Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Released: June 3, 2008
Game Length: 14 Hours
Grade: B+
Another Lego Game
Content: The main hub for the game is Barnett College. What is interesting to note is that you aren't able to use your abilities outside the custom and puzzle rooms. What used to be "power bricks" are now parsels that essentially does what was in the previous game by making certain mechanics easier in the game. Instead of building vehicles, you will now build artifacts that will be on display in the museum. Sadly, each bonus level will require all the artifacts from a movie to be built before becoming available. You have the opportunity to purchase artifacts, but this can get ludicrously expensive when the amount reaches half a million after buying a handful of them. So if you want to see the Young Indiana Jones sequence, you better collect them all. Also, the Star Wars secret character Han Solo doesn't become available until you find references in five different levels in Free Play. What also kind of surprised me was that cutscenes only play in Story Mode and are not skippable. If you choose to replay a sequence in the theater (even if by accident), those are unskippable as well. This isn't inherently a problem as it is exactly like the other games of the series, but this time there isn't a little transition to read between scenes. There is still no voice-over work, though you will still hear some sort of... song done in the beginning of the second movie.
Mechanics
Something New: The most interesting facet of this game is how your characters can pick-up objects. They can carry built structures from one place to the next. The objects will remain on the ground or reset if it cannot stabilize after a few bounces. Indiana's whip has the ability to grab items from a distance, a feat that is required for certain advancements in the story. No longer do they need a device that dispenses hats when they can simply grab one that falls on the ground. All enemy weapons can be collected after they pierce the ground or bounce around a couple times. Weapons that can be thrown will automatically do so when attacking a target from a distance. Items with ammunition will slowly degrade and flash red before they are completely used up. Usable equipment like a wrench to repair or a tablet to decipher code can be stowed away on their person for later use. For some reason, even torches will somehow disappear into your back pocket and emit smoke wherever you go.
Target Issues: Because of how you interact with objects now, it can get rather complicated in knowing what you can store away, how many times things can be used, or even downright targeting something you didn't mean to. However, I don't think there is an easy answer when sometimes you want to prioritize enemy targets over items on the ground. You no longer need to get close to the target you want to switch. This makes things interesting when you can swap characters as you are falling off a cliff to save studs. But allowing you to switch anytime also makes it difficult to enter vehicles when both use the same button. At least they provide arrow indicators for all the things you are targeting.
It Got Better: One thing I immediately noticed was how much quicker your characters move on the screen. That is one facet that slightly annoyed me in Lego Star Wars. Your ally will participate much more in battle. They won't defeat enemies, but their hits will stun them for a couple seconds. You are able to turn levers with the analog stick, or you can be like me and find out you can hold down the B button near the end of the game. The backgrounds were all well-done with things like the paintings in the castle being all in Lego form. They were somehow able to experiment adding four allies together in one level, despite it misleading people to think that it would support 4-player co-op.
Characters
Abilities: The main character - Indiana Jones or your customized character - will always have a whip to use for puzzle elements. There are thuggees who can access altars, military agents who can pass through enemy lines, or academic leads who can read hieroglyphics. The bazooka trooper or the Enemy Officer with a hand grenade will destroy silver bricks like the bounty hunter's detonators. Sallah, Satipo, or the bandit will use a shovel to dig up items. The few children available can enter through hatches - Short Round, Slave Child, or Maharajah. Captain Katanga, First Mate, and Jock can all repair things. The females of the group - Dancing Girl, Willie, Elsa, and Marion - can all jump a tad higher than the rest.
Phobias: An interesting twist in the game is how certain characters react like they would in the movie. Willie is widely known for her screams in the second film and therefore has the very exclusive opportunity to shatter glass (although this comes up very rarely and is not considered necessary in the roster when explosives will do the job too). She will also try to avoid any bugs like ants and beetles. Both Elsa Schneider and Henry Jones will shudder in fear when there are any rats present. Then of course, Indiana Jones will do the same when there are snakes nearby. It is also interesting to note that although Willie might "hate water" as she clearly tells Indiana on more than one occasion, she seems rather relaxed swimming compared to how Satipo will violently wave his arms as if he is about to drown.
