OVRDARK: A Do Not Open Story
Unreality, S.L.-
PlayStation 5 - 07/03/2024
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 16 because it features strong violence, gory images, sustained horror, and prominent use of tobacco. Not suitable for persons under 16 years of age.
Brief outline of the game
Horror game, a sequel to 'Do Not Open', in which players take on the role of an investigator who discovers the remains of a former friend and investigates the man's past in the dead man's mansion.
Content specific issues
This game features strong and realistic violence towards humans, including a sequence in which a man is seen beating a woman, slamming her head against a wall. There is sight of blood. The game also contains sustained horror sequences and some gory images. There are jump scares and scenes in which the player's character is chased, including by a character with a mutilated head. Players are able to find lit cigarettes in multiple locations which can be picked up and smoked.
Other issues
At one point, the player's character must make an incision on their hand with a knife, with sight of blood.
Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection
U&I Entertainment Limited-
Nintendo Switch - 01/03/2024
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PlayStation 5 - 01/03/2024
Nova Hearts: The Spark
Lightbulb Crew-
PC - 17/01/2024
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 12 because it features use of bad language and scenes of a sexual nature. Not suitable for persons under 12 years of age.
Brief outline of the game
Visual novel which combines a text-message driven story with side-scrolling turn-based arcade-style combat. Players transform into their cosmic alter-egos and utilise their unique powers to battle enemies from another dimension.
Content specific issues
This game features use of bad language including 'shit' and 'bitch'. There are also some visual and verbal sexual references, which vary from flirtatious comments to oblique references to BDSM.
Other issues
The game also includes mild violence, with characters flashing when hit during physical and magical attacks, with number damage indicated. While there are some minor grunting sounds, reactions are unrealistic and there is no sight of blood or injuries.
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II
Aksys Games-
Nintendo Switch - 15/02/2024
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PlayStation 5 - 15/02/2024
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 16 because it features gory images and use of strong language. Not suitable for persons under 16 years of age.
Brief outline of the game
Horror visual novel adventure game, set in a suburb of H City in Tokyo, in which Kazuo Yashiki is hired to investigate supernatural occurrences at Konoehara Academy
Content specific issues
This game features still images showing human characters that have been mutilated or subject to bizarre rituals. There is also use of strong language ('fuck'), as well as milder terms including 'piss' and 'shit'.
Other issues
The game also includes some implied violence against the player's character, although the violence is not visually depicted due to the first-person perspective. There are references to bullying behaviour, including a student being made to place a hose around her neck and stand on a bucket, which is shown using still images, with an implication she was hanged.
SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY!
THQ Nordic-
PC - 26/03/2024
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PlayStation 5 - 26/03/2024
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Xbox Series X|S - 26/03/2024
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Nintendo Switch - 26/03/2024
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 16 because it features use of strong language. Not suitable for persons under 16 years of age.
Brief outline of the game
Comedy adventure game in which players join with up to three friends, in a four player co-op, and battle their way through the snow-piled town of South Park on a quest to save the world and enjoy a day without school.
Content specific issues
Dialogue includes frequent use of strong language ('fuck'), as well as milder terms, including 'shit', 'pussy', 'asshole', 'bastard', 'bitch', 'piss' and 'dick'. There is also use of discriminatory terms, including the word 'gaylord' and a slogan on a T-shirt which says "Pray the gay away”.
Other issues
The game also features scenes of moderate violence. Physical reactions are unrealistic, with flashing effects on impacts and damage indicated using numbers. Once a character's life meter is exhausted, they lie on the ground. There is no sight of wounds, although some blood is shown. Cinematic scenes include sight of townspeople who have frozen to death, although the images are in the usual simple animated style of South Park. The game also includes some verbal sexual references, non-sexual nudity, and references to alcohol and drugs.
Alone in the Dark
THQ Nordic-
PC - 20/03/2024
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PlayStation 5 - 20/03/2024
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Xbox Series X|S - 20/03/2024
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 18 which restricts availability to ADULTS ONLY and is not suitable for persons under 18 years of age. This rating has been given because it features graphic violence and scenes of violence towards vulnerable and defenceless characters.
Brief outline of the game
Survival horror game, a re-imagining of the first instalment of the franchise originally released in 1992, in which Emily Hartwood goes looking for her missing uncle with help from private investigator, Edward Carnby. Arriving at Derceto Manor, a home for the mentally unwell, they encounter strange residents, portals to nightmarish worlds, dangerous monsters, and ultimately a plot of rising evil and its followers.
