GRAPHICS SOUND CONTROL FRUSTRATION FUN FACTOR OVERALL

NES 1 Player Overhead RPG Passwords It’s commonly known that games produced by Christian-developer Wisdom Tree offer poor design, an absurd and borderline offensive take on the Bible, and the lack of consistent fun. Spiritual Warfare, however, manages to overcome the third curse, to an extent. Players assume the role of a Christian youth who has been commanded by God to purify the city and make the citizens see the light of God. This can only be assumed, however, as there isn’t much in the sense of progress; the game feels like a matter of meandering about randomly. You’ll wander for most of the game, with subtle hints being dropped along the way and new items allowing access to new locations, until the final showdown with… an enemy that will not be revealed here. First of all, it must be said that this game plays a lot like The Legend of Zelda. The perspective, the item collecting, the menus are all based on those from Nintendo’s classic RPG. Religious theme aside, however, Spiritual Warfare does have a few twists of its own. Essentially, nearly everyone you meet (bikers, gang members, sales men, construction workers, security personnel, irate plumbers, ect) wants you dead. You mustn’t kill them, but rather convert them, which is accomplished by throwing Fruit of the Spirit at them. When converted, they leave behind a dove, which represents a soul, which can be picked up. Souls can also be won by catching an angel that randomly appears on screen and answering Bible trivia questions. Collected souls can be exchanged for items or health. In summary, you play as a kid who loves God, and who must convert people who are minding their own business, take their immortal souls and trade them for items. If you think this is offensive and politically incorrect, you’ve got it right. While Spiritual Warfare’s absurdity itself is worth the price of admission, the game has a few interesting elements. The Fruit, for example, comes in five different varieties; each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Up to four of each fruit can be purchased, allowing for faster attacks. Items can also be used to assist in the quest. A raft is available to float on water (and is controllable, unlike in The Legend of Zelda), a torch will light up dark rooms, and the Jawbone of Jacob can be used to collect items from anywhere (it makes Link’s boomerang look like a twig, but it’s unusually creepy). Attack items include the Wrath of God, an urn that explodes after being hit or after a few seconds, taking out obstacles and enemies (but, fortunately, not you), and the Spirit Sword is simply one of the best weapons ever, combining the best parts of the Fruit, God’s Wrath, and the Jawbone. Anointing oil is also available to restore health, and if the situation calls for it, you can pray; really. Prayer will increase health, for the cost of ten souls per half a heart. Hearts are also available to extend the life bar. As if this weren’t enough, the Armor of God is also waiting to be collected. The helmet grants immunity from explosion damage, the boots prevent damage from hot surfaces, the breastplate halves enemy damage, and the shield protects from fire attacks. Once your character gets all of items, he becomes virtually unstoppable. The enemies are, for the most part, absurdly represented, but have different attack patterns. While most enemies can be stopped with a single attack, others can deflect the Fruit, requiring the Wrath of God to take care of the situation. The occasional animal enemy will be encountered, and they are immune to all attacks. The twist in converting people is that when the human is defeated, an exorcised demon will occasionally appear and attack. The demons are more nimble than the other enemies, but can be defeated with one Fruit. For a game of this type, squat characters can be expected, but Wisdom Tree takes this a step further and includes squat details. The biggest offender is that most of the characters are drawn with their black detail lines represented as transparent. This means that if one of the characters walks over a grass patch, their black lines are now green. It’s a lazy and odd oversight, but it works most of the time, since most of the world is a black background. It’s really ugly, and the poor details and animations don’t help matters. The environments show some variety, however, ranging from slums to beaches. There are some decent details to be seen as well. The only graphical glitches are some non-intrusive slowdown during massive explosions and no flicker. The graphics are bare, but functional overall. The sounds, however, are absolutely dismal. The sound effects are minimal and consist of simple beeps, though the audio cue of an exorcised demon attack is a nice touch. The music, which consists of traditional pompous Christian scores, is very grating. The same song plays throughout the entire game, with the only break occurring when the game is paused, causing a different selection to play. The audio package is horribly tacked on, making it an ear-sore for the game overall. The controls, fortunately, are heaven-sent. You’ll find no problems moving about, though the hero could stand to move a little faster. Attacking is a bit awkward, but not terribly so. Switching items in the menu is annoying, given the amount of times it needs to be done. These are minor qualms, however, and the controls prove to be solid. I first heard of Spiritual Warfare when I read about it at Encyclopedia Obscura. The game seemed so horrendously wrong that I had to own a copy. I found someone around my city that had a copy and bought it in a lot. I found the game to be entertaining. There aren’t many games where the phase “Face the Wrath of God, sinners!” can be accurately yelled at the television. ......BOTTOM LINE: Spiritual Warfare is a strangely compelling game, even though there’s more than enough aimless wandering to be done. It’s the type of game that has to be played to believe, and is worth the price. Rejoice! -The Collector