Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

By now you are probably aware of the Lego phenomenon.  Take one part great movie classic, and introduce one part fun, lovable construction toy.  These games have taken the gaming industry by storm.  Going from “Hey that looks like it might be interesting,” to “What will be the next Lego-ized IP?” (Batman)  The simple fact is, like them or not, Lego games are here to stay.  After the monumental success of the Star Wars games, Indiana Jones was the next logical step.  Who doesn’t love the grail seeking adventure of Last Crusade, or the timeless and regularly copied boulder chase from Raiders?  Well now you get to relive those and most of the other memorable scenes from the trilogy.  Lego Indiana Jones: the Original Adventures takes you through all of the events from the trilogy in that same kooky and silent formula that made the other games so fun. (I suppose it might be worth mentioning that the new movie is not included in this game)

This title sees Indy through his original adventures in all their glory, sans a few key scenes to maintain their ESRB rating to be sure.  Those hoping for the classic face melting and heart ripping will be sadly left wanting.  Other then that however, the game does a great job letting you relive the classic trilogy.  The level environments are wonderfully done and the addition of the complete original music makes you really feel like part of the action.  They add a particularly nice touch for the level loading screen which shows you the traversed path between level locations on a map just like in the movies.  Indy and the cast have impressively well detailed movement animations that really go a long way in a silent game.  They even go as far as to showcase a new character phobia mechanic where certain characters have these fears of certain things, like Indy and snakes.  These fears force you to find other avenues to help get frightened characters across perilous paths.  This adds a new layer of dynamic realism that helps get that complete movie adaptation across.  A throwing mechanic has also been added, since we can’t all have force push powers.  This mechanic is pretty spot on and includes an auto targeting feature so you can easily hurl a sword through a rope to gain access to a special area. 

Much like Star Wars, this title features different class types where certain characters possess certain abilities.  This time around, the classes are much more robust.  Abilities include an explosives expert who is essential in destroying certain types of Lego blocks to gain access to otherwise inaccessible areas, a glyph reader who can use his blue book to decipher secret messages on the walls, female characters who can jump higher then any other character and some are even able to break glass with their screams of peril, and of course Indy himself whose specialties with a whip allow you to manipulate certain environments.  The shorter characters return as well to help you through the game along with run of the mill gunmen.  Helping you to identify when special characters are needed, the game provides a small glowing patch of ground to indicate there is an interactive aspect near.  This is also especially useful when using ropes.  The ropes and vines produce a small circle of light to help you determine exactly where in the environment they are.  Though this feature doesn’t make up for the terrible camera, (this is the next generation here and every game should have a player controlled camera environment!) it does help a little with prospective problems.

A fixed camera is not the only problem that plagues this recent trip down the Lego aisle.  Fans of the genre will note that the game still lacks in the playing time department.  Sure there are a few (Three) bonus levels out there but that only brings the total up to 21, a far cry away from the standards these days.  You are also going to miss that lightsaber in combat situations.  Indy sports a newly revamped fighting system and though it is nice to look at, comes across more cumbersome then anything else.  This is mainly due to everyone else having a gun and you left with a whip.  Sure it is cool to fling your whip around, but let me tell you, your whip isn’t going to scare those bullets flying towards you!  The frustration of this system becomes overwhelmingly clear when you continually find yourself being shot by someone off screen.  And don’t look to your AI controlled counterpart for help, the only thing he or she will be good for is stunning a foe momentarily.  The baddies always go for player one first, as apposed to the most prominent threat.  This is due to poor AI programming or an attempt at throwing all the action at the player, you decide.  If you are fighting with one of three guys, the other one or two will work on your counterpart (it is sort of like a dance seeing as neither one ever gets killed) then immediately following the demise of the foe you were working on, the others steer their attention away from your buddy and set sights on you.  You have to wonder why the developer chose this almost infantile form of combat tactics.  That doesn’t equal out to an enjoyable experience.  Throw in a few annoying puzzles, not all of them mind you just a few, and you will have an idea of what aspects this game falls short in.

