Video Games Depict Religion as Violent, Says New Study
Recent video games have begun depicting religion as a violent, problematic force, according to research from a new University of Missouri study.
Greg Perreault, a doctoral student at University of Missouri's School of Journalism, studied five extremely popular games from the last few years that incorporate religion heavily into their storylines: "Mass Effect 2," "Final Fantasy XIII," "Assassin's Creed," "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow," and "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion."
In each case, Perreault found that religion became equated with violence within the video games' narratives.
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"In most of these games there was a heavy emphasis on a 'Knights Templar' and crusader motifs," Perreault said in a press release. "Not only was the violent side of religion emphasized, but in each of these games religion created a problem that the main character must overcome, whether it is a direct confrontation with religious zealots or being haunted by religious guilt."
Just because religion was associated with violence, however, does not mean it was always depicted as evil. For example, Perreault noted that in "Mass Effect 2," the character of Thane is an extremely spiritual assassin who assists the player.
"His religion basically says that the body and soul are separate," says Perreault. "So the body can be used as a tool by someone else, and thus his assassinations aren't anything he bears guilt for – the person who hired him bears the guilt… So is the religion violent here? Not necessarily, although it allows for the violence he commits – and must commit – in order to save the galaxy."
Of those five games, "Mass Effect 2," "Final Fantasy XIII," and "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" all deal with religions created specifically for the game. The remaining two titles, "Assassin's Creed" and "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow," both center around Catholicism.
Still, Perreault emphasized that he did not believe game developers were attacking religion with these themes.
"It doesn't appear that game developers are trying to purposefully bash organized religion in these games," Perreault said. "I believe they are only using religion to create stimulating plot points in their story lines. If you look at video games across the board, most of them involve violence in some fashion because violence is conflict and conflict is exciting. Religion appears to get tied in with violence because that makes for a compelling narrative."
While Perreault's study of just five games is far from an exhaustive survey of all of modern video games, he does believe game writers should be aware of how they use religion in their plots.
"I hope this propels great writing into all the great conversations of our society in video games, which I think ultimately will lead to better and better games," Perreault said.
