The Joker fatality uncensored for Europe

The European release of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe will not suffer the same edits that have toned down the violence in the US version.

Last month Kotaku reported that at least one of the game's fatalities has been altered in order to secure a T-rating in the States. The Joker's finishing move sees the villain scaring his opponent with a joke pistol, complete with 'BANG!' flag, before blowing their brains out with a real gun. In the American depiction of this execution, the hapless victim will walk off-screen before receiving the fatal bullet.

But yesterday we spoke to senior producer Hans Lo about the changes:

"That's partly true [that the fatality has been edited]... You know, for North America we have a Teen rating, and teen really means 13 and above. Thirteen is pretty young, you have to admit. For Europe we have a 15, 16+ rating - so it's a bit different."

When pushed further about whether or not different cuts of the game exist, Lo replied: "I don't know, maybe! I think you might have to go take a look."

Minutes later we saw the complete fatality for ourselves. Will this encourage US purists to import the game from Europe? We'll have to see.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is scheduled for release for Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 21, 2008.