Every wrongdoing is often blamed on satan. Many people imagine the terrible things they will do to the devil if they had some sort of supernatural powers. A new game called ‘I am Jesus Christ’ throws gamers into historic Israel. However, what has got many people talking is that the main character is Jesus Christ.
I am Jesus Christ literally allows you to step into Jesus’ sandal and relive his life from birth to death including working his most iconic miracles. The game was created by SimulaM, a Polish game developer, and published by PlayWay S.A and SimulaM. It is now available on Steam.
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“Walk in the footsteps of Jesus in this incredible first-person retelling of the story of Christ from birth to resurrection,” read the game description on Steam. “Perform amazing miracles, interact with a cast of biblical figures and travel around the Holy Land from Jerusalem to the Galilee. Become the Messiah in ‘I Am Jesus Christ’”.
Although the game was released in Q2 2023, it started gaining attention after it was shared at IGN Fan Fest. The fact that the game was designed in first-person makes it more immersive. CEO of SimulaM, Maksym Vysochanskiy explained that the game’s inspiration goes a long way back.
“Basically over 20 years ago, I was so inspired by computer-animated movies like Toy Story and Shrek that I thought, ‘It would be great to make such a movie about Jesus Christ’,” Vysochanskiy said.
As time went on, that idea started to morph into a video game. Those that have played the demo version of the game—which is about 2 hours long—speak highly of it.
I Am Jesus Christ makes use of Unreal Engine 5
What some players of the game found impressive was the fact that the game was built with the latest Unreal Engine 5. In the title screen, the ‘I’ in the name of the game is replaced by the image of Jesus Christ levitating with outstretched arms and a red scarf draping across his shoulders.
The models are pretty basic but not entirely a letdown. However, the developers tried their best to utilize the full width of Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). The facial details of some of the characters, like the woman with a black scarf that you have to heal at some point in the game, are really fascinating. This gives gamers a hint of what to expect in the future from the UE5.
The game alternates between day and night. Arguably the biggest challenge with the entire game is the lighting. Some areas are so dark that you will struggle to make out anything on the screen. In one mission, “Healing of the Royal Official’s Son”, the hand of Jesus Chris looks like a negative of an analog film.
In another mission, “Raising of Lazarus”, the screen glows so bright that it begins to hurt the eyes like staring straight into a burning flame. However, the game did a good job of capturing the different features in the land of Israel—known as the Roman province of Palestine at that time—including the sea, desert, and mountaintops.
The gameplay introduces humor and twists from the original story
The game starts with you (Jesus Christ) searching for John the Baptist. You have to move through the village interrogating the villagers about his whereabouts. According to the developer, you can interact with over 60 non-playable characters (NPCs).
You have to find him while making sure that you don’t starve to death. As the game progress, you have to munch on wild fruits along the way to keep your health meter full.
The first level deviated in a number of ways from the original Bible story. However, you will quickly discover the same trend throughout the game. For example, the next chapter takes you through the fasting of Jesus Christ in the wilderness. In an interesting twist, you will be surrounded by angels that will train you on how to fight.
Once in a while, the player will have to make brief stops to pray, to recharge your “Holy Spirit” which depletes as you use your powers. Obviously, the developers introduced stylized humor to make the game more engaging and fun for players.
For example, at one point, Jesus Christ had to shrink to enter a child’s body to cure the child’s disease. We bet not everyone will find this appealing. The missions are adaptations of the different miracles worked by Jesus Christ; from turning water into wine to healing people.
The game is definitely an attempt to spread the story of Jesus Christ and should make a great Sunday school companion—with an adult guide by the side, of course. Each mission in the game is accompanied by a New Testament Biblical verse that explains it further.
PlayWay, the publisher of the game is already working on another biblical-themed game called Moses: From Egypt to the Promised Land. It is expected to have a similar playing style as I Am Jesus Christ—with lots of twists too.
As the players progress through the game, they will be required to replicate over 30 miracles worked by Jesus Christ during his lifetime—but sometimes in the most comic ways.
System requirements
At a glance, it is easy to see that I Am Jesus Christ is not in the class of triple-A titles. However, it goes a tad beyond what you get with most regular indie games, where the environment is more of an afterthought. I Am Jesus Christ is a heavy game, as seen in the minimum and recommended storage (20 GB and 25 GB respectively).
The game can be played on Windows 10. There is no comment regarding its playability on older versions of Windows. In terms of RAM, the minimum and recommended are 4 GB and 8GB respectively. Gamers with Intel Core i3-2100 or AMD Phenom II X4 965 can play the game.
However, for a lag-free experience, the recommended processor is Intel Core i5-4670K or AMD FX-8320 or its equivalent. Most gaming laptops—even those in the low ebb—should easily exceed these specs.
The minimum required graphics card is the GeForce GTX 550 TI or Intel HD 620. However, the recommended graphics card is GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon R9 290X. For the best gaming experience, always make sure that your PC specs are at par or exceed the developer-recommended system requirements.
The general opinion about I Am Jesus Christ is mixed
The opinion around I Am Jesus Christ is mixed. While some are excited about what the developers have been able to put together, others like @RemmyLebo are concerned about how it would be received by the devout Christian community who may find some of the accounts inaccurate or even offensive.
In the midst of the apprehension, it is reassuring to find those that take the game for what it is; a game. This category of gamers just find it funny and are happy to enjoy the comedy for as long as it lasts.
Considering the delicate nature of religion, it is highly likely that the game will attract a sizable number of curious Christian players who would want to analyze the game to see if it blasphemes their faith in any way.
If the intention of the game is to make Jesus Christ more popular or to prick players to actually think of how much effort the Christian messiah put into the miracles he worked, the developers can go to sleep knowing that their aim has been achieved. For the first time, many people who have played the game are beginning to imagine how draining Christ’s miracles may have been on him.
On the other hand, if the aim was to accurately depict the life and works of Jesus Christ through an interactive medium, the team behind SimulaM needs to bite their fingers and ask, “Have we really done a great job?”
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