A new video game called “I Am Jesus Christ” will allow players to assume the persona of Jesus of Nazareth for a first-person narrative style experience wherein they reenact famous moments from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament gospel accounts.
A trailer for the game showcases some of its gameplay, featuring scenes from first century Israel and showing potential users how they can play as Jesus to perform miracles such as making fish appear for Simon and Andrew to catch, turning water into wine, and healing the sick.
“Many people have attempted to write about the things that have taken place among us. Reports of these things were handed down to us,” a narrator says at the beginning of the trailer, paraphrasing Luke 1:1-2.
Later in the trailer, a female voice questions Jesus, “Why, tell me only why, would you want to save all those humans? They don’t deserve that, and believe me that in the end, they will betray you and kill you.”
The game is being developed by SimulaM, a Polish tech startup.
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“I Am Jesus Christ: PROLOGUE is a stand-alone game and the introduction to the full version of I Am Jesus Christ,” the game’s description reads. “Walk in the footsteps of Jesus in this incredible first-person retelling of the story of Christ from birth to resurrection. Become the Messiah in ‘I Am Jesus Christ.”
To gamify the experience, players must charge up their “Holy Spirit energy” to perform miracles in the game, which include using telekinetic power to complete carpentry tasks.
In one vignette of the game, players act as Jesus during his period of fasting in the desert, being aided and instructed by angels in how to combat Satan by throwing energy balls at him, leaving in question how faithful a portrayal of the biblical account the game will offer, as well as how Christians will react to it.
Nevertheless, the makers of the game are apparently not developing it in jest but rather as an attempt to provide a new way for users to interact with the story of Jesus.
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Speaking about how the idea for the game came about, SimulaM CEO Maksym Vysochanskiy told VICE, “Basically, over 20 years ago, I was so inspired by computer-animated movies like ‘Shrek’ and ‘Toy Story’ that I thought, ‘It would be great to make such a movie about Jesus Christ.’”
