Headshots : no more heads exploding ?

[nitoo]

A community manager confirmed a while ago (on the 31st of July) that the game would have an internationally uncut version, with a gore setting in the game.

Here is the original quote (which also been posted on the official site) :

Originally Posted by ChrisF

We're happy to announce that Borderlands 2 will be uncut all over the world!

Some fans will remember that the first Borderlands game was a bit toned down in certain territories compared to the rest of the world. No longer! Do you live in Germany? Australia? Bandits will be just as likely to explode into bloody chunks of awesomeness as they will be in Canada or England (which is to say: very likely.)

Or, maybe you’re the type who abhors violence. You’re in luck – we’ve implemented a Gore Toggle option. With a single button press, you can turn Borderlands a less violent experience!

Borderlands 2 launches September 18th in North America and September 21st Internationally. By pre-ordering the game from a participating retailer, you can join the Premiere Club for numerous in-game benefits including the Vault Hunter's Relic, Gearbox Gunpack and a free download of the new Mechromancer character class as soon as she's available. For more on the Borderlands 2 Premiere Club, please visit: borderlands2.com/preorder

Someone in this very thread who appears to be a VFX Artist from Gearbox said the following :

Originally Posted by FX-Artist

You don't need a petition.

It matters what our fans think and we have fans all over the place. Unfortunately, not every place in the world is OK with heads that explode, even when the eyes pop out and bounce off walls.

But your feedback has been heard and we will look at ways that we can bring this back but in a way that is acceptable to different cultures.

Speaking of visual effects, in the next Borderlands what would you like to see most?

Thank you.

Jim Sanders
Director of Visual Effects and Technical Art
Gearbox Software

Also, GBX_AdamF, one of the devs replied this over on neogaf :

Yep it works everywhere. There is no censored version. Just depends on the gun you have!

There you go. Deal with it, I guess.


UPDATE : PLEASE READ

Randy Pitchford addressed the gore topic on the Kotaku Q&A :

Originally Posted by Randy Pitchford

Not a glitch. Look at that thread about Russian compatibility above and then consider compatibility with other territories that have different expectations about gore. We've found our fun and feedback in other inventive ways and have an on-going thread on the table about how to adjust this system moving forward. There may be some patching. We'll see. Feel free to join the debate on the Gearbox forums on our website: www.gearboxsoftware.com

Jim Sterling over on Destructoid also touched on the subject :

Originally Posted by Jim Sterling

Playing as a sniper in Borderlands meant that you got to see a lot of heads pop in juicy showers of blood and eyeballs. Going through Borderlands 2 with a similar build, I started to notice that headshots were no longer satisfying, as skulls remains defiantly shatterproof. I'm not alone.

The gore seems to have been toned down from the first game, to the point where specific limb-shredding no longer seems possible. Total body disruption is doable, and there's still plenty of blood, but those critical hits just don't feel as critical anymore. Elemental deaths aren't quite as torturous as once they were, either, leading to a game that's still violent, but not as gratifyingly brutal.

According to comments from Gearbox, this was the cost of having a universally "uncensored" game. Basically, no one territory deals with censorship, but the overall game worldwide has had to be toned down. However, Randy Pitchford offered the possibility of potential patches later down the line, and welcomed fans to join the debate.

Debate they did! The Gearbox forums have a thread on the matter that currently spans 74 pages, with some gamers even refusing to play the game until head-popping's been patched in. Others have been more reasonable, stating it's not a huge deal, but it'd certainly nice. At least one commenter remarked on how weirdly passionate gamers are being over the inclusion of extreme violence.

While it really isn't the biggest problem in the world, the first game trained me to expect deliciously gory rewards for my critical shots, and it does feel somewhat underwhelming to score headshots now. Blasting into a guy's face with a sniper rifle loses a lot of impact when the guy falls to the floor, his head completely untarnished by any sort of damage. For a sequel that promises bigger and better, it feels like a little bit of a step down.

The game is still awesome, of course. It's just a shame that my headshots feel aesthetically neutered for the sake of promising an uncensored worldwide release.

[cryfreedom66]

same here

[TalonProudhawk]

Same, must be a bug in the release version off Steam? I'm sure it'll be updated pretty quick. I too absolutely love popping bandit's heads off and was disappointed to see intact corpses

[nitoo]

Well that's kind of a relief. I thought everyone had it going on normally but me.

It's weird tho, cause you can clearly see bits and pieces and the head exploding and all, except it's added "on top" of the head itself which is never removed at all from the body.

Oh well, I guess it'll be fixed. Thanks for the reply guys.

[Vegetta]

isnt there a gore setting now in the game options? maybe you don't have it turned on??

[nitoo]

Originally Posted by Vegetta

isnt there a gore setting now in the game options? maybe you don't have it turned on??

Originally Posted by nitoo

Hey all !

(PS : I tripled checked the gore reduction option in the game settings and it's always been set to OFF; so I tried setting it to ON then OFF again but no dice.)

I checked and it seems like everybody has this "issue" (granted it is one and not the game just working as intended). Check yourself, you'll see.

Heads remain on the character despite the headshot/exploding animation and effect.

[Sacae]

Has this been confirmed an issue on the xbox 360 version or just steam?

[spas12fan]

i finally managed to dismember a leg on a nomad with a shotgun this morning...

[AMCDuke]

it works as intended

-no more head popping from electro shocks
-no more exploding heads
-no more skeletons after acid damage

Gearbox turned the gore internationaly down that countrys like germany and australia can get the game uncut too haha they just tone it down everywhere

PS: the game is uncut in germany and australia there had to be somthing fishy going on!

[DeathByVoid]

I also get the same thing. Was wondering what was happening yesterday.