If you thoroughly enjoyed the other branches in the Lego family tree, this one is sure to add an afternoon of excitement in your family home.  It is nice to see how they can shake up their formula to incorporate different styles of gameplay specifically for different movie adaptations.  Even though some aspects are bad, overall the game is still improving on the original foundations.  Taking the limitations aside and looking past the obvious “milking the cash cow” routine, this game really is fun and the only thing that truly hurts it is that it is so dang short.  One long afternoon is all you need to see everything it has to offer.  Luckily they throw in a few bonus levels and characters, stretching it out to two afternoons.  Maybe.  Regardless, true fans of the growing phenomenon that is lego-ized IPs will no doubt be completely satisfied with this new addition and at a discounted price, it defiantly isn’t the worst game you could buy.
6 out of 10 > "Fun"  (I use a 10 point sytem but Giant Bomb uses a 5 Star system so I suppose this equals out to a 3)

[title]LEGO INDIANA JONES REVIEW[/title]

Publisher – LucasArts

Developer – Traveller’s Tales

Release Date – June 3nd 2008

Genres – Action, Platformer

Rating – E 10+

 Summary

-Queue Indy theme song-

LucasArt, and Traveller’s Tales, work hand in hand to once again, bring us a new game full of shiny plastic bricks, but this time the lightsabers have been taken away, and the force is no longer with us, but do not fret, the worlds greatest adventurer is here to save the day, equipped with his infamous whip, Indiana Jones.

This new LEGO game follows the adventures of Indiana Jones, and all of his sidekicks and acquaintances, throughout the first three movies, “Raiders of the lost arc”, “The temple of doom”, and “The Last Crusade”.

This LEGO game dose not stray far from the formula that the LEGO Star Wars games have set, you still have to collect studs (used for purchasing characters and unlocking special bonus’s), a central hub is present for choosing the three different movie episodes to play, and also many rooms for you finding, the cut scenes and the overall game are still hilarious, as LEGO’s put a neat humorous twist on the original storyline.

The game starts you off adventuring through the prologue of “Raiders of the lost arc” after you have completed, escaping the giant LEGO brick boulder, and running away from the angry tribesmen, you may rest back in Barnett College (used as the main hub), were you can now choose to continue on “Raiders” or you may start any of the other two movies.

 Story

LEGO Indiana Jones, stays true to the original movies, and many memorable scenes are recreated through the LEGO universe, such as the giant boulder, the spining swordsman, and the face melting from Raiders, the monkey brains, and the bridge battle from The Temple of Doom, and the natzi motoricle chase, and the choosing of the holy grail form The Last Crusade, but to dissapoint many Indiana Jones fans, there is no hint of the new movie (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – 2008 Release), but those who have played the LEGO Star Wars series, will find some refferences, to the game and the movies.

The Cutscenes are well portaited through hilarious pantamimes, with a humourous twist on eveything, even the decapitations, and other such brutal bodly injuries, and distubring imagery.

 Gameplay

Not much new has been added from the original formula, but with the Indiana Jones universe, it mixes things up a bit.

Combat is a bit harder as you are unable to deflect bullets, with a lack of a lightsaber, but a nice variety of weapons have been added to the mix, such as, pistols, rifles, machineguns, scimitars, spears, crossbows, bazookas, swords, spades / shovels, wrenches, and torches, although gunned armed enemies feel a bit over powered, you can always use your trusty whip to perform a comical disarming. Your best armament is your good old fists, they are nice and fast, and occasionally perform some comical wrestling moves such as dropkicks, and a mean noogie

Now the whip is not all what you would expect, its most practical use is for swigging, but all its other uses are not as good as we would hope to be, you can destroy objects, disarm enemies, perform funny takedowns (my favorite is the grab and kick in the groin, then watching them wiggle and explode, its pretty funny), grab objects from a distance, and my personal favorite, grab any of the three women from the movie (Marion, Willie, & Elsa) for an camera worthy kiss.

Since the force is no longer with us, it has been replaced by new game play elements, such as digging, fixing machinery, swigging from the whip or from vines and ropes, lighting fires, decrypting hieroglyphs, and random puzzle solving, the LEGO building is still present, and the small characters still play a small (pun intended) roll, by fitting into trapdoors, high jumpers have been replaced by women (Woman power ftw), and dark force users have been replaced by thugees, and natzi troops used for entering secret areas in freeplay. (With a cast of around 60 unlockable characters)

The Collecting Elements are still there, minikits are now treasures/ artifacts, which pile up in the museum room of the college (once you have gathered them all a secret is unveiled), studs are still studs, and used for purchasing many characters that you have defeated throughout your adventure, and red bricks (used for secrets such as invisibility), have been replaced by mail parcels, but this time with a very neat new twist, once you find the parcel you must also locate the mail box, which then you must carry the parcel to the mailbox, for it to be properly delivered to the college, were you can rightfully purchase that secret.

