Earlier this year, the Church of England threatened to sue Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for depicting the Manchester Cathedral in the latter’s sci-fi shooter Resistance: Fall of Man.
The church had complained about the game’s inclusion of the cathedral, which was named and modeled after the 700-year-old church in this industrial city in northwest England. After considerable pressure and public condemnation, Sony issued a public apology. In their statement, Sony apologized for offending the church or the residents of Manchester, but not for including the cathedral in the game.
Amazingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, none of the coverage of the cathedral controversy actually discusses the game. Sony didn’t say much about it either, save a self-defeating statement from Sony Europe noting that the game is work of fantasy science fiction game and not based on reality.
This statement implies, but does not actually address, the absurdity of critiquing a game about a hypothetical postwar 20th century in which a hybrid alien race called the Chimaera invade and assimilate the human population. But neither Sony nor developer Insomniac Games ever tried to explain the expressive goals the use of the cathedral advanced.
Absent the creatorsâ?? own ability, interest, or resolve to defend the artistic merits of their creation, that task is now left to the critic. For my part, I think the cathedral creates one of the only significant experiences in the whole game, one steeped in reverence for the cathedral and the church, rather than desecration.