Halo 5 Gets a Teen Rating From the ESRB

The Entertainment Software Rating Board slapped Halo 5: Guardians with a T for Teen rating, a first for Master Chief's bullet-filled series.

The ESRB gave Halo 5 a Teen rating for its inclusion of mild language, blood and violence. Mind you, every major entry of the Halo franchise (excluding the RTS spin-off Halo Wars) was given a Mature rating.

Here's the ESRB's summary about why Halo 5 got a Teen rating:

This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a super soldier (Locke) searching for a missing character. Players use pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, and futuristic weapons to kill alien and human enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, explosions, and occasional blood-splatter effects. Characters can also use “assassinations” to kill characters by snapping their necks, or by stabbing them with bladed weapons. The word “a*s” appears in the dialogue, as well as occasional taunts/insults (e.g., “I have copulated...with your genetic progenitors!”; 'Your father was a filthy colo and your mother was a hole in the wall!').

The previous Halo games were given Mature ratings mainly based on the amount of blood-splattering that occurred from gunshots. Likewise, the ability to shoot enemy corpses (usually alien) and cause more blood to disperse around the body played a factor in the older Halo games getting such ratings from the ESRB.

While a Teen rating usually means a lower amount of violence and obscenities for the player, it also means that Halo 5 will be easier to purchase for those under the age of 18, as most major retailers often require some form of adult ID or a parent to buy a game rated M for Mature.

Halo 5: Guardians will launch on Oct. 27 for Xbox One.

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