Spear of Destiny

1. An object that has been used as a plot device in many novels and television shows. The name given to the spear in John 19:34 which St. Longinus pierced the side of Jesus with. Like the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, said to give great power (or in some cases, instant death) to the person who posseses it.

2. A great computer game, the prequel to Wolfenstein 3d. In it, the goal of the game was to get back the Spear of Destiny from Hitler, who had captured it in an attempt to become invincible.

Released in 1993 by ID Software, it was the sequel to the classic game Wolfenstein 3D. It was quite an entertaining game and had slightly better graphics than the original, but was inferior in every other way to Wolfenstein 3D. Not to say it was a bad game, though. It is being integrated with the original in the upcoming title Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Similar to: Wolfenstein 3D, all 3D Shooters

Similar to(released at similar times): Doom 2

NB: There were no similar titles released at a similar time to Spear of Destiny, therefore I have taken the closest similar title.

Spear of Destiny was an exploitation sequel (a la Doom 2) to Wolfenstein 3D, developed by Id Software and published in the UK by Psygnosis in 1992. Unlike its predecessor (which was mail order shareware), it was released in traditional retail channels. It differed from the first game by having more types of enemies (such as four-armed zombies with gatling guns in their chests), more levels, and a slightly faster engine (although this is a bit difficult to test on modern machines). It was the last Id game to feature 'lives'.

When reviewed in the May 1992 issue of PC Zone magazine, it elicited this fantastically un-prophetic comment from Mark Burgess:

"iD programmers have moved from the world of shareware. They are in the long grass where the big dogs go and I think they're lost."

The game received a score of 60% (justified, in respect to the time of its release and comparisons to Wolfenstein 3D).

WRT Big Alba's writeup: Spear of Destiny was actually released several years before Doom 2. There were not, to my knowledge, any similar games available at retail at the time, unless you count other games built on the Wolf3D engine such as Shadowcaster. Or Ken's Labyrinth perhaps.

The Spear of Destiny (as seen in the movie Constantine) is the spear that pierced Jesus' side and killed him¹,and apparently is a divine force capable of releasing the Apocalypse according to Corinthians chapter 17 (don't waste your precious time: there is no Corinthians 17, it was a plot device for the movie). the non-existent Corinthians 17 says that Mammon, the son of Lucifer, would release Hell on earth after crossing onto our Plane from the Hell Plane²;. But in order to do this, he would need divine help. Apparently, the blood stains on the spear was enough divine aid to give Mammon the power to cross onto our Plane, and release all of Hell with him. There are obvious problems in this use and idea of the Spear of Destiny.

The Spear of Destiny was an actual spear, guided by Saint Longinus into the side of Jesus but didn't kill him¹. The movie also said that the Spear of Destiny has been missing since World War II, when it was actually discovered in Adolf Hitler's office (he ordered it brought to him after he annexed Austria in March 1938³) when American troops invaded his office (April 30th, 1945, at 2:10 PM---a mere 80 minutes before Hitler committed suicide). The spear was returned to its former home in the Hofburg Museum, where it has rested ever since.

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1: "So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out. (The one who saw this happen has spoken of it, so that you also may believe. What he said is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth.)"
John 19:32-35~Good News Translation---courtesy www.crosswalk.com

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2: See Planes of Reality and plane of existence

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3: For more on Hitler and the spear, and other people's experiences with it, go to http://www.unmuseum.org/spear.htm