I strongly suggest that if you have someone to play with, invite them! I completed the games story twice, and I found myself enjoying playing the game with a partner rather then the computer controlled one, because let me tell you, the AI partner, is as dumb as a LEGO brick, it feels like it was designed to follow you, and will mindlessly walk into traps, that are easily avoidable, and constantly get stuck, and occasionally glitch into surfaces, forcing you to restart the level, but one thing I enjoy about the AI partner that was not present in the previous LEGO games, is that this time your partner stuns enemies when attacking them, which makes for less frantic fights when faced with multiple enemies (who will gladly blow everyone up including themselves and their peers).

 Presentation

In the world of LEGOs everything is shiny and colorful, but Traveller’s Tales did a nice job, in making Indy’s world into LEGOs, the colors fit almost seamlessly with the environment, and the best part, are destructible, the lighting and bloom effects are few, but well integrated to create a nice fun plastic feel, the only drawback is that not the whole world is made out of LEGOs, some backgrounds feel bland and out of places sitting next to LEGO bricks, but is almost forgiving, when playing the game.

Pros & Cons

Pros:
- Fun, Simple Gameplay
- Great to play with someone

- Funny & Charming

- Short Missions for people who don’t have a whole lot of time to spend playing games -_-

- Stays true to the fun simple formula of LEGOs
- Easy to pick up and play

Cons:
- Bad partner AI
- Occasionally bad camera angling

Conclusion

LEGO Indiana Jones, is more focused for its fans, and people who have seen the movies, but overall is a nice game, its forgiving and simplistic, which encourages people to play, it has a nice welcoming charm to it, all of these elements make it a semi casual game (I’m saying its not a casual game, but its not a hardcore game either) but it still has a great depth to it, with all the unlockables, and collecting you can do. It is very enjoyable with many movie related puns, that will keep players enticed to see how Traveller’s Tales, and Lucas Arts have transformed a beloved movie series, into the fun loving LEGO universe

I recommend this game to:
- Indiana Jones Fans
- People who have seen the movies
- New comers to videogames
- Fans of the LEGO Star Wars franchise

Why I do not give rating scores

I don’t like giving a game a scored rating, because everyone has a different opinion on the game, so no game is better then another, I rather recommend the game to people, who I think the game is aimed towards, or people who will enjoy it.

There's something about Lego that never really grows old. You could have been given your first Lego set at 5 years old, and 20 years later still feel inclined to play with it. I remember going home about 5 years after I had moved out and finding my box of Legos that I had last played with when I was about 11. There was a knife in there that I spent about 4 hours on trying to make it look as realistic as possible. At the bottom of the box, another unfinished masterpiece that I believe was going to be a handgun. Then I sat back and tried to recall why I was such a messed up kid.

A couple of years ago I got to relive my love for Legos. Lego: Star Wars hit the major systems and while it wasn't the same, it was just as cool as the first time you built the Millennium Falcon out of Lego. There was little lego versions of Darth Maul, Chewbacca, and all my favorite locals from the new trilogy were present. It was a great day, that was only triumphed by the release of the Original Trilogy. With those releases I had a conversation with a group of friends about what modern day classics should be recreated in the Lego Universe. The game I played this past week was one of those suggestions.

Lego: Indiana Jones is just as it sounds. A Lego game that allows gamers to relive the events from the three Indiana Jones films, but this time, in full HD. I know that last line sounds a little out of place, I mean, could the graphics in a game about Lego really be improved that much from the last generation? The answer? Yes they can. From the minute I entered into the first level, I was immediately impressed with how much they improved the graphics engine. The environments are filled with stuff to smash like the Star Wars games, but this time it just looks more crisp and enjoyable. Each character is modeled to look like super-deformed version of who they're representing, and it kind of makes you wish the Star Wars titles were built from the ground up to be played on the Current-Gen systems.

The general gameplay in Lego Indiana Jones, is still pretty much the same. You run around a level, build Lego objects, smash Lego objects, attack enemies, and get rich or die trying. Well, not exactly die because in the Lego universe, you can never truly die. You have hearts representing your health but after playing it for a couple of hours, you'll ask yourself "Why bother?" When you die you just lose a couple of the collectible Lego pieces used as currency and respawn on the spot. It kind of takes away a good chunk of the challenge, but when you take the major demographic into consideration, I could see what they were going for. A nice easy game to pick up and play without getting frustrated. It works.

