[PREVIEW] I Am Jesus Christ – What Even IS This?!

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I never thought we’d actually get a game where you could play as Jesus Christ. Well, I Am Jesus Christ does exactly that, giving us the chance to experience the miracles Jesus performed while diving into a world filled with biblical motifs. The demo just dropped, so I figured I’d give it an honest try.

This is actually a solid game, but honestly, it doesn’t offer much and it’s heavily filled with AI-produced content, voice acting, and structures. That said, there is some fun to be had here, but I genuinely don’t see this as a game most people will stick with.

I Am Jesus Christ feels more like something you’d play for a laugh, unless you’re super religious and looking for a game that accurately depicts the Bible. To that, I’d honestly just say: go read the Bible instead. And even then, does it really fully depict the Bible? That’s debatable.

Doesn’t properly depict the Bible

This game definitely feels like it’s in a very early state; it’s going to need a lot of polish to be genuinely good and accurate. If the goal is to retell the story of Jesus in an interesting, fun, or engaging way, it frankly fails. There’s barely any actual gameplay. And if it’s trying to hook people unfamiliar with Christianity, it falls short there too.

The story in the demo mostly follows three gospels, from Matthew, Mark, and John. But here’s an example of where it gets weird: the game shows Jesus going to the wedding in Cana alone, right after his forty days in the wilderness, and only because Joseph encourages him. This completely contradicts a verse that says Jesus and Mary were invited and likely went together. Plus, the four early disciples, who probably caused the wine shortage by showing up uninvited, aren’t even mentioned.

I am Jesus Christ is essentially a walking and talking simulator, but with a lot of running around, demo only has two puzzles, and a fishing mini-game right near the end. Honestly, I find the gameplay pretty lacking. A big part of that is the mix of human and AI-generated voice lines for the dialogue, and the fact that Jesus himself has no voice, which makes everything feel less impactful.

Puzzles are decent, but the game uses too much AI

I do appreciate the quality-of-life features, like auto-walking and skipping long distances. But, ironically, I feel like fast travel and skipping those journeys actually detract from the game’s whole point. This game also involves a lot of reading. There’s this puzzle at the beginning where you have to open a gate by correctly aligning the seven days of creation.

Despite that, I genuinely don’t see many people wanting to read through a huge amount of in-game text from the Bible just to solve a puzzle. Since I’m Catholic, I already knew how to solve it. This makes me wonder: who exactly is this game for? Is it meant for people unfamiliar with the Bible, or for those who are already Christians? It’s a bit confusing. Doesn’t send a proper message.

While the gameplay is a bit lacking, and that’s something that can definitely be fixed, the world is huge! The game really uses Unreal Engine graphics to its full potential, or at least, what a small team can do with it. The ambient effects are always there.

You’ll hear the same bird noises over and over, probably every 20 seconds, but honestly, it didn’t annoy me at all – it loops pretty nicely. Personally, I just think the music should sound more like something from the 1st century, not what typical Christians listen to during mass today.

Promising, but can it deliver?

Look, I get it, it’s an indie game, and it definitely has its pros and cons. The graphics are quite nice, but the people in the game all look the same – they really don’t have any distinctive features. And the Romans, while they appear, should have had a much bigger impact.

I also thought the cutscenes were pretty “meh,” and the idea behind Jesus’s baptism could have been done much better. Maybe I’m just expecting too much from this game, or maybe the developers aren’t trying to make it too massive. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.