Animations: Although Lego Indiana Jones doesn't have the privilege of having a diverse band of characters in a fantasy setting like Star Wars, it still settles the quota of having over 80 characters spanning three different movies. What is different this time around is that many of these characters have multiple disguises, setups to have unique personality traits like in the movie, and have a much larger list of animations that happen spontaneously while playing. Check out each character's slow-walk, walk, run, swim, hang, climb, idle, melee, carry, jump, and double-jump for a wide variety of movements. For example, those of the military will do a backstroke in the water. Sadly, many named characters in the films did not make the cut: Captain Blumburtt is simply British Commander, Zalim Singh is labeled as Maharajah, Art Weber is the plane cargo captain. I'll include a list of the more uniquely-named characters below:
- Indiana Jones: As star of the show, there are a ton of random animations that will occur. His whip can sometimes grab the enemies foot and flip them upwards or spin them around like a top. He will dodge bullets, give a guy a noogie, throw enemies over his shoulder, dropkick, roll them over his back, or engage in a struggle of power when his hands lock into his opponents. He will tilt his head while idling, to the point that it might actually get a little annoying. Use your whip on your fellow minifigure to kiss Marion, Willie, and Elsa or disarm enemies.
- Willie Scott: On top of her phobia and abilities listed above, Willie also does this weird little woman slap ability while looking away at the end of her melee combo. She is also one of the more noticeable ones that will viciously shake in fear as she grips her hands on a vine or rope.
- Short Round: What is surprising is the fact that he does this little side-kick move exactly like how he did it after rescuing Indiana Jones. Even though his short stature allows him to access hatches, him and several other characters with hats will tend to place them onto a lever before pulling. He will also surprisingly hang onto a vine with one hand.
- Belloq: Most minifigures have some sort of animation tied to the way they jump forward. What sets this person apart is that he will fall flat on his face with his hat dropping inches ahead of him.
- Henry Jones: I like the idea of the character holding onto his hat as he runs. I like how he casually leans against the walls and stretches out his back after carrying something heavy.
- Salleh: Other than Kazim, Salleh (Fez) is the only one that wears that awesome hat that was previewed in Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. He will take his hat off and use it to fan his head anytime you aren't moving. He will take a second after rolling to adjust his hat. His hat also temporarily pops off his head when you are jumping while carrying something heavy.
- Elsa: It is one of those "blink and you will miss it" moments, but she does have this weird quirk of charming enemies towards her then punching them in the face during a melee combo.
- Mola Ram: He will position his hands close to his chest like a creepy zombie while you are walking. He will also take his hat off and slam it against his opponents during a melee combo.
- Jock: He might be one of the few mechanics that can repair, but I also like how they added "Air Pirates" on the back of his shirt like in the movie.
Story
It's For Kids: If you ever went back and re-watched Indiana Jones, you'll notice a lot of things in the movie that aren't good to recreate in a LEGO game. So the scene where the muscle man is sliced up by the blades of the plane is replaced with him simply falling apart after having a boss fight with you. The man who gets caught up and squished by the stone inside the Altar room now breaks apart after you throw some dynamite at him. The very attractive statue is now replaced with a crudely replica with a push-brick in front of it. You won't be seeing any voodoo recreations either. The villain's butt is burned with the artifact instead of his hand. The people watching what unfolds after opening the ark do not slowly melt away. Drinking from the wrong cup does not slowly age you.
Like the Movie?: I applaud it for going to great lengths to include things from the films while still making changes for great gameplay. I was surprised to see all three trials in some fashion at the end of The Last Crusade with actual lettering for the spelling of the name. I wasn't too happy to discover that the whole "bring a gun to a knife fight" scene was entirely removed. The Roman Numerals of III, VII, and X for the secret area were the exact three covered in the film. You can perform a wheelie on the motorcycle like in the film. The side-car is essential for making progress in a level, but I was ultimately displeased when Henry Jones does not hop into the vehicle with you. My favorite scene when Henry Jones says "the floor is on fire" does not have you hopping around in a chair. Instead, you must navigate around the fire in the room. The hidden stairs might not have been included before the chase sequence of The Last Crusade, but they did include a similar amazing stair animation to the library level. Club Obi-Wan is the actual name of the club in both the film and video game. The Wilhelm scream occurs at the same time as the film during the black car chase sequence. The camera equipment recording the event at the end of The Lost Ark is also in the video game. A gondola is visible like it is in the film, but I did not find a way to ride it. Although you don't burn the snakes like the film, carrying a torch will provide you and your ally invulnerability against them (and cancel out any phobia).
Added Scenes: To extend the length of play in the game, the developers decided to make some creative adjustments. There will be a lot of areas where you fight giant spiders and snakes. They included the ability to hide under bushes and barrels, even though you could play through the entire game without needing to do so. They added certain gameplay features that weren't quite highlighted in the movies like the Elephant playing in the mud or the monkeys exchanging goods. When Marion's place is caught on fire, there is an entire sequence traveling through the snow that has been added. The Well of Souls map room is now self-contained in its own secret area at the end of an elaborate maze of newly-included rooms.
