"Here in Manchester we do all we can to support communities through our parish clergy, we know the reality of gun crime and the devastating effects it can have on the lives--it is not a trivial matter." Manchester bishop Nigel McCulloch said to ITV News. "It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem. For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great Cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible."

Resistance: Fall of Man was released alongside the PlayStation 3 hardware last November in Japan and North America, and this March in Europe. Both the single and multiplayer modes make use of the area based on Manchester Cathedral. In the single player story, players are ambushed by a variety of non-human Chimera upon entering a dilapidated version of the landmark as they quest to rid London of the vicious creatures. In multiplayer, gamers play as either humans or Chimera to meet the goals of the chosen mode, which range from objectives requiring strategic team-based play to simply killing other players.

"For many young people these games offer a different sort of reality and seeing guns in Manchester cathedral is not the sort of connection we want to make," Manchester Cathedral dean Rogers Govender explained to The Associated Press. "Every year we invite hundreds of teenagers to come and see the cathedral and it is a shame to have Sony undermining our work."

"We have spoken to the Manchester Cathedral authorities and will be dealing directly with them from now on," a Sony representative told Shacknews. "We do not anticipate making any further public comment in the immediate future."