Spear of Destiny

Overview

Spear of Destiny (sometimes known as Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny) is a first-person shooter developed by id and published by FormGen on September 18, 1992 for the PC (running MS-DOS).

A standalone expansion of Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny consists of a single 21-level episode (ranging from rocky tunnels and dungeons to the ramparts of an old castle), featuring four new deadly bosses, new music, new wall textures, and a new item pickup (the Ammo Box, which supplies 25 bullets).

Set in World War II, before the events of Wolfenstein 3D, players reprise the role of Allied spy William "B.J." Blazkowicz as he must infiltrate a Nazi installation to recover the "Spear of Destiny" (the Holy Lance, which was used to pierce the side of Jesus Christ as he hung on the cross). The artifact is well-guarded, however, as it is believed by Adolf Hitler that by possessing it, he and his armies become invincible.

Unlike the predecessor, Spear of Destiny is not distributed in shareware format. Instead, the game was sold in retail (via floppy disk format), while a two-level playable demo was distributed. Two years after the game was published, FormGen developed and published two new "episodes". These episodes, Mission 2: Return to Danger and Mission 3: Ultimate Challenge were first sold under the title "Spear of Destiny Mission Add-On Packs" and was soon bundled with the original Spear of Destiny in CD form. Despite these mission packs containing new levels and graphics, their existence were barely known to the public. Although id Software were not involved at all with these add-on packs, they bundled them with later re-releases of Spear of Destiny, including the version available on Steam (running DOSBox).

Gameplay

Bosses

While the game contains no new standard enemies, it does contain four new standard bosses:

• Trans Grosse - Boss of the first set of levels ("Tunnels"). Brother of Hans Grosse. Carries dual chainguns.
• Barnacle Wilhelm - Boss of the second set of levels ("Dungeons"). Carries both a chaingun and a missile launcher.
• UberMutant - Boss of the third set of levels ("Castle"). A giant form of the regular mutant, carries four cleavers and has a giant chaingun on its chest.
• Death Knight - Boss of the last set of levels ("Ramparts"). Carries dual chainguns and twin shoulder-mounted missile launchers.

Once the player retrieves the Spear of Destiny, they must encounter a hidden final boss: the Angel of Death. Fighting in its hellish domain, the demonic guardian of the artifact attacks with an onslaught of fireballs from its claws while deadly ghosts roam around.