Destiny gets rated by the ESRB; But Is The “Teen” Rating Too Low?

As this may come as a surprise to many, the “Teen” rating that Destiny has received from ESRB isn’t that far of a reach in todays culture. We see blood, sex, violence, alcohol/tobacco usage, and much more on every other channel on the network today. Even though a game like Destiny is thought to be all about the bloodshed, murder and victory through defeating our enemies with any means necessary, Bungie is taking a bit of a different approach to it’s first game since cutting cords with Microsoft.

With an opening quote of:

“We are young ‘knights’ tasked with defending the remains of humanity, discovering the source of these monsters and – eventually – overcoming it.”

Destiny is about heroism, the simple and captivating idea that anyone can become a savior of worlds. The game doesn’t push you towards brutality and unnecessary violence. It invokes camaraderie and victory through strategy and critical thinking. Sure, there will be battles and scenarios that all we have to do is the classic “run and gun” technique in order to succeed. But, when it comes down to it, Destiny’s campaign doesn’t include sex, horror, or the substance abuse that comes with a “Mature Rated” video game. It of course has the animated blood and violence that is expected to come with a first person shooter. The beautiful thing, is that Bungie was able to create a game that is going to grab the attention of even the most brutal of players from the Modern Warfare series, the Halo Series, and even the Battlefield Series, without all the unneeded Mature content that so many games these days feel that they MUST incorporate in their design in order to succeed.

ESRB doesn’t rate the “Multiplayer Experience.” How could it? If every game that had a multiplayer aspect was given an ESRB rating which included the multiplayer side of content, every game would hit Mature. It’s a simple fact that gamers, and even parents know. People will always be vulgar and violent. It’s the culture that a lot of people have grown accustomed to. Unfortunately, if you play the multiplayer side of a video game (which, lets be honest, that’s what most everyone buys these games for) then you’re going to find that mature content in your very first match. The upside is, you will also find that sense of teamwork and community, which is what we will see more of in Destiny than we will see in any other game out there today.

At the end of the day, Destiny deserves to be played by anyone. The game is gorgeous, the content is enthralling, and the idea of becoming the hero once again… well that speaks for itself.