EA responds to Battlefield 3 ESRB rating

EA has responded to the revelation that in upcoming first-person shooter Battlefield 3 you shoot cops in order to finish a mission with an… interesting statement.

As revealed by Eurogamer last week, US ratings board the ESRB has Battlefield 3 down as a 'Mature' game.

Notes accompanying its rating detailed a few of the more graphic elements in the game.

"The frequent combat is highlighted by realistic gunfire and large explosions; characters sometimes scream and emit large splashes of blood when shot. Players can also engage in hand-to-hand combat: repeatedly punching enemies in the face; stabbing soldiers to death with knives.

"In one sequence, a restrained character's throat is slit (off-screen); in another, players shoot police officers to complete a mission objective. The words 'f***' and 's***' can be heard frequently in the dialogue."

The mention of shooting police officers conflicted with comments made by the game's producer Patrick Back earlier this year.

"If you put the player in front of a choice where they can do good things or bad things, they will do bad things, go dark side - because people think it's cool to be naughty, they won't be caught," he explained.

"We have to build our experiences so we don't put the player in experiences where they can do bad things."

In response, EA issued Eurogamer the following statement: "I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. For God's sake, there is a nuke in Paris! Millions of lives are at stake!!"

Indeed.