New video game lets you explore Israel as Jesus, die, fight Satan

Have you ever wanted to roleplay as Jesus Christ, performing miracles, fighting Satan, dying horrifically on the cross and then somehow getting resurrected and ascending to heaven?

If so, I am Jesus Christ may just be the video game for you.

Created by Polish game developer SimulaM, this historical Jesus simulation game will see players step into the sandals of the alleged Son of God himself – and in the first-person perspective.

"Perform amazing miracles, interact with a cast of biblical figures and travel around the Holy Land from Jerusalem to the Galilee," the game's page on the PC gaming platform Steam describes. 

The story, as described on Steam and as shown in trailers shared online, most recently at IGN Fan Fest, will take players on a journey from the birth of Jesus, his life and various miracles, all the way until his crucifixion and ultimately his resurrection.

The trailers seem to portray an open world setting, where players can take the Son of God throughout the Land of Israel – known at the time as the Roman province of Palestine – through vistas ranging from mountaintops to deserts to the sea and, of course, Jerusalem.

Some of the miracles that players will be able to perform include walking on water, making a stormy sky dissipate, turning water into wine, dying and resurrecting and seemingly telekinetically moving a large rock out of the way.

And of course, there will also be an over-the-top boss battle against Satan.

However, performing miracles isn't easy. Players will need to keep an eye on their "Holy Spirit" meter, which depletes with each miracle – though of course it can be recharged.

Needless to say, commodifying Jesus's abilities to perform miracles was certainly a bit of creative license the developers took when adapting the source material.

The game's prologue is already available to play for free, with the full game slated for release sometime in the second quarter of 2023.

"A game 2,000 years in the making"

Online, some social media users have reacted with amusement.

"Hopefully no one spoils the ending," one commenter wrote.

"A game 2,000 years in the making," another said.

"When Jesus said he would return, never thought it would be in the form of a video game," a third noted.

"As far as the ending goes, I'm just gonna touch wood, cross my fingers and hope that they nail it," a third commenter said.

Another Internet user asked "Will this have character customization?? We are all made in his image right??"

Others compared it to other notable open-world video games.

"Imagine if you can go [on] a rampage like Skyrim or GTA," joked one commenter.

Yes, this is a serious game

But the game itself isn't tongue and cheek. Rather, while it may have some unintentional humor – Jesus Christ shrinking to enter a child's body to cure diseases is most likely not the widely accepted theological interpretation of the New Testament – the game itself seems to be a serious attempt at spreading the story of Jesus and the New Testament. Each scene included in the game with each miracle is accompanied by a biblical verse from the New Testament describing it.

"I was so inspired by computer-animated movies like Shrek and Toy Story that I thought, wouldn't it be great to make such a film about Christ," SimulaM CEO Maksym Vysochanskiy said, according to Polish news outlet The First News.

This idea soon turned into the video game it is now.

The developer is fully aware of how people on the Internet are seeing the game as more of a joke though. 

"We already had that problem with our trailers, but... somebody needs to make such a game," Vysochanskiy told Vice.

Here's hoping the game is a hit. Afterward, maybe check out SimulaM's next game, Noah's Ark, a simulation where you get to – surprise – build Noah's Ark.

The publisher behind the game, PlayWay, is also releasing another biblical-themed game currently in the works: Moses: From Egypt to the Promised Land, which is sure to be a plague-filled adventure of biblical proportions.