Jesus joins Facebook through new online game

WASHINGTON – Hymn “What a ‘Friend’ We Have in Jesus” takes on new meaning Tuesday with the unveiling of a game on the world’s most popular social network.

Lightside Games releases “Journey of Jesus: The Calling” on May 15, allowing those who log on through Facebook to “walk in the Messiah’s steps, in an authentic experience of Israel in Christ’s time,” according to a company release.

Not to be outdone by heaven, the devil gets his own spot in the limelight with “Diablo III,” another game released on Tuesday. That game was so popular it crashed the servers. Check out the video, below, for more.

“Both games immerse the player, and you are what you eat,” says Lightside CEO Brent Dusing, according to the release. “Players want a game that’s more than a game; we know that well.”

A preview of the game on YouTube shows cartoonish renderings of major biblical points of Jesus’ life, such as his 40 days in the desert followed by temptation by the devil, curing the blind, casting money changers out of the temple and his eventual crucifixion. It’s set to a stylized version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

Comments have been disabled for the video.

The company cites one of its first religious social media games, “Journey of Moses,” with their motivation for launching the new program, which is free to play. That game drew more than 2 million players, it says.

Check out this preview of the game:

and the huge response that crashed Diablo III’s servers:

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