Having looked at the practicality of religion in videogames, we are left to consider the possibility of religion in videogaming. Religion has revealed itself to be a touchy subject for game designers, but remains a topic of active discourse among players. While faith-based games are niche products, numbers of gamers of faith are growing and looking for titles that - at the very least - do nothing to espouse philosophies contrary to their own. The internet has provided an outlet for purposes of such enlightenment.
Groups of gamers with single religious and spiritual inclinations advise each other on the appropriateness, and by extension wholesomeness, of games' plots, themes and characterizations. A game like Killer7 might score an enviable 80% for its gameplay component, adjudged based on graphics, sound and control, but manage a meager 20% for its appropriateness review, which considers its graphic and gratuitous violence and sexual themes, thus yielding an overall score of 50%.
The use of such a review system begs more questions of what the player hopes to get out of his gaming. When a gamer feels his or her sensitivities being questioned, the wholesomeness of the playing experience is undermined. The entertainment value of the game is not subverted (as shocking as some of the violence in Resident Evil 4 may be, it's still damn fun), but the value of the entertainment becomes diminished. The player will not want to play around children, for example. If the appropriateness of the software based on the criteria outlined by a religious lifestyle remains a major determinant of its playability, an impasse is inevitable. Given the increasing popularity of Mature-rated games, and the aging demographics of the hobbyists, it seems that both sides of the equation will lose. The conscientious player will begin to suffer through his pastime, enduring it as a guilty pleasure. If the disturbing themes continue to escalate and frustrate the player, the sense of remorse will swell to overcome the player's attitude toward the hobby and the industry supporting it, and not just a few titles. I believe this question of wholesomeness will come to the fore over the next decade once we all agree videogames are art.
Games incorporate religion to varying degrees, under varying circumstances, to varying success. If we were to imagine gaming imbued with religion in every conceivable way, the results would be jarring. Consider id's Doom series. How would you react to the games if the designers had further enhanced the idea of fighting through Christian Hell with Christian iconography? That would, after all, make more sense. What if the imps and demons were fought with holy water and crucifixes, instead of a space marine's standard issue handgun and the BFG9000. What if you were required to pick up the Old Testament's 39 books for an Easter egg hunt?
Not to parody Doom, or make you laugh, but the image conjured is compellingly absurd. Our human mythoi are beginning to converge in videogames. The scapegoat in any game with a boss hearkens to its religious roots. But new methods of blending religion and spirituality are clearly being forged. The examples of recent successes cannot be ignored.
Khurram is pursuing his MA in English at home in Kingston, Jamaica and holds a long-term goal of developing a working framework for videogame criticism.