Unlockables: Most of the extra characters that appear are mere background characters, like the grave robbers or the Shanghai Hoodlums. Though, I was very much amused to see the option to play as Santa Claus (in his original Lego form) in the snow level. In addition to the five Star Wars scenes that unlock Han Solo, there is also a scene where Indiana Jones tries to hand over C3PO's head instead of the artifact and the knight imitates Darth Vader in the final level. Although you are able to watch the Lego Batman Trailer (with puns), you do not unlock anything special. You are still able to "disarm" enemies to prevent them from using their weapons, but they are not replaced with carrots this time around.
Problems
AI Quirks: Most of the problems I encountered are very mild, but are generally related to how the AI functions. There were several times I'd see my companion fighting like his life depended on it, while other times he would sit there without a care in the world. There would be pathing issues where he would continuously jump off a cliff trying to advance past it. This happened with the various pits of rats and snakes too. I've seen the AI rotate between all his characters in an infinite loop when I made it past a puzzle without him. What's new in this game is how they "turn off" the AI instead of automatically assigning him a function when solving some of the 2-Figure puzzles. This can get quite complicated when you aren't exactly sure when it is safe to switch. Choose the wrong time and you might find the AI dragging your carefully placed figure off the platform. Were you carrying something? Watch as the game throws whatever you had away.
Annoyances: The music is awesome, but sometimes the repeating of eerie chimes can be degrading to your experience. Some puzzles can make you scratch your head for a little while as the logic to solving them doesn't make sense in the end. I was somehow annoyed that the Dancing Girl minifigure did not actually dance (not even like Princess Leia in the previous game). I found myself being blown up several times using a bazooka when I needed to physically stand almost on top of something that required an explosion or when allies or enemies decided to follow me around really closely. When referring back to Lego Star Wars to see why this wasn't an issue before, I found the bounty hunter detonators gave you some invulnerability leeway after initially throwing it and giving you time to get away when it stuck to something.
Bugs: There aren't very many glitches when ruling out AI problems and mechanic quirks, but somehow I was able to find a couple. For example, I somehow broke the help system in the second level when I didn't throw anything at the boss. The tip to grab items kept repeating until I ended the level. I guess it was still possible to defeat the boss with something other than the chairs and bottles in the room. Trying to hop onto a camel while it was being defeated in the third level caused some sort of infinite sound loop where a camel shouted every ten seconds. If you have the parcel detector, it does not go away after you deliver it. There is a very weird problem when using the grenade launcher where the animation of him pulling one out can occur by "cancel" if the one thrown has not blown up yet. This can sometimes create an infinite loop that can be stopped by switching characters.
Miscellaneous
Secrets: Like that mysterious googly-eyed grape figure in Lego Star Wars, there were a few things that I just had to figure out what they were doing in the game. For one, there is an area where you will find a photo of a dog while building a radio station. This turns out to be a reference to George Lucas dog - Indiana. On top of the snazzy disco music that plays in the secret areas, there is a point where you discover Chewbacca in a Cantina Band recreation that plays a really awesome jazz remix of the theme song.
Locked-Out Puzzles: LEGO Indiana Jones had certain moments where it wasn't really made clear whether or not you were entering a secret area or advancing to the next zone. Although this didn't happen very often in my playthrough, there were a few cases where you could essentially prevent yourself from collecting an item with your actions within the area. There was one avid example that threw me off completely when you had to double-jump off a built-on block in the middle of the room before pushing it to the pressure plate that gets you up into the area that unlocks the item in the air. Battle on the Bridge has a literal timed event where you need to enter the side-passage before the water catches up with you.
Marketing: I may have reached 67.6% completion upon completing all the stories and accomplishing 87.6% once through Free Play, but it was the LEGO playsets that I recall seeing before the video game. It is interesting to note that this was released in conjunction with the playsets and the release of the fourth movie on May 22. Though, they decided to include the content in Indiana Jones: The Crystal Skull in the video game's sequel.
Summary
Review: Lego: Indiana Jones does its best to replicate the three films. Locations are expanded for gameplay purposes. Characters have their own abilities, quirks, and fighting style reminiscent to their personality shown in the movies. There are a list of vehicles, animals, and background elements all present. The developers did a great job translating events without using words and making it child-friendly as much as they could. While they extended some scenes for the purpose of gameplay, there are a lot of unusual choices when it came to pushing the elements in those puzzles. They might have improved the AI a little more to be combatant-ready, but they were less likely to assist when it came to getting into position for unlocking passageways. I applaud them for introducing the ability to pick-up items and using ranged weapons, but the backfire of destroying yourself to pieces with a bazooka or missing the target you are trying to shoot at got frustrating at times. I liked the initiative the developers took in applying phobias to the characters as well. I only wished the bonus content were a little more easier to unlock. Some things good and some things bad, this game was certainly a blast to play through. Though, I recommend watching the movies for both the humor and context of what is going on.
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