The Australian government has reversed a ban on the forthcoming Fallout 3 due to gamer objections.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification originally had banned Fallout 3 due to its in-game drug use, rendering the game illegal for sale in Australia.

However, the game was resubmitted to the OFLC with changes in the game that allowed it to be reclassified to a MA +15 rating.

The ruling came as the game depicted the player receiving beneficial effects due to drug use, such as morphine, while in combat. The OFLC also cites the realistic depictions of drug paraphernalia led to its ban.

Australia, whose videogame rating system boarders on the antiquated, has similarly banned other games that conflict with their classification system such as Shellshock 2: Blood Trails and Dark Sector.

Dark Sector was modified and according to the OFLC will be released for mass market in the near future.

Source: gamespot.com

The game has been rated a 15+. That is, no-one under the age of 15 can play the game without adult supervision. The game is said to include strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references.

Expected a higher rating? I mean this is the highly controversial Grand Theft Auto. It’s also set in a faux New York, and has more realistic characters. However, if a game is rated higher than 15+ in Oz, then the game cannot be sold. The game would be banned.

This was the case with Grand Theft Auto III; pulled off of Australian shelves for three months. Moreover, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were edited especially for Australia audiences.

So can we expect a tamer GTA experience? We don’t think so. Rockstar have just been conscious of the ratings boards, especially after the Manhunt 2 debacle.

Does this mean the game is now finished? Not necessarily. Often developers provide unfinished games to be rated, or even provide a “mix tape” of the typical content way before the end of development.

Via Neogaf