Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Released: February 18, 2010
Game Length: 22 Hours
Grade: B+
Content
Different World: The previous games in the series helped arrange the levels in chapters that can be chosen from a small, central hub. From this game onward, it appears they adapted a more global view by setting up environments you wander around in that unlocks the various levels. No longer will you unlock things inside the levels. Finding all 10 red bricks, 10 green bricks, or 10 blue bricks inside the worlds will drop a crate (which stays visible until purchased) with a specific power brick inside. There is no central hub. You will be presented with a series of "playsets" with the various levels visible inside. There are a total of 6 Worlds - 3 worlds cover sections of the first three films (including scenes that were not shown in the original game) and 3 worlds that cover the fourth film. Each world has a total of 5 story levels, some of which could be entirely skipped over if a person doesn't find them. Each of these levels have their own "Free Play" version that occurs during the night-time (or day-time if the events in the story take place during the day). There are also 5 hidden challenge levels to find for additional fun.
Unlockables: When you first start the game, all the worlds are hidden inside giant crates. You'll need to finish parts of the story for each world to unlock the next one, beginning with the first segment of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Each world gives you a chance to unlock at most 18 characters (some are duplicated from one world to the next) and a max of 10 vehicles. You cannot customize your character inside the worlds. The way to unlock these isn't inherently clear when first playing the game. After completing a level, you will need to stick around and fight a couple waves of enemies. Defeat a good dozen and one will become available to purchase. Some more unique figures will only become available after completing a story mission or finishing a timed vehicle race. If you manage to collect all the treasure chests by beating each of the levels (which requires all characters to be unlocked), then you will have a chance to unlock a super bonus level. These levels are similar to the ones in the previous games except there are no puzzle elements. All you need to do is collect one million studs scattered about.
What's New?
Creator Mode: If you are familiar with Lego Creator, then you might recognize a new feature exclusively found in this game. You are given the chance to customize your own levels, characters, and worlds! It is like you are re-inventing the wheel with your own featured spinner. There are elaborate tutorials that do help you ease into the processes. I personally did not toy around with this option a lot, but it is something interesting to investigate for those with a more inventive mind.
Aiming: Similar to how the batarangs functioned in Lego Batman, this game allows you to target objects with your guns, whip, and objects. Choosing who to target can still be automatically maintained by the game. So don't worry about trying to target each hook with your whip as your swinging across. But if a time comes where you want to be specific with something far away, this feature is fantastic. Not only that, but it also shows what can be targeted as well.
Story
Silly: Another thing that seemed to carry over from Lego Batman is the light-hearted humor found in the Lego games. The game is more whimsical in nature. They did throw the occasional gags in the original Lego Indiana Jones. You'll find Han Solo in carbonite at the warehouse and someone carrying a small Lego Jeep on their key chain. But the levels themselves have transformed what is seen in the films into something almost unrecognizable. They have taken liberties to exaggerate bosses that are 40-feet tall and fill the entire screen - Belloq gains electric powers when opening the ark (after everyone dances), Mola gains a giant flaming statue that fights you, Donovan becomes a life-like tornado after drinking the wrong grail, and red ants mold into a giant figure when engrossing Dovchenko. There will also be opportunities for some oddball puzzle sequences, like how Major Toht uses the medallion during Raiders of the Lost Ark to shoot a laser beam at you.
New Scenes: Almost every scene that is mysteriously missing from the first game is in this one. In fact, they go so far as to burn Major Toht's hand instead of his butt when reaching into the fire. The infamous sword-fight scene is added in, but they subvert the scene by making Indiana Jone's bullets get deflected by the sword. They included both boat scenes, the one where it is pouring down rain and the one with the captain being stopped by the submarine. The plane that is running out of fuel over the mountains is in with a playable raft sequence afterwards. Temple of Doom has one level where you are rescuing 3 stones from monkeys before they are taken to the palace. The dinner sequence is in, complete with a pot of eyeballs in the middle of the table. For The Last Crusade, you get to hop around in chairs with the fire room... for a couple seconds at least. They included the book-burning event. Henry finally properly sits in the side-car like the movie.
Characters
Abilities: If you played the first Lego Indiana Jones game, then there is a chance you'll already know what most characters can do. Ladies still jump higher and shovels still dig up stuff. You can still pick-up hats in order to make disguises. Certain figures still have the same phobias as they did before, now adding Mutt to the roster with being afraid of scorpions. Not much has changed in that aspect. Though, they did make people react to pain. The good news is you no longer blow yourself up with the bazooka guy. However, there are some distinct differences that I'll list down below:
- Whip: Indiana Jones key tool has gone through a revolutionary change! It no longer snaps directly at people. Instead, you can destroy everything around you as you move about like a giant hurricane. The game no longer automatically swings you across chasms. You will need to climb up and use momentum to get across areas. One fun addition is the ability to tie up people. Some puzzles require you to drag them around behind you. If you get close enough, you can even carry them over your shoulder.
