Christian videogame "Left Behind" earns criticism ahead of its release

Players lose strength for killing

8 November 2006 13:12 GMT / By Amber Maitland

And now, something of a twist for the world of gaming – a Christian videogame that sort of promotes non violence.

Instead of rewarding players for violence against their enemies, “Left Behind: The Eternal Forces” drains them of their “spirit”. Rated for teens, it’s set in NYC after millions of Christians have gone to heaven in the rapture, and is based on a book series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins based on the Biblical Book of Revelation.

Players are sent into the fray to battle the Antichrist and his followers with an army that they must recruit. Although the game’s creators promise that there’s no blood, profanity, or gratuitous violence, the outcry against it has already begun, led by anti-videogames attorney Jack Thompson, who has been quoted as saying, “The context is irrelevant. It’s a mass-killing game”. Like his campaign against videogame Bully, Thompson was making assumptions about the game before its release yesterday in the US.