By Dozer - Square TV Guest Writer
"Hey, lady! You call him Dr. Jones!"
With the amount of puzzle solving and treasure hunting done in Traveler's Tales newest endeavor, LEGO Indiana Jones, you will definitely feel like you are Henry Jones Jr… in a blocky, Danish, charmingly hilarious way. You'll be chased down by a giant boulder of LEGO blocks, speed through the mines fighting off Thugees, fight off "zee Germans", and of course, you will remember not to spell the name of the Lord with a "J"! Unfortunately, there is no "Wilhelm Scream" from the nearly voiceless LEGO characters. What this game brings to the plate is a new look at the always fun, entertaining, and exciting LEGO Video Game Universe.
Just like the two previous installments of the LEGO series, LEGO Indiana Jones is a game that can be enjoyed by one or two players of all ages due to its non-threatening visuals and toned down violence. Don't worry, no beating hearts from Mola Ram, no face melting thanks to the Ark of the Covenant, and without spoiling too much from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alfred Molina's character, Satipo actually survives!
"Mr. Jones! I've heard a lot about you, sir. Your appearance is exactly the way I imagined."
The graphics are exactly what you expect from a LEGO game, with all of the architecture fitting perfectly in the LEGO world, while maintaining the style of the Indy Movies. Even the snakes and bugs match exactly what they look like in the actual LEGO collection. The characters are usually distinct enough to recognize who's who, with the exception of the many generic characters, such as the Duck-walking Nazi's, or the other Duck-walking Nazi's (but there are no actual references to them being Nazi's to keep with the all-ages appeal).
This seems to be the only place that LEGO Indiana Jones falls a little short compared to the LEGO Star Wars installments. Star Wars has a plethora of distinct characters, where Indy only has the key characters and a smorgasbord of generic characters… but is that really such a bad thing? I should mention that Indiana Jones himself has quite a few costumes in this game. If you remember the costume in any of the movies, it's in here! Besides, don't we all wanna be Indy, Henry, Short Round, or Sallah?
"Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory"
To those familiar with the LEGO movie-based videogames, collecting studs (used as money or points to unlock the seemingly endless bonuses), solving puzzles, and finding artifact pieces is the name of the game. The game is quite linear within each level, never truly requiring much backtracking, but always providing something to do. From destroying bushes (watch out for bugs!), to building piles of bricks, and swinging across vines, almost everything and anything yields studs and the slightly less frequent hearts to replenish health to collect. There are six levels within each movie, with the game starting with Raiders of the Lost Ark's intro of trekking through the deep jungles of Peru to find the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol.
Watch out for Booty Traps… Booby Traps, that's what I said! Once this level is completed, the other two movies can be accessed at anytime. You can go through and take a crack at a few levels from each movie, or go in completely chronological movie release order. Or for those who truly want to go in chronological order, you can start with Temple of Doom once the first level of Raiders is finished.
All of this is accessed through the central hub, Barnett College, which has very convincing architecture. It basically looks like a University, complete with "students" walking around, who happen to be all of the characters you have unlocked. Just like Mos Eisley, Barnett is where everything starts and is unlocked. There are also some unlockable secrets in the College itself, accessed by solving puzzles. Replay value is definitely very strong here, as this game can't be completed 100% in the first run through.
"There is more in the diary than just the map."
After playing the game for less than five minutes, you can begin to notice the differences and similarities in gameplay between Star Wars and Indy. Indy will always be running around with at least one other character even if the actual movie version had Indy going solo. Once again, just like with Storm Troopers, you can literally wear the hats of "Zee Germans" to open up other areas in the game. And character types have different abilities required for each puzzle.
This game is much more logic-puzzle oriented, and less combat-centric than the two previous LEGO installments. Without spoiling much, if you think like Indy, you will succeed. And remember, he doesn't have Force Powers, but he does have a whip! Every tool has a use, a very logical use. Characters now have tools and weapons that they can pick up, such as wrenches, shovels, rocket launchers, torches, and books. Building, repairing, and digging all require waggles of the Wii-mote & Nunchuck to speed up any of those actions. Books actually create a mini-game similar to the old "Simon" Light-Pattern Memory Game born in 1978. Instead of four colors in a circular pattern, the game uses nine hieroglyphic tiles in a tic-tac-toe pattern, where four tiles light up in a specific pattern, and must be repeated. There are even Thuggee specific items, but I won't spoil that, or what happens if you try to enter a "Nazi-only" area without the proper hat.
Even though the game is much more puzzle oriented, that's not to say that Indy doesn't have his fair share of action-stunt and brawling techniques! He's got his punches, his whip (which can be activated by a very intuitive waggle of the Wii-Mote), and even brawling moves such as full nelsons and noogies! Controlling Indy and friends is a breeze with the B button for regular attacks, A to jump, Z to initiate special moves such as building and lifting, and C to switch between characters and/or climb on vehicles. I should probably mention that the ability to drop-in/out for two players is still present.
"Sallah, I said no camels. That's five camels. Can't you count?"
Speaking of vehicles, there are many vehicle chases, as well as actual animals for transportation, as well as for puzzle solving… including camels, and elephants. They are all extremely fun to ride around as you can go off of jumps, do wheelies, fight on top of trucks, and even ride my favorite "vehicle" (sorry to spoil a little section, but I gotta thank my buddies Rory and Spanky for this one) the Gong in Temple of Doom. If you can remember what the mini-ferris wheel looked like at Chuck-E-Cheese, you'll get an idea of this "LoL" moment.
It's things like that which make this game super fun, even though you've somewhat "done it before" in Star Wars. Sure, it's not ground breaking, but it's a different direction. Even the little details like Indy's fear of snakes or Willie's fear of bugs plays an integral part of each puzzle, but also adds to the character of the game. The first time I saw LEGO Indy cover his eyes in fear of a pit of snakes had me laughing, and smiling ear to ear. And thankfully, we never have to hear Willie "Only-in-movie-because-she's-sleeping-with-director" Scott's voice, with the exception of her "Singing", which is hilarious in itself seeing the LEGO figures recreate the intro to Temple of Doom. The AI is decent, where the second character will do most things that a second player would do in puzzle solving. But in fights, the AI is only allowed to stun enemies, and may occasionally get in the way, so be prepared to be swarmed by enemies and find yourself getting crushed frequently.
"I suggest you give me what you owe me... or 'Anything Goes!'"
Speaking of music, the first time you boot up the game, the Raiders March is heard right as Jock's plane fly's by the title of the game, it's almost guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Every sequence in each movie has its corresponding music score which sounds directly lifted from the actual recordings. From "Marion's Theme" to ""The Mine Car Chase" to "The Penitent Man Will Pass", each track will draw you into the game almost transporting you to the blocky version of each scene. Some of the sound effects, such as those from collecting studs, and punches are lifted straight from LEGO Star Wars, but this is not a negative. It's more of a continuation of the LEGO series.
"Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities."
Overall, this game gives you hours and hours of gameplay, where none of it is lackluster or boring, with the possible exception of the final bonus level out of three bonus levels. From Indy fans, to the casual gamer, LEGO Indiana Jones is almost everything that one could want from a family-friendly representation of the Indiana Jones Lore. While the motion controls aren't necessary as the same actions can be controlled by buttons, or unlock able secrets, who doesn't want to swing a Wii-mote just like Henry Jones Jr.? I know I do, and with the idea of collecting and unlocking a plethora of antiquities and items, you too can feel like Indiana Jones.