Each movie in the trilogy is broken up into several levels with different environments for Indy and his entourage to explore. The scene with the big boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Heart ripping scene from Temple of Doom, and the chase scene from Last Crusade. It's all in there, and it is instant nostalgia for anyone who has ever been a fan of the series. One of the big setbacks in terms of going from Star Wars to Indiana Jones, has to be the fact that I didn't really want to play as anyone else but Indiana Jones. As you go through the game you can unlock a ton of new characters, but when it really came down to it, I kept switching back to Jones. Not a huge deal, but when you have about 10 different versions of Indy to choose from, you quickly come to the realization that the developer had a hard time filling out the roster.

For fans of the John Williams score from Indiana Jones, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find it pretty much intact. Everything is recreated perfectly, and with each and every stage you're treated to one of the better treatments of a licensed property. Too many movie to videogame translations have been finding their way to store shelves with straight to game music, but with any of the Traveller's Tales titles, they've taken the time to get it right. It adds that extra level of polish in a game that doesn't necessarily need to be immersive at all. It's pretty sad when a game focused around little Lego men running around gives you a better sense of "being there," than games that really need it.

While the initial game will only take you about 6-9 hours to play through, like the other Lego games, there is plenty to do after that. There are a ton of characters to unlock, and thankfully each of them has a use to help you on your way to achieving a 100% completion. For those of us that have OCD, we are once again given some extra levels if we so choose to take on the task of wanting to do everything in the game. There's some Young Indy levels, some special Lego themed ones, and a ton of extras to unlock that will change how the game plays. Add on Achievements if you're playing the Xbox 360 version, and you have yourself a game that you could spend nearly 30-40 hours on. That's alot of Lego.

Is Indiana Jones worth it? At the time I am writing this, I have already saw the game on the shelf for $40 on sale, and it is most definitely worth $40. After playing through Lego Indy, I can safely say that I am getting a little burnt out on the formula. It works, but not enough is really changing with the gameplay to keep me coming back for more. I was cool up until I was near the end of Lego Indiana Jones, and while it is no fault of the game, it's just a fault of the standard set by the Lego Star wars games. If this is your first Lego themed game and you're a fan of Indiana Jones, then I say that you should check it out. If you're not really familiar with the movie, I would suggest checking out "Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga," in stores now, or "Lego Batman" later on this year. If you are one of the thousands of people who played the Lego Star Wars titles to death, then I don't know if I can recommend Lego Indiana Jones too highly. It's a relevant title, but I don't see it really being worth a purchase. Pick it up if you get a good deal, or just wait for a series that you really love. I have a feeling that there is going to be many, many more movies and games that get the Lego treatment.

*cough* Matrix trilogy please *cough*

Kim Fidler

• Colorful and humorous.

• Legos.

• Covers the original 3 movies.

• Same old Lego game. Nothing new, which is disappointing.

• You can cheat from the get-go.

• Somewhat boring if you are playing by yourself.

LEGO Indiana Jones is one of the most directly fun games i’ve played, especially in multiplayer. It appeals to my sense of playfulness, exploration and finding secrets/rewards. It is in my opinion a game that is an evolved form of the good old platformer games like Mario & or all of it’s hellish offspring. As i see it this game is meant to be enjoyed with a friend. It’s fun on my own but much more so when you are two, as most of the riddles and secrets need to players to find. Also, the game features full friendly fire, and when you kill your friend he drops a little of his money which you can also pick up.

It’s hard to define what makes things fun, or what fun is. If i would be to compare it with any other product, i would compare it with kids toys or Viva Pinata. It has the same appeal, and also a lot of great humour. There simply something satisfying with smashing everything in a room with a shovel, making it explode into lots and lots of coins. Also, this game features a little asian boy doing a lot of manual labor and heavy lifting while a well dressed american man is chasing him with a whip, and a character whos special move is screaming very loud.

You’d think that you can’t do so much graphics-wise with lego bricks, but this game proves that wrong. I’m playing the PC version, and the graphics could be described as PS2 models with X360 shaders. The game works very well with motion blur and distance blur (simulating what the eye focus on) and the whole bunch… Not once have i been bothered by the low polly of backgrounds or anyting, on the contrary, i was impressed several times with how well the technology is used to create a good visual experience.

I am yet to try any other version than that of the PC , but i think that this games is perfectly fit for the Wii, it has the direct fun appeal that Nintendo are trying to promote. I’m probably going to check how the game is on my Ds, that might be interesting as well, but i’m afraid that the graphics will loose a lot of it’s appeal. The PC version might be a little bit hard to control, so i connected my Xbox controler to it and now it’s no problems

The game is really cheap too so i can recommend you to check it out. If you like casual gaming and have a friend nearby to play with, i’m pretty sure you will not regret it.