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July 2006

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Praise the Lord and Pass the Joystick

By John Zavesky
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N ever forgoing the opportunity to wage war on the evil empire of secular humanists and spread the “good word,” Christian fundamentalists recently took their pitch to new heights. Not so ironically it was in a secular setting. The folks responsible for the Left Behind series of books debuted their latest attempt to “win” lost souls with a new video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. 

The object of the Left Behind video game is to “wage a war of apocalyptic proportions. Join the ultimate fight of Good against Evil, commanding Tribulation Forces or the Global Community Peacekeepers, and uncover the truth about worldwide disappearances,” the company’s website proclaims. 

All of those wonderfully heroic holy characters—Rayford, Chole, Buck, and Bruce—from the novels are ready to battle nonbelievers. They lead the Tribulation Force against Nicolae Carpathia, the anti-Christ who heads up the secular Global Community Peacekeepers (think UN). The many levels and stratagems a gamer is able to experience include: 

  • Conducting physical and spiritual warfare using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield military weaponry 
  • Recovering ancient scriptures and witnessing angelic and demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choice 
  • Commanding forces through intense battle across a breathtaking, authentic depiction of New York City 
  • Controlling more than 30 unit types including Prayer Warrior, Hellraiser to Spies, Special Forces, and Battle Tanks 
  • Enjoying robust single player experiences across dozens of NYC maps that include Chinatown, Soho, Uptown, and more 
  • Playing multiplayer games with up to eight players via the Internet 

The game’s trailer breaks humans into three categories: (1) believers: those who seek a personal relationship with God; (2) un-believers and believers: those who don’t seek after God; (3) faithless: those who chose to ignore God. 

The first group was depicted in the promotional video as a husband and wife praying before going to bed. The second—unbelievers and believers who don’t seek after God—were numerous, anonymous, unidentifiable figures bustling down a city street. The faithless had the appearance of a local militia group. Other than the revelation that no one knows the exact time or place of the apocalypse, little else was to be gleaned from the promotional video with the exception that those “left behind” are the ones who will battle the forces of darkness. 

The game’s characters are confusing. The most evil characters are the faithless. They look exactly like the folk that flock to fundamentalist religions by the drove. This will befuddle most secular humanists whom the fundies have aimed the game toward as a means of conversion. The fact that the secular characters are depicted as an anonymous monolithic bunch speaks volumes as well. 

Another vexing point of the game’s characters is the fine distinction made between “believers who don’t seek after God” and “those who chose to ignore God.” It may just be semantics, but both groups sound like they have better things to do than sit around waiting for the Rapture just so they can leave their wardrobe behind. Using the term “Global Community Peacekeepers” is also odd when these are the evil folk the Tribulation Force is bent on defeating. Even on the surface it is apparent that the folks behind the game have little interest in compassion, charity, love, or peace—all basic tenants of the Christianity that the man from Galilee preached. 

The hypocrisy of the self-appointed righteous continues to escalate. The fundies consistently assail the entertainment industry as hedonistic and godless, yet it is that arena where they are currently waging the battle to convert all those “other” folks to their side. When it comes to all things holy and sacred nothing says it better than Nintendo. 

Even without all the pseudo proselytizing, Left Behind is thankfully an abject failure as it eschews many of the things that attract gamers in the first place. Grand Theft Auto is a major seller not because of its storyline, but because it has plenty of graphic violence, celebrates the criminal, and also tosses in animated sex for good measure. 

While the first image in the game’s promo is a direct rip off of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, obviously the game’s designers lacked the courage of their convictions to really allow the secular humanists a good look at what is in store for them come the apocalypse. 

The fundies are probably the only group on the entire planet who actually look forward to a worldwide apocalypse. Unfortunately, as with any war, there are all those millions affected who didn’t sign on for the Rapture. By using a simple video game to set the stage for the real Armageddon, the fundies are once again lying. In a real war prayer does not miraculously restore powers to a wounded soldier whose leg has been blown off and allow him to reenter the battlefield. This is brainwashing on the most simplistic level. If operating a joy stick was all it took, there would be far fewer soldiers left behind on the battlefield and returning home unscathed. 

All that a game like Left Behind does is further point out the hypocrisies of a group that breeds hate and intolerance and wraps itself in the flag. In this case it is best to take the fundies at their word and leave this game behind on the store shelf.   

John Zavesky is a freelance writer living in California. 
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