BEIRUT, Lebanon — The introduction is an exploding Israeli tank. A row of burning Israeli flags marks time while the computer loads a "training session" in which shooting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's electronic forehead on a target is worth 10 points.
The hottest video game in Beirut's southern Shiite neighborhoods is "Special Force," a creation of Hezbollah, the anti-Israel militant organization that is on the U.S. list of groups suspected of terrorism.
Though it is not the first political video game in the Middle East, "Special Force" is a sign of Hezbollah's propaganda efforts and its success in permeating popular consciousness in Lebanon.
With the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the United States has renewed pressure on Lebanon and one of Hezbollah's sponsors, Syria, to disarm the group and halt its activities.
Hezbollah says it is focusing on resisting Israeli occupation of disputed land on Israel's northern border. Its attacks drove Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation. That has given Hezbollah a certain stature here and elsewhere in the Arab world.
A shrewd media presence has helped it capitalize on that stature: Hezbollah operates a television and radio station and Web sites. The latest effort is the "Special Force" game. Segments are based on actual attacks on Israeli positions, the makers say, and include maps provided by Hezbollah's military wing.
In one game situation, the player fires simulated pistols and Kalashnikov rifles at an Israeli military position. Opportunities for "martyrdom," from land mines to snipers, are rife. The session ends with a medal awarded by the leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
One of the game's designers, Bilal Zain, said "Special Force" served as a counterweight to games that depicted Arabs as terrorists instead of as freedom fighters. "We want others to know our land is occupied, our people are imprisoned in Israeli jails, our houses are being demolished," he said.
He said about 10,000 copies of "Special Force" had been sold in Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Germany and Australia.
Playing at the Champions Internet Cafe in the Haret Hreik neighborhood in south Beirut, Ibrahim Tohmaz, 14, said he liked the game's realism. "Shooting at Sharon — it was nice to shoot at his head," he said.