A new computer game which allows players to recreate the assassination of John F Kennedy has been condemned as "despicable" by the former US president's family.

In JFK: Reloaded, players take the role of Lee Harvey Oswald and fire at President Kennedy's motorcade. The player who most accurately recreates Oswald's three fatal shots will win a $100,000 (£54,000) competition.

The game was released to download on the internet yesterday to coincide with the 41st anniversary of JFK's assassination in Dallas. Its creators, software company Traffic, claim it will help dispel the conspiracy theories which surround JFK's death.

But David Smith, a spokesman for President Kennedy's brother Edward, questioned the taste of allowing game players to murder the American president.

"It's despicable. There really is no further comment," he said.