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Church Condemns Fall Of Man

Over the weekend controversy erupted around the PS3 game, Resistance: Fall of Man, and its use of the interior of Manchester Cathedral. The Church of England has condemned the game for its violence and demanded an apology and financial reparations for allegedly using a representation of the cathedral without its permission.

The sequence in the game which aroused the church’s ire involves the player in an intense gun battle with aliens within the confines of Manchester Cathedral, which has been the scene of many memorial for victims of gun crime in the city. The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt. Reverend Nigel McCulloch, highlighted Manchester’s gun crime problem and admits that he does not take the matter lightly.

For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible.

Sony, who are reportedly contacting the church sometime today, has been quiet over the whole affair except for a quote given to the Times through Sony rep, David Wilson.

It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction. It is not based on reality at all. Throughout the whole process we have sought permission where necessary.

I find it hard to believe that Sony would have left themselves so open to legal action over this and am more likely to believe that the church gave permission without actually knowing the context in which the cathedral would be used in game. I am also dubious about the church’s motives for bringing this up now, Resistance was released on 23rd March and as such there has been plenty of time to raise any objections to its depiction of the cathedral. It may be that the church is fostering the controversy to highlight gun crime in Manchester and bring it more to the public’s attention. Either that or they’ve seen how successful the game is and want their cut, I’ll admit that that’s a very cynical view of the situation and also that its merely my opinion. It costs alot to maintain a cathedral and there aren’t as many bums on seats filling the collection plates of the CofE as there used to be.

The use of real world locations in video games has long been a point of contention between the industry and its antagonists with GTA IV (surprise, surprise) already coming under fire for its rendition of New York, and Rainbow 6: Vegas worrying the mayor of the city for its depiction of terrorism in the city. As gamers and gaming has matured over the years the ability of developers, and the technology, to replicate the real world in ever more accurate detail is bound to ruffle some feathers. Then again the movie industry has been doing it for much longer and I’m sure there are some films out there that depict real locations in a less than savoury light, it underlines the acceptance of film as a valid form of entertainment that these incidents have not caused more uproar.

Its time for the world to wake up to the fact that games are just as valid and important an art-form as any others, and that, as many gamers and game makers know already, they are not real. Instead of getting their knickers in a twist over an unreal fantasy world, maybe the church, and society at large, should be focussing on the distressingly real problems in their real communities.

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