But What's the Occult Content Level?

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We do pretty good reviews around here but there are always some questions left un-answered. What is the occult/supernatural level of content in the game? How much sexual or illeagle content is there? Is a game like Quake III wholesome enough? All of these questions and no answers in sight! Until now that is. Al Menconi Ministries has all the reviews you need to guage the important aspects of gaming. 

Here are a couple delicious quotes from some the reviews:

Starcraft: If you buy into the premise that it is the human’s manifest destiny to control the universe, then it is okay to slaughter the aliens who oppose you. If, however, you believe in the aliens right to defend their homelands, the humans are the aggressors. In that case this game is teaching a very harmful attitude.

Max Payne: This game is insidious. Besides making killing fun, Max Payne also makes doing this seem cool. This game is incredibly addicting and it makes you want to sit down and play it the whole way through. Each area you pass adds another piece to the story’s puzzle and this makes you want to play it until it is complete. The game itself is relatively short, only taking about seven hours to complete. He never feels guilty for killing the hundreds of people he does. The only good thing about Max is that he doesn’t kill women and children, or any fellow police officers, with the exception of his corrupt partner. Still, he is not a good role model for anyone.

I never realized Max Payne "made" you play like that.

Most of the reviews are written by one "JC Long" who obviously enjoys playing the games while rating them for occult, illegal and sexual content for concerned parents. It may sound like I'm mocking them but I actually feel a site like this is great for parents who really have no clue about what their kids are playing. The religious slant will throw some people off I'm sure but it's nice to see someone who reviews games based on gameplay AND the stuff parents need to know. Not just one or the other.

Thanks to Hat for pointing the site out for me.

- Certis

Comments

As I mentioned in the Deus Ex: Invisible War thread I am a Christian, and I belong to a rather conservative and orthodox church synod. I've played (and enjoyed) some of the games that got low scores on this site.

I agree with Certis that in terms of what they're rating, I think they actually do a pretty good job. What their ratings system doesn't allow for though is the ability to seperate fantasy from reality. Obviously, since the guy plays the games to review them, he's quite capable of doing that himself, so I don't think they're saying it's imnpossible to do that either. I guess what I'm trying to say is... if you're a parent and you feel like your kid is really impressionable and has a hard time seperating his actions in a video game from his actions in real life, then I think this is pretty useful. However if your child is mature (some/a lot of which comes with age) and more than capable of understanding that "Hey... it's just a game" then these reviews may just be a good starting point from which to talk to your kid about the concepts in these games, and what your family's beliefs are regarding them.

Well, at least they liked Freedom Force, so you can't completely fault them for lack of taste.

God forbid a game make me want to sit down and play it the whole way through or want to play it until it is complete. At this rate i'll be sacrificing virigins in no time!

Don't forget to invite me to the ceremony this time, damn it.

I checked his site out and there were some inaccuracies, such as his comments on the Tomb Raider series:

There are popular sites on the Internet with codes to transform Tomb Raider into "Nude Raider" stripping Laura of what little clothes she had been wearing. This added "feature" has made Lara Croft a best selling game.

I don't think he tried to test this feature out, because last I heard is that there is no such feature in any of the games.

No, there was an unofficial nude game hack floating around back when the original came out for the PC.


Still, there are A LOT of inaccuracies in the reviews. So far as I know, you don't get points for running over pedestrians in GTA3. In fact, the game gets harder because you've got extra cops chasing you.

Yes you can beat up a hooker after you restore your life to get your cash back, but that's not something suggested by the game, lady. YOUR CHILDREN thought that up by themselves.

Eh... some missions in GTA, which earn you cash, require you to get your wanted level to a certain point (so new cop cars show up), and in order to do that you have to kill civilians (running them over is one option). It's a little round-a-bout, but not totally inaccurate.