Overcoming evil with video games.
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: Wisdom Tree
DEVELOPER: Wisdom Tree
GENRE: Action/Adventure
RELEASE DATE: 1992
Rise from your knees, man of God. There’s an evil modern city waiting to be bludgeoned/converted with fruit of the Spirit. The power of Spiritual Warfare compels you to search the unnamed city, find the six pieces of the armor of God (as mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-18), and combat Satan himself. Each of the pieces of armor is acquired by beating a boss, with each of them giving you a new power; the Breastplate of Righteousness cuts your damage in half, the Helmet of Salvation protects you from explosions, and so forth. Along your journey, you’ll acquire the aforementioned fruit, like pears, pomegranates, apples, etc, each one representing a biblical fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). This fruit is your weapon to transform a motley crew of mobsters, construction workers, graffiti artists, and others into repentant believers (their transformation is quite startling at first, particularly when a demon rushes out of them towards you). Once transformed, the enemies will sometimes drop hearts or dove tokens, which can be used to purchase anointing oil (refill your hearts), vials of the wrath of God (bombs), and other faith-filled merchandise.
Spiritual Warfare is an enormous Legend of Zelda-ripoff, from the city layout to the non-linear exploring to, well, just about any way you can imagine. Despite the game’s lack of original design, it is so bizarre in its application of biblical teachings that it’s worth a playthrough just to experience it; particularly if you were raised in church or have studied the Bible. Just remember: Christians don’t actually throw literal or metaphorical fruit at people to convert them. Spiritual Warfare is Gnostic, at best.
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5 replies on “#594 – Spiritual Warfare”
I never played this game, I’ll must try!
Thank you, awesome work!
Why didn’t Wisdom Tree ever take a stab at a game based on the Book of Revelation? I would imagine there’s a lot of material there that could translate into the video game medium better than say, a puzzle game based on the Israelites marching across the desert for 40 years.
That would have been hilariously awesome.
I appreciate this review. People tend to dismiss this game outright based on the fact that it’s a blatant Zelda knockoff with really bizarre theology. But to me, the kitschiness is a big part of the appeal, and the Zelda mechanics are implemented surprisingly well. Not some kind of masterpiece, but the most playable game Wisdom Tree released by a wide margin.
@RegularGeoX: I totally agree. Nothing else Wisdom Tree published comes close to the playability and uniqueness of Spiritual Warfare.