So here's a question, what if the game has depictions of witchcraft or outright satanism but they're clearly the adversaries of the game, like the Diablo or Doom series. Both revolve around fighting demons from Hell, Diablo in a fictional world completely separate from this one, Doom in a sci fi version of this world. You are never using them, but the imagery is there to show you just how evil your enemy is.
If not because of you sometimes have to use potions or teleport items that rely on demonic energy,I would have a fun time playing Doom and Doom 2 where you can blast away at the Satanic enemy using pure human-made weapons!I like that the same way you can open fire at enemies from a witch's coven in Return to Castle Wolfenstein.(I never played the latest Doom or Wolfenstein games yet.PC can't take it)
Never really thought of health potions to be anything demonic, more apothecary/herbs in Diablo and well, just "modern" medicine in Doom. The teleporters that you sometimes step through in either game series I suppose you could have a point that you're walking through a portal created by demons to hunt them down. There are some troubling suggestions in Diablo I suppose as a whole like the nature of Angels and Demons and the Nephalim, but, I've always viewed them as 100% pure fiction with some real world inspiration in the sense that there are angels and demons but they have a different story for how each came to be that is not biblical, more generic fantasy than anything. But, I still enjoyed them because I got to fight the Devil, destroy his body, and then take a stone containing his soul and smash it into pieces. There is something satisfying in the thought that you can help destroy evil in a visceral sense.
I played all the Dooms up until the release where it was actually 3D about a decade ago. After that I stopped playing. It just made me uncomfortable. Sometimes in "hell" based games I may not mind it if you are the good guy. But still makes me unsure. Sort of a grey line area.
It is, the part that makes me uncomfortable is that the developers don't seem to have a real knowledge of the truth. They only know cartoon devils/demons and haven't really heard the Gospel, or well, hopefully they have, and they just chose to make a fictionalized version and universe to not get too deep into what real witchcraft and demons are, just cartoon demons that we can shoot and blow up. On the flip side is war based shooters where you kill people, which I think is worse in a way? But still all make believe so.. not the same as committing yourself to Satan at least.
I remember in one fo the Call of Duty games there was a mission called "No Russian". It made the news (and was optional) in which you were undercover as a russian bad guy. As you go into the airport you find out the guys with you are going to start opening fire on civilians. It's what COD games are known for, having morality choices that in some cases you may not have a choice in. If you don't skip the missions you empty your heavy machine gun into hundreds (if not more) of civilians at the airport.
I wouldn't play a game where I was playing someone doing something truly evil. Like I've mentioned playing Diablo series games but I won't play Necromancer in them. Cause only God can resurrect the dead.
Yeah. When Manhunt came out, you were some crazy guy that goes around and you control how you kill people. People called it a "snuff film" but in a game version. Not sure why anyone would play that. No redeeming qualities at all. Just murder for "fun" in cruel ways.
Assassin's Creed was ... I dunno the gameplay was interesting being able to crawl around and climb and parkour was interesting but the story was VERY troubling, and you were murdering sometimes for some really shady people. While it's still fiction it's fiction placed in a near future "real" world and directly references real religions, including the Adam and Eve creation story, giving it a spin where the Greek/Roman Gods were advanced aliens that seeded this world with life and made humans to be their slaves, and Adam and Eve stole the "apple" which was a mind control device that kept humans enslaved. It's a little on the nose, a little too close to Athiest ideas on biblical stories, and presents them in a way where maybe some people take the core message of "there is no God, it's all just a system to control mankind" too much to heart, and also makes God or in this case, Gods, to be not so benevolent and loving. It's a little where I draw the line on it. I didn't like where it was going narratively, although I really did enjoy climbing around on buildings in middle ages or renaissance cities. I understand, fiction, not real, but I worry that it'll make other people think about these things and be more susceptible to coming up with athiest ideations for reals.
