Reverant Resistance

Gamasutra’s feature Persuasive Games sheds some light the recent scandal over the depiction of the Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man. The Church of England claimed they were affronted both by Sony’s alleged violation of intellectual property and by the video game violence that takes place inside the Cathedral in Resistance.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe offered an apology to the Church of England, but has not even tried to explain the symbolic role the Cathedral played in Resistance. Perhaps Sony felt any explanation they might offer would fall upon deaf ears. Hopefully this article can clarify the role of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man for you as gamers.

The Church of England sees their cathedral’s presence in Resistance only as a sordid juxtaposition, the sanctity of worship set against the profanity of violence. But when viewed in the context of the game’s fiction, the cathedral serves a purpose in the game consonant with its role in the world: that of reprieve for the weary and steadfastness in the face of devastation.

via Gamasutra