Clunky format slays latest Christian video game offering

The Aetherlight, a Christian massively multiplayer game launched this month by Scarlet City Studios, is an admirable effort with a reach that exceeds its grasp. Its top-notch story, told with wit and flair, employs steampunk styling for a clever spin on the story of Abraham.

Alexander and Selena (stand-ins for Abraham and Sarah) work with a robot named Ishaan and an orphan named Irving (Ishmael and Isaac) to lead a rebellion against the evil Emperor Lucky, and the story concludes with an adroit take on Isaac’s near-sacrifice. The Aetherlight stands as the gold standard for how to do a biblical video game story right.

But the game’s multiplayer ambitions wreck what could have been a polished single-player game. The designers’ laudable goal to protect children within its gilded panopticon strips the game of any real interaction. Conversations are strangled by a strict auto-filter, regrettably triggered even by words like, well, “regrettably.” Players can’t trade or even donate supplies. Combat is harder, not easier, when other players assist. Everything in this multiplayer game conspires against actual cooperation.

On the other hand, the game sparkles as a single-player experience. The world charms, the story clicks, and the quests shine. The graphics are stylish, the music is catchy, and the dialogue is good. It’s too bad the ill-considered multiplayer format will probably doom this praiseworthy effort to an early grave. But then, a grave is all Abraham kept in the Promised Land.