Thus, the game begins. You, as a newly reborn warrior of Christ (the Tribulation Force) must convert the undecided before the Antichrist, who heads up the Global Community Peacekeepers, gets his claws into them. The makers of the game are adamant that the game contains "no gore", but do admit to some violence in the game. The game has received a "T" rating from the ESRB.

The game has been crticized by everybody from Jack Thompson (a conservative Christian) to various media outlets who all question whether wrapping the message of Christ in a semi-violent video game is acceptable.

The game will be marketed throughout the vast network of fundamentalist Christian churches which helped sell the "Left Behind" series and "The Purpose Driven Life".

I have a lot of problems with the game. One is the name of the bad guys, the "Global Community Peacekeepers". This is a not-so-suttle poke at the United Nations. Am I to assume that Kofi Annan is the Antichrist?

Another issue is the way that I have is that the game makers feel that they can deflect criticism of violence because the game is not a First Person game. Instead, it is a Real Time Strategy game, like "Age of Empires" for example, therefore they claim, "Because our game is a ‘strategy' game, never does a player click a key or press a button to actuate a first-person violent act." (source)

Yet another issue I have is that the game is set in Manhattan. Of course, to the legions of Christian conservaties out there, New York City is a sinner's paradise and deserves to be Raptured.

There are so many ingrained prejudices in the game that it annoys me. So, I'll fire back: I bet now that Ted Haggard has some time off, he'll be playing the game...or maybe he'd rather kiss boys in "Bully". I am so going to be left behind.

Here is some info on the game from the official site.

* Lead the Tribulation Force from the book series, including Rayford, Chloe, Buck and Bruce against Nicolae Carpathia - the AntiChrist.

* Conduct physical & spiritual warfare : using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world.

* Recover ancient scriptures and witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices.

* Command your forces through intense battles across a breathtaking, authentic depiction of New York City.

* Control more than 30 units types - from Prayer Warrior and Hellraiser to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks!

* Enjoy a robust single player experience across dozens of New York City maps in Story Mode – fighting in China Town , SoHo , Uptown and more!

* Play multiplayer games as Tribulation Force or the AntiChrist's Global Community Peacekeepers with up to eight players via LAN or over the internet!