Spear of Destiny: Tunnels

It was only natural that there would be a commerical sequel to Wolfenstein 3D. Nobody had ever done it before, but nobody ever became famous for making shareware before.
In Wolfenstein 3D Tom Hall is quote as saying: "Whaddya mean, we have to do a commerical version? Didn't we just finish SIXTY levels?" That's what, a week of work? Very 2019 of me to say, but you could probably lay the groundwork for like twenty levels in a day. Hell, you could do one of the Interactive Fiction 1 Hour contests for like a Wolfenstein episode these days. Sure, most of them would be bad, but you could do it.

I'll be playing on Bring 'em On, because I don't hate myself. In ECwolf, as before. This time I've discovered the automap settings that don't make the automap look terrible. Its just like Blake Stone now, only slightly worse.

Instead of Wolfenstein's light blues and BJ peeking out at a nazi, we have dark blues and a spooky castle. Kick-ass intro music too. Really, we're getting some quality tunes here.

Of course there's a new item, a box of ammo. Useful if you wanted to really cram stuff in there. Finding a room full of ammo in Wolf was a joy sometimes, but a room full of boxes becomes wonderful. I'm killin' all the enemies!

The new walls graphics look out of place. They almost look like the stuff in Doom. There's nothing wrong with them, but they don't fit anything else.

Throughout these levels I'm getting better level design so far, I don't feel like I'm running around identical rooms pointlessly. Most of the time. I'm glad I have a map for this. Its hard to keep track of which area is which when you're gunning down twenty guys at a time. They're good landmarks though.

Good use of grand feeling rooms, like an area in Floor 2 featuring a series of doors that open to treasure then finally a big room with a gatling gun in the middle.

Curious bad guy placement. "Zhon't mind me Bee-Jay, I am having ze smoke brack in ze treasuah rohm." He speaks like that because he was taught English by a Frenchman who loved the letter Z. All his life he's been mocked by his fellow Germans for his terrible accent, and now I had to go and kill him.

A secret area reveals a new (?) wall texture, purple bricks. Who orders purple bricks for a military building? Was there an accident at the brick factory? Or do I not understand Nazi architecture? Or does Adrian Carmack not understand Nazi architecture?

Pictured: Not actually the secret floor

The first secret floor, which is a cross between an armory and a treasury. As some would say, the kind of thing a gun nut dreams about.
The problem is that whenever the secret actually is that one block that looks different than the rest it seems cheap. The placement of secrets might as well be done with cordinates taken from a roulette wheel.

Trans Grosse, with armor that should be in a fantasy game. He's not really difficult to fight, its more the other enemies and finding goodies that give this level its difficulty.

I realize these little entries for Wolfenstein and now Spear of Destiny are really short, but the problem is that at its best, they're mindless entertainment, and at its worst its nothing but constant garbage mazes.