
After the BBFC passed it for certification with no cuts being made and gave it an 18 rating the ESRB have rated it too and there is no surprise that it has been given an M for Mature rating. They posted some information and details about certain things they saw in the game that caused them to rate it the way they did and they are as follows.
Some spoilers are in the write up so beware if you dont want anything spoiled...
ESRB said:This is an 'open-world' action-adventure game in which players assume the role of Cole Phelps, a rookie detective on a mission to stop a deranged serial killer. Set in late 1940s Los Angeles, the game allows players to advance through various 'desks' at a police department (i.e., Patrol, Traffic Squad, Homicide, Vice, Arson) by interviewing witnesses and suspects, searching crime scenes for clues, and apprehending criminals.
ESRB said:Players use pistols, rifles, machine guns, and flamethrowers to engage in firefights with various enemies. These shootouts are highlighted by realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and blood spurts that stain injured characters and the surrounding environment. Cut-scenes also depict instances of violence, including a character being beaten with a crowbar (off screen) - large spurts of blood are depicted in the foreground.
During the course of the game, players may come across crime scenes in which badly beaten or mutilated corpses are subject to investigation; players are able to examine victims' bodies close-up, surveying various bruises and bloody cuts for evidence - a few female corpses are depicted fully nude with fleeting images of pubic hair.
Investigations sometimes pertain to sexual assault crimes, and details are often conveyed in clinical terms through dialogue or on-screen text (e.g., 'He's some kind of sex fiend,' 'Woman's briefs torn at seams, forcibly removed,' and 'Head trauma . . . external bruising to genitals.'). In one cut-scene, there is an implication that a character is engaged in a sexual relationship with a teenager (e.g., 'You take love where you can find it as you get older, Jack'/That has nothing to do with love . . .'). Some sequences allow players to collect/manipulate drug-related evidence such as marijuana packets, morphine syringes, or amphetamine pills; in one cut-scene, a doctor can be seen injecting a character with morphine. Language such as 'f**k,' 'sh*t,' 'c*nt,' 'n**ger,' and 'sp*c' can be heard in the dialogue.