News
Velvet Assassin to Keep Drug References
Potential Banning Be Damned!
by Sean
The upcoming Southpeak stealth action titles, Velvet Assassin, tells the story of Violette Summer, a World War II era British secret operative who is remembering her stuggles against the Nazis. Through a series of flashbacks, Violette remembers the missions that led to her hospitalization. One of the mechanics that the developer has been showing off in demos and videos has been Violette's use of morphine in order to achieve a time-slowing affect (think bullet-time from Enter the Matrix). In the wake of Bethesda Studios removing references to the same drug from Fallout 3, as a means to avoid being banned in certain markets, speculation started that a similar cut would have to be made to Velvet Assassin if it ever expected to see the light of day.
Partick Keplek of MTV's Multiplayer blog recently asked Southpeak if they planned to remove the drug references from their game, in anticipation of censorship. The studio's response, in a nutshell, was absolutely not.
SouthPeak product marketing manager Aubrey Norris defended the use of morphine in the game by asserting that it was historically accurate.
"One of ‘Velvet Assassin’’s strongest features is the emphasis on retaining as much historical accuracy as possible. It’s a well known fact that morphine was widely used as a pain killer for wounded operatives and soldiers on all sides of the war. Not only does it fit the realism of the game, but it also plays an integral role in the actual gameplay experience. Use of morphine in the game is not meant to condone drug abuse, but to reflect the realistic nature of the game and true to life historical factors.”
I am as much for historical accuracy as the next guy, and I think it's commendable that Southpeak is willing to defend the artistic and historic integrity of their franchise. It is interesting to note, however, that since the game is being produced in Germany, none of the Nazi soliders, flags, nor any assets are allowed, by German law, to show the swastika. So let's be careful how much we lean on history as our guide.
Velvet Assassin is scheduled to release on March 31.
[Source]
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Comments
Woohoo! Score one for drugs!
I think of drugs as work enhancers XD
Damned drugs ruining everything. They're as bad as cigarettes!
The fact that using Morphine in a game can get it an AO rating, as opposed to using some made up drug that everyone knows is an obvious reference to morphine is just silly.
Blah.