After the previous decision to ban the game for Australian release, it will now become available later this year stamped with the country’s highest maturity rating, MA 15+.
The Office of Film and Literature received a version of the game, specially edited for the Australian market and judged it to be suitable for sale in the region. Gamespot reported that the major reason for the lift was that the “reward and incentive” for in-game drug abuse had been significantly toned down.
There has been no confirmation of exactly how the changes to the game have been implemented.
Using drugs is a key element in the gameplay of Fallout 3, which appeared to be the major reason the board previously disapproved of the game’s Australian release.
“In the Board’s view, these realistic visual representation of drugs and their delivery method bring the ‘science-fiction’ drugs in line with ‘real-world’ drugs,” the OLFC stated in their original ruling.
The DC-based post-apocalyptic role-playing-game is set to be released worldwide sometime this fall, most-likely in October.
See our Fallout 3 game hub for more news, previews and features.