Content specific issues
This game contains scenes of graphic violence towards human characters. One scene shows a large creature killing multiple humans in a brutal and violent manner, including sight of characters being eaten, torn in half, and crushed by the creature, with heavy blood and gore present. Gameplay combat is generally directed at fantasy creatures, which produce spurts of blood when hit and which can also be decapitated. Their corpses remain on the ground and can be further mutilated after death. There are also some examples of strong and realistic violence towards humans in cutscenes, such as a character being stabbed in their eye and a character being shot in the leg. There is a cutscene in which a young girl is hanged as part of a sacrificial ritual. The girl is shown hanging from a noose and struggling in the background before suddenly becoming limp before the scene cuts away.
Other issues
The game has a dark and unnerving atmosphere, with jump scares and hallucination sequences. There are also references to, and depictions of, suicide. The player's character can be made to take their own life, by shooting, if spotted by a particular enemy. The screen turns black just before the gunshot is heard.
ARK: Survival Ascended
Wildcard Properties LLC (D.B.A Studio Wildcard)-
PC - 19/09/2023
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 16 because it features strong violence. Not suitable for persons under 16 years of age.
Brief outline of the game
Remake of the action adventure survival game in which players must survive on a mysterious island populated with primeval creatures.
Content specific issues
This game features strong violence. Players can create a variety of weapons, from primitive stone axes to rocket launchers, and use these against both creatures and enemy humans. Responses to violence are realistic and there is sight of blood. Bodies remain on the ground until they’ve been harvested for parts or decompose.
Other issues
This game offers players the opportunity to purchase in-game items - such as cosmetics, new/additional game modes, and new/additional levels - which some parents or carers may want to be aware of. Parents, carers or other responsible adults should check to see what is being offered before making any purchase on behalf of a child. It should be noted that the game can still be played without the need to purchase such items.
Mineko's Night Market
Merge Games-
Nintendo Switch - 27/10/2023
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PlayStation 5 - 27/10/2023
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 3. Suitable for all ages.
Brief outline of the game
Narrative adventure game in which players take on the role of a young girl who moves to a new home on an island with her father. On the island, she discovers a mythical cat which is being sought by mysterious agents and learns to gather resources and craft items to sell at a market.
Content specific issues
No rating issues.
Other issues
There are mini-games which involve the player's character avoiding secret agents. If the player's character is caught, the screen simply fades to black, with no indication of harm. In an introductory scene, the player's character is seen being caught by her jacket and wriggling to escape, although once again there is no harm seen or actual violence. The game features frequent use of very mild terms such as 'jerk', 'heck' and 'darn'.
Batman: Arkham Trilogy
Warner Brothers Entertainment UK Ltd-
Nintendo Switch - 01/12/2023
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 18 which restricts availability to ADULTS ONLY and is not suitable for persons under 18 years of age. This rating has been given because it features violence against vulnerable and defenceless characters.
Brief outline of the game
Collection of the three Batman games - Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Knight - in which players take on the role of Batman as he fights iconic villains.
Content specific issues
There are infrequent scenes of violence towards defenceless persons. In one sequence, a man is tied up and beaten across the face by an armed thug. This continues until the player intervenes. In another sequence, the player is able to shoot a hostage. Batman also holds down and interrogates a man as he threatens to run over the man's head with his Batmobile. General gameplay features a mixture of hand-to-hand combat, use of swords and other weapons, and realistic shootings.
Other issues
There are sequences in which characters take their own lives.
TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK - Expedition
Outright Games-
Nintendo Switch - 20/10/2023
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PlayStation 4 - 20/10/2023
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PlayStation 5 - 20/10/2023
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Xbox One - 20/10/2023
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Xbox Series X|S - 20/10/2023
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PC - 20/10/2023
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 7 because it features mild violence that lacks any apparent harm or injury to fantasy or mythical beings and creatures. Not suitable for persons under 7 years of age.
Brief outline of the game
Action adventure game in which Bumblebee sets out to stop the evil Dr Mandroid from destroying all Cybertronion beings.
Content specific issues
Gameplay is combat focussed. The violence is always aimed at mechanical fantasy characters and is unrealistic in nature, as are reactions to it. Characters have health bars and flash when hit. They do not display any visible harm and enemies explode into screws and bolts when defeated.