Assassin's Creed 1 and 2
Dragon Age on MANY counts
God of War 1-3
Too Human
Any roleplaying game with the presence of a priest/cleric/etc class XENOGEARS!!!
This is just a miniscule sample of what's out there. There is plenty of presence of religion in video games, real and fictional, though even fictional religions are generally rooted in the belief structures of actual ones. As Sycraft-fu said, they want religion to be shoved in your face, but realistically, religion is belief. There are tons of them out there and everyone has their own take. Putting religious doctrine as a centerpiece of a game would do nothing but alienate the audience.
At the same time, the group that is complaining of the irreverence or lack of "faith" in games is assuming that not only are they right, but that their own religion is pristine, which is not true of anyone. There is everything from modern court cases over abuse, embezzling and the like,to jihad, the crusades, forceful "conversion" blood feuds between rival INTERPRETATIONS of the same beliefs, crucifixion, slavery, support of genocide....the list goes on. Games are about entertainment. The good ones don't exist to try to pigeonhole the player into thinking a certain way, and while I have nothing against religion in general, religious propaganda aims to do just that, and that isn't something that the general population will tolerate in it's escapism. A good religious themed game is most likely going to borrow from the negative connotations of a religion, not the so-called positive, and is that really what those making this outcry want? Doubtful.
Slashdot Mirror
Assassin's Creed 1 and 2
Dragon Age on MANY counts
God of War 1-3
Too Human
Any roleplaying game with the presence of a priest/cleric/etc class
XENOGEARS!!!
This is just a miniscule sample of what's out there. There is plenty of presence of religion in video games, real and fictional, though even fictional religions are generally rooted in the belief structures of actual ones. As Sycraft-fu said, they want religion to be shoved in your face, but realistically, religion is belief. There are tons of them out there and everyone has their own take. Putting religious doctrine as a centerpiece of a game would do nothing but alienate the audience.
At the same time, the group that is complaining of the irreverence or lack of "faith" in games is assuming that not only are they right, but that their own religion is pristine, which is not true of anyone. There is everything from modern court cases over abuse, embezzling and the like,to jihad, the crusades, forceful "conversion" blood feuds between rival INTERPRETATIONS of the same beliefs, crucifixion, slavery, support of genocide....the list goes on. Games are about entertainment. The good ones don't exist to try to pigeonhole the player into thinking a certain way, and while I have nothing against religion in general, religious propaganda aims to do just that, and that isn't something that the general population will tolerate in it's escapism. A good religious themed game is most likely going to borrow from the negative connotations of a religion, not the so-called positive, and is that really what those making this outcry want? Doubtful.