Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

1. Official Site
2. Platform: 360
3. Publisher: LucasArts
4. Developer: Travellers Tales
5. Release Date: 06/04/08
6. Genre: Platform

by Mitch Youngblood

"Indiana Jones. I always knew some day you’d come walking back through my door."

Thirty seconds is all it took. In exactly half of one minute, I fell in utter love with the new LEGO-based game from Traveler’s Tales, LEGO Indiana Jones. Right from the start, players can tell that love and genuine passion for the legendary trilogy (I’m intentionally ignoring "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" for many reasons, chief among them that it sucks) were the driving forces behind this game.

This is exactly how the LEGO Star Wars games were handled and those were nine kinds of magnificent. So too is LEGO Indiana Jones, an honest gift to gamers who like their hero bruised but resolute, who want their enemies mean but stupid, who enjoy their puzzles to range from simple to devious, and who prefer their artifacts imbued by God Himself.

The game captures the soul of the films and other companies would do well to play this gem to see how it’s done (looking at you, EA). The extreme attention to detail gives the game world an authenticity that reflects the 1930’s serials the films were inspired by. Yes, it’s a world entirely built from LEGOs right down to the flowers and the trees, but that sort of depth breathes vivid life into what might otherwise be a charmless gimmick.

"You are in a position unsuitable to give orders!"

As I mentioned earlier, the attention to detail in this game is stunning. Every level in the game is far deeper than you realize on your first play through. For starters, pay attention to the jungle in the first level of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". There is a huge depth of field which comes off as more than just a backdrop in front of which the action takes place. You’ll also be surprised to find out just how exacting the animators were in creating both the world and character details. The boulder in the temple at the beginning of "Raiders"? Brilliant.

Each chapter perfectly captures the feeling from the movies. "Temple of Doom" in particular deserves accolades for how well it creates the same tension and feeling of dread that the movie did. The mine cart chase is riveting because of how much there is to see and how quickly it all blurs past. There is a massive amount of detail here, and it is to the animators’ credit that the detail remains despite nearly all of it being thrown away because of where the gamers’ attention is focused.

There were some minor visual flubs here and there. For example, one time in Egypt I maneuvered Indy against a metal wall and for a brief second a graphical glitch appeared. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but this same thing happened several times. It was a long stretching of pixels, almost like looking through a prism in the way it bends light. It wasn’t so much a tear as it was a stretching, and while one instance might not warrant so lengthy a mention it did happen a few more times throughout the game. Odd, but hardly a game killing glitch.

"You want to talk to God? Let’s go see him together. I’ve got nothing better to do."

As it was in the films, John Williams’ legendary score is as much a character as any of the actors on screen. In this case, the LEGO versions of Indy, Marion, et al. don’t speak so much as mumble and point at images that show the next step to take. The selections of music wonderfully underscore each piece of the game, pun fully intended. I am not much of "Last Crusade" fan but it contains some of my favorite music from the series. It is impossible to play through the sections in the desert without the score getting your heart racing from excitement, especially during the tank battle.

The sound effects for the characters were solid yet unremarkable. One disappointment was the classic sound of Indy’s punches being entirely absent from the game. When Indy throws a punch in the movies, it sounds like someone being hit by a freight train. In the game, it’s barely more than audible pop. I realize it is a bunch of LEGO figures batting at one another, but if you’re going to do a game based on this series you need to go all the way. The crack of the whip, however, was excellent. The explosions have a solid resonance but the gunfire sounds like a cap gun. Maybe that was toned down for the kiddie nature of the title, but it remains a weak point.

"Germany has declared war on the Jones boys."

The one genuine misfire in the whole game is the same one that threatened the LEGO Star Wars games: Poor controls. Vehicular controls are outright awful with luck playing more of a role than skill in achieving your goals. You know things are wonky when an attempt to drive a car in either Egypt or Shanghai in a straight line is an exercise in futility.

The basics of character control are just fine up to the point where you want to target one particular item. If it happens to be surrounded by other items (looking at you, "Holy Grail") then it’s best to just start grabbing one thing after another until you pick up the one item you want. But what about the whip-grab option? Will that cut to the chase? Nope. It has the same effect of grabbing whatever item is around the one you’re actually aiming at. And if you have an item in hand, a key for instance, that needs to go into a lock but there is another item on the floor by the lock, you’ll find a high level of frustration as you drop the key then pick up the item then drop the item and pick up the key. Repeat this until you patiently wait for the item on the floor to disappear.

Simple stuff like this in games just bugs the holy hell out of me. For the most part, controlling the various characters is not any more difficult than pointing in a general direction and heading that way. If you happen to play with someone less experienced that you, prepare for hilarity to ensue as they get thrown off by the camera shifting as they move forward. Watching My Fair Lady repeatedly fall off the invisible bridges in "Last Crusade" due to the combination of her inability to properly gauge distance and the camera angle was a riot.

