In-game child-killing "gratuitous, unnecessary and cruel", says Fallout 3 dev

Fallout 3 lead designer Emil Pagliarulo, has told Edge that when the team considered allowing the player to kill children they reached the conclusion that it was "gratuitous, unnecessary and cruel."

"This is a series that in previous instalments allowed players to kill children, right? When Bethesda first started developing Fallout 3, we had early conversations about whether you're going to be able to blow the kids' heads off," said Pagliarulo.

"But then we began to think, really what benefit would there be in killing the kids in the game? It just seems gratuitous, unnecessary and cruel.

"The reverse of that is some of the great stories that have been told that involve kids. Look at George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books. Kids play an important part in that series, and violence to those kids is an important part of those stories."

Full thing through the link.

Fallout 3 reviews have just gone live, in case you missed them. Seems to be scoring very well indeed.

By Mike Bowden