Dispatches from the Creation Wars

Christian Video Games Target Infidels

Posted by Ed Brayton on June 1, 2006
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From the same loonies that brought us the Left Behind series comes the Left Behind video game. In this game, you roam the streets of New York with heavy weaponry and to score points you must either kill the infidels or make them convert. And no, I’m not making this up.

The game is set in New York City, where the Tribulation Force clashes with the Antichrist’s Global Community Peacekeepers in a tale that makes the United Nations a tool for Satan. Each side attempts to recruit lost souls in the battle for the city. “Eternal Forces” is a so-called real-time strategy game — players act as battlefield generals for their virtual armies, deciding where to place units and when to order attacks or retreats.

In the game, Tribulation squads unleash the usual arsenal against the Antichrist: guns, tanks, helicopters. But soldiers lose some of their spirituality every time they kill an opponent and must be bolstered through prayer. The failure to nurture good guys causes their spirit points to drop, leaving them vulnerable to recruitment by the other side.

The player’s choices prompt intervention by angelic forces or unleash demons who feast on the faithful. As players progress through the increasingly difficult levels, they see Scripture passages presented as secret scrolls and hear inspirational music.

Praise the lord and pass the merchandising rights.

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Comments

  1. #1 Dean Kimball
    June 1, 2006

    Wow. I am speechless – nearly.

    I love the bit about having to bolster oneself through prayer after having slain some heathens. It is a perfect model of how “the faithful”, of whatever religion, convince themselves it is okay to do heinous things. After all, I prayed and God told me it was okay.

  2. #2 Raging Bee
    June 1, 2006

    Does Peter Pan appear and save the good guys if they believe in him enough?

  3. #3 sockatume
    June 1, 2006

    Having to stop and improve morale every time your guys kill someone, when killing people seems to be the goal of the game, is such an incredibly bad design decision that my mind boggles. It’s going to have a crude stop-start rhythm.

  4. #4 Capt. Rational
    June 1, 2006

    Didn’t Rod and Todd have a game like this on The Simpsons a while back? I think I’d rather have my kids shooting cops and beating whores with dildoes than playing shit like this.

  5. #5 Treban
    June 1, 2006

    I can not begin to say how offensive I find this. I have serious problems with kids playing any of a number of violent video games. One that claims a “christian” theme is beyond the pale. I wonder how many people who decide to buy this are also screaming about “The DaVinci Code.”

  6. #6 pough
    June 1, 2006

    I dunno. I think that if this were done by non-christians in an ironic way it would be funny and cool. Of course then the exact same game would have the people who made this one all offended and asking for a boycott.

  7. #7 Ginger Yellow
    June 1, 2006

    Like I said over at PZ’s place, this game is almost certainly going to be horrific, both in tone and in quality of gameplay, but I reckon a game made by, say, Bioware, set after the Rapture would be awesome. You’ve got all the elements for a good RPG setup.

  8. #8 Matthew
    June 1, 2006

    Couldn’t be any worse than the Columbine video game.

  9. #9 Troy Britain
    June 1, 2006

    …in a tale that makes the United Nations a tool for Satan.

    Now hold on, there might be something to this given that countries like Cuba, China, and Saudi Arabia are on the UN council for human rights. What a joke!

    http://www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc/

  10. #10 sdanielmorgan
    June 1, 2006

    I feel the love of Jeebus as I play the game, manifested in God’s wrath towards unrepentant sinners, of course.

  11. #11 Gryph
    June 1, 2006

    You should check out the organization of Christian FPS (First Person Shooter) gamers.

    Men of God
    http://menofgod.us/

    I don’t particularly find the idea of a Christian game offensive, its a niche market. And if its a good game, I’ll play it. Its certianly not as offensive to me as the “Postal” games are, which feature a guy going around getting points for shooting, burning, hacking, etc., stereotypical charicactures of gays, terrorists, racial minorities, women, etc. Not that there isn’t a certain satisfaction in blowing up things onscreen.

    http://www.gopostal.com/

    There have been many other games in the past that use Christian mythology. I remember one in particular that put you in the role of an avenging archangel running around smiting demons and evil-doers. I particularly liked that one of your “powers” was the ability to turn opponents into pillars of salt.

    Currently though, I can be found in the online world of “City of Heroes/Villains”. Comic books were never this fun when I was a kid.(I’m *ahem* in my early forties-lol). Kids these days have much cooler toys than I ever did growing up.

    http://www.coh.com/

    People worry about kids and games because of the interactiviy of them. But they don’t worry that their kid is going to grow up and be a sociopath if they read the Bible, which is full of violence and much smiting of this or that.

  12. #12 bourgeois_rage
    June 1, 2006

    SHouldn’t the players be praying in real life instead of playing video games, the tools of Lucifer?

    Maybe there are cutscenes where Jack Chick sends you messages through his tracts, telling you who to kill.

  13. #13 Ken Brown
    June 1, 2006

    My gut reaction to this is disgust (and this is coming from someone who enjoys a good game of Warcraft III now and again), but the blog-o-sphere needs to get its facts right on this one. It’s been designed by a veteran game producer (the guy behind the Madden series), and supposedly killing is not at all the point. Every single unit in the game has a full back story to make clear the point that “every life is precious,” and killing even in self defence makes you lose points.

    I’m skeptical (especially since everything else Left Behind has been atrocious, and the trailer seems cheesy), but the graphics are first rate and this makes me think there’s more to this story than the surface level irony.

  14. #14 Ginger Yellow
    June 1, 2006

    “People worry about kids and games because of the interactiviy of them. But they don’t worry that their kid is going to grow up and be a sociopath if they read the Bible, which is full of violence and much smiting of this or that.”

    I would, if I had kids.

  15. #15 Nebogipfel
    June 2, 2006

    Will there be an “Opposing Force” expansion? ;-)

    OTOH, is it any less tasteless than a game where you get to storm the beaches at Normandy? Or capture the pass at Thermopylae from the Spartans?