"Hang on lady, we going for a ride!"

The gameplay is simplicity itself, which is great for children learning to game and equally great for veterans who don’t mind relaxing their fingers. Players take control of Indy and his cohort, who changes each level, and proceed to more or less follow the same sequence of events from all three Indiana Jones films. Naturally, players can expect more than a few challenges en route to the finish line along with boss battles, environmental puzzles, and memory tests. Since there is physically no way to find all of a level’s secrets in Story Mode, the game encourages replay by offering up Free Play mode. This lets players go back through a level (unlocked by playing through it in Story Mode) using several characters who can unlock secret passages or dig up hidden items that were unavailable the first time.

Levels are quite large by themselves, and secrets are intricately woven into each. If you want to get 100% completion for each level, Free Play is mandatory. It should be considered mandatory anyway if only because some of the secrets are hilarious. The "Secret Characters" bit especially leads to one funny moment after another, but you have to work to find them. There are also several secret achievements which will only be revealed from experimenting. If you think something can be done, try it out and see what happens. You never know when something might unlock.

The game practically demands that you play through with someone else. The “Star Wars” games were a little more forgiving regarding this, and by no means are you obligated to play co-op here. But it makes it infinitely more fun to puzzle through the game with a partner, especially one less experienced than you are. “LEGO Indiana Jones” is a perfect gateway game, the kind you use to show your significant other the lighter side of gaming that’s not quite as evident in “Ninja Gaiden” or “Halo.”

My Fair Lady is not what you would call a veteran gamer. She has willingly watched me play games for years, but rarely felt the urge to jump in. As soon as “LEGO Indiana Jones” came out, she was all over it. We loved the little character moments scattered throughout. Indy’s reaction to snakes and the little character-centric touches such as Willie’s glass-shattering scream and Henry Jones Sr. being indifferent to everything (and who doesn’t want to check out LEGO Sean Connery?) are absolute brilliance. Equally fun were the puzzles, which would often lead to a variation of the following.

One of the levels in “Temple of Doom” involves raising Willie up from the fire pit after Mola Ram drops her as a sacrifice to Kali. Indy and Short Round fight off evil Thuggees while trying to raise Willie. I played Indy while My Fair Lady took on the role of sidekick (natch). We were doing alright up to the point where we needed her to get onto a certain platform, but for the life of her she could not make the jump. The rest of the conversation unfolded like so:

Me: You realize Willie’s down there probably burning by now.
MFL: I know! I’m trying but this stupid controller won’t... work... right! Wait, I’ve got it! No! Dammit!
Me: I think Willie’s hair’s on fire now.
MFL: *laughter
Me: Seriously. Her head’s on fire by this point. Take any longer and you’re gonna hear a loud pop. That’ll be her head exploding. So you might want to think about sticking the landing.
MFL: *laughter
Me: Anytime now.
MFL: *snorting laughter
Me: On fire, hon. Burning.
MFL: *gasping for air
Me: While you keep trying, I’m gonna go get the marshmallows to roast over her. You want to do smores?

I think at this point she may have passed out. Either way, it brought a large amount of laughter to the house which is always welcome. A similar incident befell us when we played the motorcycle chase sequence in "Last Crusade" only that dealt with our mutual inability to avoid the very large and clearly marked land mines. Oh, and the cliffs. But I chalk that up more to the vehicle controls being as monumentally awful as any found in Grand Theft Auto IV.

The achievements are also more than just congratulatory nerd points for finishing the game. There are several that are very fun trying to get and all of them are perfectly named.

"Dr. Jones. Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away."

LEGO Indiana Jones is absolutely worth playing, especially if you want to introduce young children to the series without scaring the hell out of them with the ending to "Raiders." It is easy to pick up and play, and most importantly the game is fun in a big way. It is an absolute blast fighting off Hovitos as Indy and Jock while trying to get to Jock’s plane, or battling Thuggee’s on an out-of-control mine cart. Also, the way the game stages the famous truck scene from "Raiders" is just awesome.

The game definitely stresses teamwork so while it can most certainly be played by one person, the fun factor skyrockets the second another person jumps in. There are a plethora of secrets to find on each level, tons of characters to unlock, and more. On top of everything else, Traveler’s Tales captures the soul of Indiana Jones, the very essence of what makes the movies so much fun, in exactly the same way they did with LEGO Star Wars.

"You have chosen... wisely. But the Grail cannot pass beyond the great seal. That is the boundary, and the price for immortality."

Buy this game. Buy this game. Buy this game.

Gaming Trend Score

90

1. Graphics: 91
2. Audio: 89
3. Controls: 80
4. Gameplay: 95
5. Value/Replay: 92
6. OVERALL:90