Teen friendly, mother approved!

[Header image from DeviantArt artist Lazeedog.]

Great news, teens: you can buy Halo 5: Guardians without an adult as the ESRB has rated it T for Teen, making it the first core game in the series not rated M for Mature. The ESRB's rating summary also includes interesting tidbits that provide some insight on the story. Light spoilers ahead:

"This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a super soldier (Locke) searching for a missing character. Players use pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, and futuristic weapons to kill alien and human enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, explosions, and occasional blood-splatter effects. Characters can also use "assassinations" to kill characters by snapping their necks, or by stabbing them with bladed weapons. The word "a*s" appears in the dialogue, as well as occasional taunts/insults (e.g., "I have copulated...with your genetic progenitors!"; 'Your father was a filthy colo and your mother was a hole in the wall!')."

Sounds like you'll be using guns not only to kill aliens, but also humans. Could that mean we also may get the return of the Arbiter, the Elite from Halo 2, or is Agent Locke into killing humans? The plot thickens!

Apparently the ESRB doesn't feel comfortable saying the word ass but has no problem saying colo which is Spanish slang for ass, if the internet has told me correctly. Weird.

How do you feel about the game dropping to T for Teen? Surely the mature rating of the others kept at least a few annoying children from ruining the multiplayer experience, but now anyone with a bike route will be able to annoy you. Joy.

Halo 5: Guardians Rating [ESRB via NeoGAF]