The Church of England is up in arms after discovering that Manchester Cathedral made its video game début in "Resistance: Fall of man," a title which the church claims promotes gun violence. The game in one particular level sends the player through Manchester Cathedral to continue his adventure of slagging aliens and saving the world. The Church of England has been battling rising gun violence in Manchester and as a result, sees Sony's inclusion of the cathedral in a violent videogame as directly undermining the church's efforts. The Church is not only requesting that the level be modified or completely removed from the game, but that Sony also make a donation to the church to help aid its battle against gun related crimes.
The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt. Rev. Nigel McCulloch, said: "It is well known that Manchester has a gun-crime problem." "For a global manufacturer to recreate one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have gun battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible." "Here in Manchester we do all we can to support communities through our parish clergy; we know the reality of gun crime and the devastating effects it can have on the lives -- it is not a trivial matter."
Resistance: Fall of Man is not the only video game to draw criticism for its use of real life locations. Grand Theft Auto IV's 'LibertyCity' has an uncanny resemblance to New York City, a fact the city's mayor is less than pleased about. In a public statement on Monday, Sony confirmed that it has received the complaint and that the company is working with The Church of England to solve the dispute.