- Weapons: There are a few more puzzles they have adapted to your arsenal of objects you can use. You can still grab things like the previous game with an added bonus of throwing water bottles to extinguish flames. A series of targets will appear that will require you to shoot your pistol. Some areas will require you to throw a sword to cut down some rope. Spears can attach in holes that allow you to climb upward.
- Carrying Items: Good news! You can now properly carry more than one item. I don't think there was a single moment where I accidentally dropped something on the ground. If you have a shovel and come close to a place with a buried item, the character will automatically switch to it. I believe the same applies if you have a lever.
- Sword Fights: This is actually pretty cool. They made it necessary for you to wield a sword to fight off one using an iron sword. You will need to mash the X-button when your swords clash in cinematic fashion.
- Charm: Perhaps the developers felt Willie's scream was unnecessary in the original game since she (and Dancing Girl) now has these cool new vials she can throw at people. Since the games no longer limit the number of allies you can have, these bottles will charm enemies to temporarily fight on your side.
- Possession: The "Black Sleep" as it is regarded to in the movie acts like a character switch for any figure. Both Maharajah and Mola Ram can use this feature.
- Crystal Skull: Oxley (and also the inter-dimensional being) has a crystal skull in his possession that can repel insects. Some areas will allow you to carry the skull as a device with other characters. Although the torch in the original game sort of functioned as an immunity device while subtly nudging the creatures to the side, the second game entirely pushes them away.
- Staff of Ra: Belloq is the only member that has this equipped on their person, but the item can be picked up in a number of places. The ability functions similar to a laser. It will slowly burn away anything that it touches and activate certain puzzle elements.
Problems
Too Expensive: I expect to be short a little bit when it comes to purchasing things in the world. I did not expect required characters that open up segments of the world to cost 500,000 to 1,000,000 studs. The situation got so bad that I was pretty much forced to repeat a level 30 times just to get enough for what I needed. A part of me feels like they half-expected me to start multiplying the amount I got early in the game. However, I focused on unlocking worlds over completing them. This brought me to my knees when the gates appeared rather early in my playthrough. I even tried parachuting my man into the restricted zone - it didn't work.
Not User-Friendly: The Open-World approach to the game generates this huge problem whenever you are trying to complete certain levels - where and what do you need to do in order to complete these 5-minute sections? The first thing you need to do is locate them. You are unable to access the levels from the "central hub" warehouse. They only become available for time trials after completing them. Some areas require you to interact or destroy specific things in the world. Those generally require specific characters or expenses. The only way to know what each location has is by touching the entrance where the arrow is pointing. The game conveniently tells you what two characters you need only when you enter in without the proper characters. The vehicle you use before entering in disappears and resets so you can't use it when you exit. The ones that are usually required must be grabbed from the spot you originally unlocked them (since only the main characters follow you around). The whole process annoyed me so much that I simply gave up trying. That's probably why I ended up with a 65.7% completion rate.
Miscellaneous: The Lego bricks have become more solid with what looks like a layer of shimmering gloss to make them shine a little more. Vehicles are incredibly fast and fragile. It can be difficult to move around the map if you accidentally get your vehicle stuck or destroyed. Vehicles accelerate with the directional keys, which can get confusing when you reverse with the press of the button. There doesn't seem to be a way to push or harm larger vehicles if you are in a smaller one without weapons. Most levels can be completed in under 5-minutes. The game does not default to priority functions like "Load Game" while in the main menu. There are two new power bricks: Fearless (No phobias) and Snake Whip (Turns your whip into a snake).
Summary
Review: It is quite interesting to see how the developers adapted a fresh new look on an already established game. They built up all the parts they skimmed over in the previous game and fleshed out more levels for the newly released fourth film. They created a top-down world hub where you travel to each level and revisit during a night segment. They added more mechanics like using swords to cut down rope and duel opponents. They made it less troublesome when equipping and using weapons. They even added a creator mode! You could say that the changes are so drastic that they might have been a tad polarizing. Although these things did make things interesting, the renovations also caused a lot of problems. Figuring out where to go and what is required to unlock levels was quite annoying. The high expenses to purchase characters, which are only available from specific parts of the map, in order to make progress in the game forced me to hunt down studs. Turning every villain into some giant, oversized boss fight was so ridiculous that it made you question which of the game events were originally in the film. There is literally no other Lego game in the series that had some of the things added into this one. For that reason alone, I think this game was worth playing.
2-24-2023