Game News Corpses replaced by sulking NPCs: 26 years ago, the most iconic FPS in history had to censor death in the most absurd way
This cult FPS was censored in Germany when it was released in 1998 and had to wait years before it could be played in the country in its original version. But for almost 20 years, German players were rewarded with numerous changes that were eventually forgotten.
A famous censored version
Published in 1998, Half-life has literally revolutionized the FPS genre all over the world. Or almost. The famous Valve game was delivered in its original version in most countries, except Germany, where the game was censored a month after its first release by the USK, the German entertainment software censorship body. In fact, Valve had to make a whole series of changes to meet the expectations of the German government. Obviously total absence of hemoglobin, but also premature disappearance of corpses, change of tone in the dialogues, impossibility of killing the scientists of Black Mesa … even the marines of the UCEH have disappeared, replaced by dehumanized robots. This version remained active for almost 20 years before the USK finally decided to back down.
The original version is available 20 years later
For 19 long years, German gamers were only entitled to this censored version. And finally, in 2017, the USK decided to remove Half-Life from the list of censored software, giving Valve the right to offer the original version on the German market. The studio didn’t wait long and quickly offered Half-Life in its uncensored version as DLC on Steam a few days after the USK decision. 26 years later, this first German version is a bit outdated, even if some gamers still like to make fun of it.