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Atheist video games lists? suggestions?

I just finished a great game called "Dead Space" in which religious nutbars try to destroy the human population with their idiotic drivel and the government eventually steps in and does something, but only after thousands have died as a result of their delusion.

I also am a fan of Fallout 3, in which religious people are represented largely as harmful by their stupidity, gullibility, and manipulativeness, albeit with a few minor exceptions.

Half life 2 seemed a bit religious, as the ancient faith of the weird aliens seems to be powerful, but then it seems to be ultimately controlled by that weird guy that appears every so often.

Bioshock? I dont really know if that is or not...Id be interested in opinions. What about other games?

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Permalink Reply by Rodrigo M Vasquez on February 11, 2010 at 6:00am

I would say that tales of Symphonia has a good approach to religion, with Churches of Marttel and everything else, people believing on false prophet/prophecies as a result of misunderstandings, etcetc. Looks "innocent" but shows how little things, can get bigger with time due to ignorance, blindness and speculation. is only available on Nintendo Game Cube, but you can play on Wii with a NGC controller.
Ahh, Bioshock is quite outstanding... Adam Ryan is portrayed as an Atheist with lack of medical Ethics or understanding of.. "Believers" are "humble" and low class, almost escaping and asking for forgiveness for negating "God" :-)... And what about Resident Evil 4??
Final Fantasy used to be good, but after X ( maybe including ), went down Hill...
Those are not "Atheist" games, but they comment and represent religion as a social burden, effect and their consequences. I really would hate to see a game where the character says " God is within us, to protect our soul...believe... march like zombies ..etcetc"

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Permalink Reply by Wiley Coyote on February 11, 2010 at 7:17am

Well I've got to agree w/most everyone here that Portal kicked ass. Im really hoping they come out with a whole stand alone Portal 2 or something. :) Fallout 3 is also at the top of my list. Lately i've been playing Prototype, another kick ass game. In that game you complete missions to gain "evolution points" that you can use to acquire new powers and abilities. A game worth checking out.

A question for all you Fallout fans.... When you first played the game, what was your karma like? And after you finished the game, did you go back and play it with the opposite karma?
First time I played it I went through with golden boy karma, I saved everyone and killed all the baddies. Second time around i was the scourge of the earth, wasting everything in my path.

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Permalink Reply by ryan cameron on February 11, 2010 at 8:38am

I like to play every possible scenario of every karma. It is funny that the ultimate "good karma" is Jesus Christ, and the ultimate bad karma is a satan guy. I have to admit, I do dislike being a "badass" in the game, it does become heavy and depressing and I get a kick out of all the kudos you get as a hero - silly to feel that but I cant deny it, I guess because I really do get into the game.

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Permalink Reply by Jonny Marko on February 11, 2010 at 9:26am

"I couldnt possibly be as much of a jerk as God is in the bible. He would have blown up megaton, blown up the citadel, and killed all the kids."

This, from Ryan's earlier post, is about the extent of my Fallout 3 playing, after getting slightly bored with the normal quests in the game.

Except, the game wouldn't let me kill the kids :D So I guess it's not truly "God mode".

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Permalink Reply by Ian Fitton on February 11, 2010 at 7:29am

I highly, highly recommend the Assassin's Creed series, when it comes to atheistic video games. I don't want to spoil anything, but it takes the whole concept of religion and turns it on its head, especially in II if you pay attention.

As far as Japan and religion in their games go, the japanese culture as a whole has a much lighter and more distinct view of religion than most other countries, simply because they've worshipped so many gods in their history, especially in Shinto, that it isn't that much of a big deal anymore. You have Japanese here that have taken polls and marked themselves as buddhist, christian, and shinto simultaneously, when the demographic is actually largely atheist or agnostic when it comes down to core ideas. The rest of their beliefs stem more from culture and tradition than actually believing in it. As such, they're much more capable of running with unique ideas of religion and criticism of fundamentalists who are hardcore believers of their faith with no reason behind it, or very bad reasons.

And as far as I know, in most japanese games, any NPC character that is religious or a priest of some kind, you can usually point to them as being one of the antagonists, if not the main bad guy, and some games such as the RPG Xenogears go so far as having the characters actually take down God. A lot of other games are like that, and if I can think of any more, I'll be sure to post them on here.

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Permalink Reply by Charles Corey Stewart on March 27, 2012 at 5:28am

If you're into classic gaming, try Breath of Fire II. Don't read up on it or anything, just play it. Buy a SNES, download it for Wii, or emulation. You won't be disappointed. Just trudge through the beginning.