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Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb |
by Chad
4/10/2003 |
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After producing game after game based on that little franchise Star Wars, LucasArts has recently released a game based on everyone’s favorite archeologist, Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb is an action adventure game set in the not so distant past. Our hero (that would be Indy) is thrust into a Nazi-laden situation, complete with a mysterious artifact that could potentially destroy the world. Indy and his gang of 2 must save the world. Again.
I have always loved the Indiana Jones movies, and this game remains faithful to the tone of the movies in many ways. It is an enjoyable and entertaining adventure, with many high points, including:
A giant crocodile
Indy swinging from various objects using the whip
Killing Nazi’s. Everyone loves to dispose of Nazi’s
The premise of the game is a completely original storyline developed solely for the game. It’s 1935 and this time you must prevent a powerful Chinese artifact, the Heart of the Dragon, from falling into evil hands. The Heart of the Dragon is located inside the tomb of China's first emperor. There are plenty bad guys after the artifact, including Nazis and Asian mobsters. At times you are accompanied by Indy’s requisite hot chick sidekick, Mei Ying. Through a series of action sequences, puzzles and traps, you have to save the world. Again. But you’re Indiana Jones, and saving the world is a piece of cake.
In a character driven game, it is important to have strong, identifiable characters. Indiana Jones remains faithful to his movie persona. The voice work was not done by Harrison Ford, but the actor chosen does a remarkable impression of Harrison as Indy. Mei Ying is a passable sidekick, but clearly Indy is the focus of this game. The bosses range from normal tough guys to supernatural being that must be dealt with using different fighting techniques.
As you progress through the game, you have a wide range of weapons available to you. There are various guns (pistols, shotguns, machine guns), the trademark whip, swords and just about anything you can pick up. Shovels, bottles, chairs and table legs are just a few of the things you will find yourself using to disable the menacing forces of the Asian/Nazi/Gangster hybrids. You also have your feet and your fists, but this game is a lot more fun if you keep your hands glued to a weapon. The fighting is not the greatest and could have been improved dramatically with a few tweaks to the engine. Most action/adventure games fall short in the hand to hand combat, and unfortunately this game falls into that category. That being said, repeatedly whipping someone from a short distance more than makes up for the less than stellar fisticuffs.
In order to defeat this game you must master various techniques to assist you on your quest to save humanity. Again. You have to do a lot of jumping and climbing to gain access to all areas of the levels. Other techniques utilized include swimming, diving and generally running for your life. You have to be one with the whip and exploit it’s capabilities with precision and accuracy.
The game is mostly set in the Far East, like the Indiana Jones movies. You do get to travel around the world at the beginning of the game, eventually moving into the Far East as the primary setting. The locations and environments are exotic and based on their real world counterparts. They include jungles of Ceylon, underwater palaces in Istanbul, and the streets of Hong Kong and Prague. There are a total of ten different locations in the game, and each location is further subdivided into smaller areas. Exploring every inch of the levels is a daunting task, and as such it should probably be reserved until after you complete the game the first time.
One of the highlights of the game is the soundtrack. The soundtrack was recorded live using a 65 piece orchestra. It was composed by Clint Bajakian and conducted by Adam Stern. You don’t usually notice accompanying music too much, but this one stands head and shoulders above most. The soundtrack was one of the nuances of the game that left a positive, lasting impression with me. It really is a point of strength of the game, and a lot of effort was put into replicating the feel of the original John Williams score.
My main complaint with this game was the entirely too long first level. I’m into instant gratification when I start a brand new game. I would have been nice to see the first level broken into a couple of different tasks to cut down on the restarts. There are no checkpoints in this game, so when you die you must start the level over. When first learning the game, restarting is really annoying; especially given the requirements for completing the initial goal. For seasoned gamers it should be no problem, but for people who are just learning this can be an instant killer.
Outside of that chief complaint, Indian Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb is an extremely fun game. The subtleties of the game are very nice. I especially enjoyed the consistency with the movies, such as requiring you to pick your hat up if it comes off in a fight. Everyone knows that Indy loves his hat. Small touches like this make this game an enjoyable foray into the world of Indiana Jones. The game is fun and maintains your interest, it is not extraordinarily difficult to defeat and it is has the strength of the Indiana Jones franchise behind it. It is an excellent example of what developer’s can do to make the action/adventure fun and appealing to a wide audience. I would recommend shelling out the $40-50 to have the privilege of saving the world. Again.
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