sure if it's still there now? Or even if it was still there then? I think Monument Mall put it out of biz as their food court is 2 or 3 stories of food places above the 2 levels of shops?).

    Anyway if it was you, you walked right past me and (at the time the future) missus Boozy. I remember she said "Should we help him out?" as the guy wandered off across the car park and I'm sure one of the kids tried to grab his guitar. I think we stood and watched for a little while. Then I said to the wife "Let's be real they're little kids, they try anything for real like pulling a blade, and he swings that case he'll kill them all in one swoop. I think he'll be fine".

    If it was you and they beat you up and nicked your guitar I'm sorry :D

    Took me a while to get that Guitar out of my rectum. Haha.
    Which part of Newcastle are you from?
    (I used to live in Consett, in County Durham.)
  • fogfog
    edited December 2013
    ewgf wrote: »
    Boozey's never been to Newcastle in his life. He lives in Windsor, and his real name is Lord Earl Tarquin Rupert Falcon Smythe Caruthers Smythe the fourth, Duke of England.

    :lol: you heard his dulcet tones on video a year or 2 ago ? bloody good impression :)

    as for ratings.. we are a bit hypocritical I guess, anyone over 16 when they saw nightmare on elm street etc? I guess things are more shocking now though.

    as for headset cussing.. a mate at school and a neighbour used to cuss each other over CB many moons ago.. v funny , I found out by accident.

    parents like a quiet life , so they buy little kevin the latest blood gore fest... i mean some numpty bought a photo for his 4 year old a xbox one recently.. "right"
  • edited December 2013
    Never mind
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