Australian ratings board re-reviews Saints Row IV, still bans it

After further review by the Australian Classification Review Board... Saints Row IV is still banned from sale or advertisement in Australia, IGN reports. Publisher Deep Silver asked the board to reconsider its decision to refuse classification to the game in June, in effect banning the game from Australian retail.

According to the board's original statement, it took issue with "interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context. In addition, the game includes elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards. Such depictions are prohibited by the computer games guidelines."

Said issues apparently pertain to the game's Rectifier anal probe weapon, and a side-mission in which characters ingest alien narcotics to obtain sweet, sweet super powers.

Developer Volition is already at work on a version of the game which omits these offending elements, so it may just be a matter of time until the Saints are deemed acceptable for Australia. On the other hand, American and European ratings boards have dubbed it perfectly fine for sale on August 20 and August 23, respectively.