Official Website
Platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1 or 2

Support: HD 420p / 720p / 1080p

The man with the hat is back, and not just in theaters. Traveller's Tales, the same company behind the tremendously popular Lego Star Wars has been preparing to not take us to a galaxy far, far away, but instead into the past a few decades to relive the adventures of Indiana Jones. While the game doesn’t incorporate Indy’s latest adventure, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or The Young Indiana Jones Adventures, at least not the series in its entirety, but with the new film in theaters and Lego releasing a series based on everyone’s favorite fedora wearing archeologist, a video game based on his original adventures isn’t something that you’ll have to hunt high and low for.

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures takes us into the world of Indiana Jones, but done Lego style of course. Much like the Lego Star Wars titles, players have the chance to play through the three original films; Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. While you will start the game by reliving the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark, once you’ve completed this portion, you can progress with the story of go back to Barnett College and select to start playing through the other renditions of Indy’s adventures.

As with Star Wars, the story potions of the game will find you with two or more characters to select between, something done simply by pressing the triangle button, and each character has their own abilities, though some you will find fit into a niche category. Indy has his whip which can be used to swing across certain gaps or pull down various sections in order to make other areas accessible. His other ability is hand-to-hand combat, and if you’re wondering where his trademark gun is, that’s something a little different. Indy will need to grab guns when he can find them, usually from defeating Nazi’s, but these aren’t the only additional items that can be used. Wrenches will let players fix broken equipment, something that will play a huge role in the game. There are shovels that will allow player to dig in areas to find necessary items and treasure. Some higher areas can only be accessed by female characters who have a better jumping ability and there are even areas where glass windows much be shattered, something done by using Willie. You will also find smaller areas that of course can only be accessed by small characters, Short Round in this case, hieroglyphics that will need a book to translate and then follow a pattern, and Lego Indiana Jones introduces a more unique feature; phobias. We all know that Indy is afraid of snakes, Willie happens to have a fear of spiders, and Henry Jones isn’t fond of rats. In an area where these creatures can be found, the respective character will cower and become difficult to use until you find a means to rid yourself of these pests.

In just about every stage you will find sections where you will have to building something in order to reach another area. By pressing circle, your character will begin to create whatever is necessary to move further into the game, but if they are attacked, they will stop. There are also beasts of burden to ride like camels, elephants, and horses, vehicles to drive and plenty of other things that are very much at home in the world of Indiana Jones. There are also minor puzzles to be solved, but the game is very up front about what needs to be done, so anyone should be able to work their way through the stages with little trouble.

Once you’ve started completing stages in the game, some characters will be unlocked while others can be purchased by visiting the library. They will become a crucial part of gameplay if you’re feeling up to the task of completing the game in its entirety and the free play mode will let you select the character you will start with while randomly including a selection of other characters. When you have enough character types, you will find finishing the requirements in the stages is usually quite easy. These are dividing into three different categories and each chapter will have you collecting enough Lego studs to earn the rank of True Adventurer, fining all ten pieces to each hidden artifact and finding a hidden piece of mail that will unlock special features that can be used in the game. So, the areas where you needed a smaller character to enter that you didn’t have access will now be easily reached with Short Round, having someone like Jock along will rid yourself of the need to find a wrench, Satipo will always have a shovel handy, and you are bound to always have a lady present. There are also sections that only a Thugee can access and having the Nazi’s as a part of your group will not only gain entrance into those areas exclusive to them, but you will have some necessary firepower to break through otherwise indestructible areas, and even adding Belloq or Brody means that you will have a book when those hieroglyphics surface.

Once again, just like Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones not only recreates key scenes from the movie such as the infamous boulder chase or the fight on the rope bridge from Temple of Doom, it takes every available opportunity to poke fun at the movies just a little. It’s all in good fun though, but also look for cameo appearances from some famous faces that you should be very familiar with that have managed to make their way from a galaxy far, far away into the world of Indiana Jones.

Also carried over is the concept of purchasing extra characters of special in-game features with the studs you’ve collected. Characters though are easy to get, it’s those other features that can be a bit tricky. While you will start with a few that can be picked up at the mail room, there are others which are more of a necessity. Finding the parcels becomes easier if you have the parcel finder and the same is true of the artifact detector. Collecting the necessary amount of studs also become a breeze once you’ve gotten your hands on the treasure multipliers, so locating the extra features can be both challenging and rewarding.

Lego Indiana Jones really doesn’t change too much visually when you compare it against Lego Star Wars. As a friend of mine said, “They look just like real Lego people.” And I suppose that’s in contrast to the fake ones, but the graphics are very good, and in full 1080p. The Lego’s look just the real thing, and again, that’s as opposed to the fake one, which I guess would be Duplo. The references to Nazi’s have been removed so there shouldn’t be any offense caused to anyone and the cut scenes have a great sense of style and humor to them.

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is a decent game, but my one real complaint is that it is a great deal shorter than what the Star Wars title is. The game also lacks having the sheer number of memorable personalities, and a Stormtrooper or a Rebel Soldier is more recognized that yet another faceless Nazi that you’ve purchased in the library. Having the two titles compatible with one another somehow would have been a nice touch, but unfortunately it’s not a treasure to be found here. Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is still a good game, but it definitely isn’t nearly as good, or as long, as what Lego Star Wars is. The strong point in favor of the title though; it’s just plain fun.
 

-mike-