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LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
After the highly successfully LEGO Star
Wars franchise, Indiana Jones fans can now experience the similar
excitement, high jinx and fun of this unique gaming world that combines
the original three Indiana Jones movies with the world of Lego.
Best of
all, the developers have ensured that the game follows quite a few of
the key scenes from the movie such as Indy running from the Boulder in
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark to Indy's foe drinking
from the wrong chalice in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, all
classic moments that pay true homage to the movie.
The developers have also
added a few sneaky references to other Lucasfilms characters with them
making cameo appearances in the game such as Luke Skywalker. In its
essence, LEGO Indiana Jones the Original Adventures is an action,
adventure and puzzle game that can be played solo or cooperatively for a
truly enjoyable gaming experience.
Puzzles do play a large role in the
game and some can be quite frustrating, especially when the clues are
staring at you in the face and your characters must be used in
conjunction or by themselves to manipulate these puzzles. There is also
an option for adaptive learning to be turned off which may help some
gamers.
The combat is also more
intuitive in LEGO Indiana Jones as the boss characters are more tricky
to defeat as the gamer must use their brains and sometimes brawn to
defeat them. All the Indiana Jones anecdotes have been implemented into
the game such as Indy's fears for snakes or his father's fear of rats,
all classic Indiana Jones moments.
My favourite aspect of the game was
mining cart section of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which was
thoroughly enjoyable as you race along at high speeds. What really makes
this game so entertaining is the humour that is littered throughout the
entire game such as Belloq imitating C-3PO or the facial expressions,
it's truly Champaign comedy at its best, so no matter if you are an
Indiana Jones fan or not, the humour will appear to everyone.
Each character also has
their own unique abilities such as Indy's bullwhip which can be used to
swing across gaps or some characters who can squeeze through small gaps,
all characters must be used, once again in conjunction to successfully complete the
puzzle. The only downside to playing solo is that the AI may sometimes
hamper their assistance if they are to stand on a platform to active a
button while another character must perform something else. Eventually
they will get or you can just attach a second controller and ask a
friend or do it yourself.
It can be frustrating at
times, especially when you are trying to solve a puzzle. The combat,
although entertaining does become repetitive as you progress through the
game and the sometimes endless respawning of enemies is a little
annoying at the best of times. The title also contains a plethora of
secrets and references littered through the game, so even though you may
have completed the game, by playing it a second time, you will uncover a
variety of new goodies.
Graphically, the title
is a visual treat on the PlayStation 3 with its high resolution graphics
and almost flawless frame rate. The characters have all been faithfully
recreated to mimic their movie counterparts as have the gaming
environments from the Thugee Temple in the second film to the Grail
Temple from the third movie. There are also some great cutscenes
littered throughout the game which assist in immersing the gamer into
this rich gaming environment. My only grip with the graphic system is
the limited camera control as some characters can vanish behind certain
obstacles.
Musically, the title is
perfect and uses the John Williams scores from the original movies that
really adds to the atmosphere. The sound effects are quite "LEGO"
sounding as are the characters grunt and mumble almost legible words.
Fantastic!
In conclusion, Lego Indiana Jones is quite an enjoyable game that
progresses from the LEGO Star Wars franchise and contains everything you
would expect from an Indiana Jones game from adventure to humour. Great
graphics, a sturdy gameplay engine and decent gaming options, this is
one game that all gamers should get if they enjoyed LEGO Star Wars or
the Indiana Jones movies. |
