Two real-time strategy games based on the final battle between God and Satan are on their way. Can you save souls and battle demons in the name of all that is holy?

Heaven vs Hell is the one closest to release. Developed by TKO Software, HvH is set in a world where human science has become so powerful that it is a threat to God’s creation, so the divine and loving lord decides to smite it so he can start from scratch. Satan takes the chance to start Armageddon and grab as many souls as he can. So we have God vs. Satan vs. Humans. I have no idea how you begin to balance sides when two are powerful mystical forces and one is an elaborate primate, but it might have something to do with all that advanced science.

The trailer for HvH really emphasizes Satan, which I guess is supposed to be cool and edgy. Most of the screens look like bad speed metal album covers.

Very recently, it has been announced that there will be a game based on the popular Apocalyptic novel Left Behind. The RTS, named Eternal Forces, is due for release this coming winter. Players take control of either the forces of good (the Tribulation Forces) or the armies of evil (Global Community Peacekeepers). Yeah, I know evil gets a lame sounding army, but remember that to the Left Behind authors, the United Nations is evil.

If you read the Left Behind ministry’s website, they have a subsection devoted to an explanation about how the games industry is big money. Instead of an evangelical rant about games as a corrupting influence or how D&D is the tool of the devil, it is a “We can get a piece of this action” explanation of how games fit into their business model. Because Left Behind is big business.

But back to the game. You will be able to play either side, so I guess that the forces of darkness can overwhelm the earth. This is purely a fight of humans versus humans, though, and takes place in the period of wars and rumors of wars before the Second Coming. Therefore, you can play the game and not worry about too much blasphemy.

Much of the game will supposedly center on the conversion of units to your side and the setting will be New York City. The urban landscape is an interesting idea, one used to great effect in certain scenarios in the recent Act of War. Good Multiplayer will need a greater variety of maps, however, and at this point there doesn’t seem to be any discussion of that.