Funny, I was searching the net for lists of Catholic themed games and I ended up finding out that I apparently know more of such games than everyone else :frown:
Anyway, I know I’m bringing this thread from the dead and all, but I decided to register and post here about the games I know that have Catholic themes, for the people that are still looking for them. I am not listing the ones already mentioned here, off course. They are all computer adventure games(I am a huge fan of the genre).
**- Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers(1993) - **This is my favorite adventure game of all time and one the most acclaimed of the Sierra classics. The main character is a failed pulp writer living in New Orleans who discovers he is heir to a legacy of witchunters and inquisitors while investigating voodoo murders that have been plaguing the city. The game is full of Catholic imagery and themes, including a scene where the character must pray in his family chapel in Bavaria and a scene where he has a nightmare where Saint George transforms into a dragon and scolds him for living an empty and vain life before finding out about the history of his family. Actually, the main “quest” of the game is finding holy relics that belonged to his family and redeeming the sins of one of his ancestors in order to fight the voodoo cult he is faced with.
The game is certainly one of the best written point & click adventure ever and very entertaining, I advise all here who love classic adventures(or who have never played one before) and gothic fiction to check it out. The game also spawned two sequels, but unfortunatelly they are very different in style to the original and not quite as good.
Another +: It has the most awesome voice acting ever. Tim Curry and Mark Hammil are in it. Get the cd version, the floppy version doesn’t have voice overs. Yup, the game is from 1993 but it has aged amazingly well. It is so good that you don’t even notice that it is a 20 year old game after you begin playing it. It hooks you in like any good old book or movie. It is avaiable at
www.gog.com for about 6 bucks, fully compatible with modern computers.
- Black Mirror I, II and III(2004–2009-2011) - This is a trilogy of horror games dealing with the Gordons, a family that carries a curse that harkens back to the medieval crusades and suffers from demonic possession.They are very dark games and the ending of the first game of the trilogy will turn quite a few heads, but it can certainly be considered a Catholic themed game. The two main characters are(or eventually become) men of faith, and the Church plays a proeminent role in the series and is positively portrayed. This is specially true in the last game, where one of the main characters is an agent of the vatican and there is a scene involving a Catholic exorcism.
The game changed developers for part II and III and they are actually both better than the first. I actually find it better to play II and III first and then check out the first if you like it(you will have no problem understanding the plot and continuity, they are separate but related stories). Also, if you speak german, then play the german version. The english localization is decent, but it suffers from some mediocre voice acting.
- Dracula III: The Path of the Dragon(2008) - Father Arno Moriani is sent by the Vatican to Transylvania in order to investigate the claims of miracles performed by a local devout doctor during WWI… and ends up facing the good old count and his cronies, all the while having a crisis a faith.
It is a very good first-person adventure in the style of Myst. Tough puzzles but I loved the idea of getting a Dracula story set in post-war europe. It also deals with secret societies and conspiracies of the time. Catholic themes are all over the game. NOTE: Recently the developer released a “casual” version of this game divided into 3 parts and with toned down puzzles and plot. Avoid it like the plague. Get the original version. You might break your head a bit with the puzzles but you will play a good game and not a ****** version of it.
- Murder in the Abbey(2009)- This game was inspired by “The Name of the Rose” and has a very similar story and characters, but is lighter, cartoonish and not at all offensive to catholics(except maybe for a poorly researched and inaccurate portrayal of the inquisition by the end of the game). Unlike its source material it doesnt deal at all with themes such as lust, homossexuality and clerigal abuse. I enjoyed it quite a bit, specially the main character Friar Leonardo de Toledo, who like “William of Baskerville” is somewhat of a mixture of Roger Bacon and Sherlock Holmes. There is a sequel being developed, “The Wicked Village”.
Some of these are gonna be tricky to find, but I think I’m going to start with Gabriel Knight, since GOG carries it.