A New Testament-themed video game called, “I am Jesus Christ” is set to debut early next year and it’s already raising eyebrows.
Based on a game trailer released over the weekend that shows Jesus Christ performing miracles, healing followers, and walking on water, the game, written and soon-to-be released by Polish game development company PlayWay, will allow players to go behind the eyes of the Son of God.
Fox News even reports that the game includes “miracle-working, crucifixion and resurrection storylines.”
The game is listed as “coming soon” on the online gaming platform Steam, but the developers have already released a description. “‘I am Jesus Christ’ is a realistic simulator game inspired by stories from the New Testament of the Bible,” the synopsis reads. “Check if you can perform all famous miracles from the Bible like Jesus Christ. It is a simulation game and you can try to save the world as He did. Are you ready to fight with Satan in the desert, exorcising demons and curing sick people? Or calm the storm in the sea?”
According to the game’s profile on Steam, it has a number of unique features as well as “realistic game play” as Jesus Christ. The “open world” game gives players the opportunity to have a “realistic fight with Satan” and perform “over 30 miracles” including “healing people, walking on water, calming storms, and feeding people.” As Jesus Christ goes through the game’s levels praying, baptising followers and performing good works, he earns “super powers” from the Holy Spirit.
Gaming news site, IGN, released a still from the trailer that appears to show the desert battle with the Dark Lord.
I Am Jesus Christ is a real game based on the New Testament, and it begs the question "Are you ready to fight with Satan in the desert?" https://t.co/GfLnlFysVr pic.twitter.com/DNxdYccVgC
— IGN (@IGN) December 7, 2019
This is not the first or only religious simulator game available on Steam, but its trailer certainly garnered serious attention. In just the few short days since it dropped, the YouTube promo for “I am Jesus Christ” has been viewed nearly half a million times.
The same game developer also released “Priest Simulator,” where players compete to serve and minister to communities as members of the cloth.
“In our new game you will feel like a priest, the most privileged person in the village,” one of the games developers told a gaming outlet about Priest Simulator. “We focus on an open world in which the main path of the storyline will be intertwined with intriguing side tasks. There will be plenty of standard activities – e.g. preaching sermons, visiting people and the sacraments but there will also be some more unusual activities such exorcisms and battles with demons.”
It’s entirely possible, in both the priest and Jesus simulator games, though, that the story won’t go as expected. Although the plotlines for “I am Jesus Christ” are taken from the New Testament, the game’s developers were very clear that “Priest Simulator,” at least, takes into account the player’s own free will.
“Life is the art of selecting the lesser evil. Such will also be the case in our game, where we will solve problems in different ways or not solve them at all,” they said. “If a resident asks us for help, then, of course, we will be able to help that person but the game will also offer alternatives less beneficial for the needy. We’ll kill the devil and receive from the client an envelope with a reward or we allow the demon to depart and we obtain an ability associated with black magic. The decisions will be reflected in the reputation indicator and we invest the money in developing the parish, car upgrades and better weapons.”