LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

LEGO Indiana Jones was the second movie adaptation LEGO game subseries since LEGO Star Wars. And it felt really fitting at the time to make a LEGO game based on this beloved film franchise. Unfortunately, the LEGO games were the only Indiana Jones games we got on the Xbox 360. But did they hold up well? Let's find out as we dive deep into LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures:

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Review (Xbox 360)

Synopsis

LEGO Indiana Jones loosely follows the stories of the three major films included in the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Those films being Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Temple of Doom (1984) & The Last Crusade (1989). These films are presented in the game as separate acts that you can interact with & play at any time from the hub world of Barnett College.

For the sake of this review, I will not discuss the stories presented here in the game - primarily because if you haven't seen the Indiana Jones trilogy before then you are sorely missing out. But each story is told in coherent sense, but with a particular flair of LEGO humor that is featured in many games in the series. The story of each films is followed very well, albeit with more humor and family-friendly approach to depictions of Nazis, scary ghosts & torture.

Gameplay

If you've played any LEGO game before, then chances are you already know how to play Indiana Jones. Although the game does try to switch things up in order to feel more like an action-adventure romp similar to Uncharted or Tomb Raider, most of what made LEGO Star Wars II's gameplay great is still present here. In my opinion, Indiana Jones is a great improvement upon the LEGO Star Wars games & feels varied enough to be considered different in some cases.

When it comes to new features; Because Indiana Jones has a whip, he is able to use his whip to grab objects, swing from hooks & tie up bad guys for a beating! But if you know anything about the character of Indiana Jones, you'll know that he's afraid of snakes - and that fear is presented in the game. Whenever Indy or any other character goes near something fearful (e.g. snakes), that will trigger a phobia and cause them to move slower and become unable to move / jump around those particular fears.

It is advised that you use your surroundings and interact with other characters to find out what to do in a particular scenario. What helps is that most if not every character in this game has a unique special ability. For instance, Willie (Indy's love interest from Temple of Doom) is able to scream so loud that it shatters glass and Short Round is able to maneuver through small tunnels to reach previously inaccessible areas!

Throughout the game, you will find collectibles such as artefacts & parcels. Collecting artefacts eventually unlock secret levels, while collecting parcels unlock extras / cheats. More than likely you're not gonna find these in one run, so it's advised that you take your time collecting these & save them for last during free play mode.

Although the gameplay here is fine across the board, I did encounter some issues during my run of the game. Particularly within the bridge sequence of the Temple of Doom act, where a boss battle with Mola Ram takes place. Several times I could never beat this battle, and I couldn't figure out the reason why - perhaps something didn't load correctly or I missed something out. Regardless, it felt like an intentional mistake on the part of the developers - especially since Mola Ram is supposed to be an untouchable warlord in the film. Eventually, I was able to beat this battle & my progress within the game continued at a steady pace.

Graphics

LEGO Indiana Jones shares many graphical similarities to LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, no doubt because of the fact that both games run on the same engine. So really I can't discuss much in terms of graphics. However, I can say that the environments feel very accurate to those presented in the films. The graphics haven't improved over previous LEGO games, but they still look clean & presentable - which is a common trait in LEGO games.

Audio

No surprise, the soundtrack is straight from the Indiana Jones trilogy. I think it's common knowledge in the film industry that John Williams (the composer of Indiana Jones, Star Wars and many other great movies) is a master of his craft, and it shows with Indiana Jones' soundtrack - particularly in the Temple of Doom segments of the game. It's a brilliant score left relatively untouched from the original source material, which can be viewed as both a positive and a negative.

Conclusion

LEGO Indiana Jones is a strong game adaptation of a brilliant series of movies. No doubt due to my bias for Indiana Jones over Star Wars, I personally believe that this is the best game in the LEGO series since it developed upon the success of earlier movie-licensed LEGO games like no other game after it. That's why I give LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures a 4/5 stars.