Spear of Destiny

Spear of Destiny

MS-DOS - USA - 1st edition.

Developer id Software Publisher FormGen Published 1992-09-19 Platforms DOS Genres Action, First-person shooter, Shooter Themes Action, World War II Series Wolfenstein Distribution Commercial

Spear of Destiny is a World War II themed first-person shooter developed by id Software and published by FormGen for MS-DOS on 1992-09-19. The game is the fourth game in the Wolfenstein series, and the second to use the Wolfenstein 3-D Engine. Although it was released after Wolfenstein 3-D, Spear of Destiny is a prequel. In 1994, FormGen released two add-ons for the game, Return to Danger and Ultimate Challenge, which were mostly reskins with new maps. Also, in 1994, a random map generator was released. All three products were released together in Spear of Destiny: Super CD Pack.

In the game's story, Hitler steals the fabled Spear of Destiny from France believing the relic will make his army invincible. Even if the Spear doesn't have supernatural powers, the Nazis have become even more aggressive with it in their possession, so the Allies send you, B.J. Blazkowics, to infiltrate Castle Nuremberg to take back the Spear. However, in doing so, you uncover secret Nazi plans for world domination.

Personal

Own?	Yes. On Steam.
Won?	Yes. Bring 'Em On difficulty.
Finished	2022-02-23.

I'm pretty sure I saw ads for this game not long after I played Wolfenstein 3-D, because I remember seeing screenshots of one of the new bosses, but I didn't known anyone who owned it, so I don't think I actually played the game until after Doom was released. My first experience with it was from the Spear of Destiny demo, probably on some shovelware CD, and I found it to be pretty underwhelming, so I didn't bother getting it. After I found the registered version, I started playing it bu got bored by the second level. It was just too similar to the original, just with minor wall art differences and an ammo box. I bought a Wolfenstein pack on Steam, and had it in my collection for awhile, but it wasn't until 2022, after beating the last Wolf 3D episode without cheats, that I decided to play it all the way through.

Review

4	4	6	5	4

Best Version: MS-DOS

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• Most of the good things about Wolfenstein 3-D are still true for Spear of Destiny.
• Adrian Carmack's new art looks pretty good and Bobby Prince's new music sounds nice.
• The transition from Nazi Germany to hell is a shocking shift in the game's tone.

Bad

• All of the same problems with Wolfenstein 3-D remain.
• Since it's little more than a reskin, the game isn't nearly as impressive as the original. After a year, both the technology and shock value feels dated.
• The levels are much less inspired that the original. Many of them are long sprawling corridors with very little decoration or variation. It's pretty obvious they rushed this out.

Ugly

• Same as with Wolfenstein 3-D, only I was bored of the game even more.

Media

Box Art

All regions use this painting by Ken Rieger, the same person who painted the original Wolfenstein 3-D cover. It shows BJ shattering the glass case of the Spear of Destiny. However, his rifle is actually a Russian model, not German.

• 

  MS-DOS - USA.

Documentation

• 

  Manual.

• 

  Hint Book - Spear of Destiny.

• 

  Hint Book - Return to Danger.

• 

  Hint Book - Ultimate Challenge.

Maps

• 

  Maps.

Graphics

• spriters-resource.com/pc_computer/spearofdestiny

Videos

Longplay - Bring 'Em On difficulty.

Play Online

MS-DOS

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There aren't any women.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There aren't any women.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Everyone is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There aren't any queer characters.

Download

• Download (Info) - Version 1.0, demo.
• Download (Info) - Editors.

Credits

Role	Staff
Chief Operating Officer	Jay Wilbur
Director	Tom Hall
Designers	Tom Hall, John Romero
Writer	Tom Hall
Engine Programmer	John Carmack
Programmer	John Romero
Additional Programming	Jason Blochowiak
Graphics	Adrian Carmack
Music, Sound Effects	Robert Prince
Sound Driver	Jason Blochowiak
Voices	Tom Hall, John Romero, Scott Miller
Documentation	Kevin Cloud
Box Art	Ken Rieger

Expansion

Two expansions were made Spear of Destiny: Mission 2 - Return to Danger and Spear of Destiny: Mission 3 - Ultimate Challenge. These added new maps and new artwork. They were not made by id Software and are mostly just reskins of the original. I have not played them. The Spear of Destiny: Super CD Pack includes both add-ons as well as a random map generator.

Links