Violence in Video Games has been a touchy subject since the early 90's. After all, if it weren't for such games, Congress would never have conceived the ESRB rating system to protect the fragile minds of our youth. And the more advanced the engine, the more realistic the gore. Here is a Top 5 list of realistically gory games that made it all the way to retail.

5. 'Fallout 4'

Normally, a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland is not a sandbox for anyone to play in. That is unless it's was built around a game like "Fallout 4." For some, the gore isn't anything to write about.

But that's probably because they didn't equip the "Bloody Mess Perk" that makes enemies explode into chunks and blood for sadistic delight. The damage can be pretty big and messy especially when using the V.A.T.S. system to slow down the action. Just stand back, aim, fire and watch the bits fly.

4. 'Left 4 Dead 2'

"Left 4 Dead 2," the sequel to Valve's virtual take on the "28 Days Later" film is even gorier than the films. Thanks to the Source engine's level of detail and the arsenal at players' disposal, the zombies of L4D2 know the meaning of "being sent to the grinder." Bullets, bombs, and melee weapons treat zombies with extreme gore and detail.

Bones are stick out through entry wounds, limbs fly from explosions, blood pours from the missing parts, and much more gruesome animations play out.

And the more zombies on screen, the more gore players can achieve, making this one of the goriest games in existence.

3. 'Mortal Kombat X'

It's only natural that one of the franchises that led to the development of the ESRB rating would make it onto this list. The "Mortal Kombat" series is notorious for depicting gore, thanks to it's patented finishers called "Fatalities," and the latest installment titled "Mortal Kombat X" is no exception.

Thanks to current technology, ripping opponents apart with "Fatalities" has become more visceral. And with the addition of "X-Ray moves," players can witness what happens on the inside of their opponents' bodies while they dissect them with punches, kicks, and weapons. One of the goriest games just got gorier.

2. 'Dead Space 3'

The "Dead Space" series is considered one of the best collections of survival horror games for many reasons. But it's not the science fiction or the unnerving aliens or even the fear factor that helped one of its titles to place on this list. It's the gore. The first game "Dead Space" got things rolling with the introduction of the nefarious "Necromorphs" that mutated dead bodies into hideous forms and placing the focus on dismembering them during combat to survive.

But the sequels "Dead Space 2" and "Dead Space 3" drove it right home by adding more detail to the dismemberment. And while the third entry is considered a travesty for implementing micro-transactions and co-op that undermined the survival horror elements the franchise was best known for, it got everything right with the detail of the gore.

As usual, the protagonists and the Necromorphs held a wager on who could dismember the other in the most visceral fashion and it was awesome.

1. 'Dead Island'

Much like "Left 4 Dead," Deep Silver's "Dead Island" is a survival horror game that allows you to go postal through a country populated with a variety of the living dead. However, the Chrome engine 5 makes it the goriest of the two titles. The zombies of "Dead Island" are built up in multiple layers between skin, flesh and bone. And players can chip away at these layers with a variety of weapons.

Hence, mutilating zombies in "Dead Island" is like performing back alley surgery on a crime scene victim that happens to be still moving somehow. And that's exactly why it's the most realistic gory game on the list. Carve away!
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