On the heels of the release of Black and White 2, I’d like to talk about a different kind of God game. A game created for the Christian who likes to kill things, but feels guilty about it afterwards (you know who you are). It’s called “Eternal War: Shadows of Light and even though it was released in 2003, you’ll be gaming like it’s 1996.

Jesus loves you penis head!

First of all, get the demo. Now before you play it I’d advise playing some Quake or Doom 2. Not so much for the contrast in content, but so the graphics and gameplay of Eternal War seem decent by comparison. This is essentially a Doom clone with just as much violence as any other shooter only you’re “banishing demons” from someone’s mind so it’s all good with the Lord. Christianratings.com says:

“Even though Eternal War: Shadows of Light involves shooting and fighting demons, it is ranked exceptional for a Christian game at Shepherd’s Staff. “Why?” you ask. Because you are shooting demons and other evil creatures in someone’s mind. The weapons are mostly spiritually oriented. Plus the entire goal is to free John from his captures. It is also one of the most professionally made Christian game in the marketplace!”

That last statement is particularly sad. Jesus may love the little children. In fact, he may love ALL the little children of the world, but he obviously has no love for the gaming man. More on that later…

Face the facts, Eternal War is violent. Just because the dead bodies dematerialize instead of lying in a puddle of blood doesn’t make the killing part less violent. Stabbing a humanoid with a knife produces the same endorphins regardless of whether or not he’s supposed to be a ninja or a demon. Not having a fountain of blood erupt from every slice may actually be a more realistic depiction of violence than most games. I don’t see much of a difference between Eternal War and Doom 3; a game the Christian community has banished from it’s shelves. In both games you have to destroy demons from hell to survive (be they on Mars or in someone’s head) and yet Doom 3 is vilified and Eternal War is praised. Take this review from Christ Centered Game Reviews:

“Christian Rating:

There hasn’t been a game that I would more than happily throw away after I just purchased it for fifty-five dollars than this one. The graphics are superb and sound is just down right awesome, but nothing will make up for the complete satanic feel and exposure this game will bring. As a twenty-one year old I have to say I was freaked out, disturbed, and horrified by Doom III’s content. I can’t imagine what a thirteen year old would feel like. After hours of exposure to this game, I could see a child’s attitude and personality change because of this game. I would have displayed more images but due to the graphic and satanic nature of this game I just couldn’t show it. Stay far away from Doom III it has no value to it at all. I would highly recommend that anyone who professes themselves to be Christians, to NOT PLAY THIS GAME.
Conclusion:

This game contains high levels of occult images and sounds, massive gore, and terrifying exposure to hell and demons. No game has gone so far as Doom III.” (www.ccgr.org)

Have these guys even read The Bible? I won’t go into my diatribe about how violent The Bible is, but surely the concept of hell is an integral part of many religions. So why is imagining and depicting hell being terrifying such a bad thing? Why not let the thirteen year old play the game and then tell him, “You see Johnny, if you have sex before you’re married that’s where you’ll end up for eternity only God won’t give you a gun or power-ups.”

I find the mix of religion and games entertaining. It seems like some Christian sites get a voyeuristic rush out of reviewing games that are obviously inappropriate for kids and Christians simply for the content on the box! It’s like shooting pagans in a barrel for them. Check out the entertaining review of God of War from Christ Centered Game Reviews. Note how they subtract points for all the cool stuff.

I have to at least give them credit for including violence with sexual content in terms of a game’s inappropriateness. Still, these guys need to relax. Consider this comment on Beyond Good & Evil:

“Pey’j (The pig) is fond of using the Lords’ name in vain, using it about 6 times. The Race Announcer says that “the wimps have 3 seconds to get the h*** out of here” There are 4 races, he says that for 3 of them, pressing mute for about 5 seconds won’t hurt anything.” (www.ccgr.org)

Here’s a fun game. Can you guess which title this reviewer is talking about?

“Offensive Content

Right off the bat, the game has the notion that there are many gods and you are the offspring of one. This may offend some Christians. Other than that, when you roll over on a human, they scream. Another side note, though never ever said, this game is the equivalent of hallucinations possibly brought on by illegal drug use.” (www.ccgr.org)

Did you guess it?

Sheltering kids from the world to this extent is a guarantee that they will become serial killers. Especially when the alternatives are Eternal War or this delightful game. Talk about hallucinations!

The saddest part about this is the fact that there aren’t any good titles for Christians. We all know how terrible the Bible Adventure games for Nintendo were and Eternal War is mediocre at best. There’s so much money to be made here that I’m surprised no one has developed a good Christian game simply for business reasons. How hard is it to take a couple of characters and stories from The Old Testament and make a good RPG? Take Baldur’s Gate, replace the magic system with a prayer / miracle system, put everyone in togas and reduce the size of the boobies, re-enact a couple of massacres from Joshua or Judges, add a few heroes like Samson, throw the devil in there on occasion and you’ve got a fun game with substance that Christians and non Christians can enjoy. Hell, you might even convert some of us heathens in the process.