LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Review

LEGO-branded games were always a lot of fun. Humor was, of course, the main attraction and Traveller's Tales stays true to that in their latest endeavor, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, currently available for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 (which is the version we played).

LEGO Indy takes players on a ride through three huge episodes, one representing each movie. These episodes are divided into six chapters, featuring familiar set-pieces from the three celebrated movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and Last Crusade. Every section in the game can be played with two characters simultaneously. The game also introduces us to the LEGO variants of many recognizable faces from the movies - Marion Ravenwood, Short Round, Professor Henry Jones Senior, Willie Scott, Satipo and so on.

At heart, LucasArts' title is another traditional LEGO-style third-person action-adventure, clinging to the spirit of earlier games like Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and the soon-to-be-released Lego Batman: The Videogame. Those of you who already had a chance to experience previous LEGO video games should have a good idea of what Indy is all about. But what really makes these LEGO games tick?

When you think about it, it's one of those rare games on the market that have taken a very cool approach in moving the platform genre to a higher -- more engaging and more fun -- plane. Traveller's Tales and LucasArts always maintained a specific atmosphere in these games, in addition to preserving the trademark humor and likable characters. In that sense, this game is no exception. It conveys some of the most popular scenes and set-pieces from the movies and it does so with style and creativity. Also, if you've always appreciated the kind of humor generally seen in other LucasArts games, you'll probably get a kick out of what they have done in this title. At the same time, there's an unmistakable feeling that LEGO Indy was targeted for younger audiences and as such the gameplay mechanics usually evolve around solving puzzles that seem a tad simpler than mature gamers would expect. So, I guess you could say, the game is perhaps best suited for kiddies.

From our experience with the game, there were a number of somewhat annoying factors that regularly got in the way of an otherwise very enjoyable platform-style action adventure. Namely, the puzzles, while challenging enough for casual gamers, are slightly repetitive, which you'll tend to notice after about an hour or so. Also, if you happen to be going through the main campaign on your own things are likely become a bit disappointing, given the somewhat clumsy AI. My companions would often get stuck in the weirdest places or they would just plunge to their deaths when I needed them the most. We expected more out of certain sections where players get to go on rides. For example, the mine cart scene from the Temple of Doom is particularly underwhelming, as you pretty much go in circles on the same track. Things improve slightly when you come across a few bosses, each of which has to be defeated in a different way. While it may not take you too long to figure out their weaknesses, defeating them is still enjoyable.

In addition, getting back to your lovely and hopefully well-stocked treasure room over at Barnett College is always a rewarding experience. Whenever you wish, you can return there to admire your impressive collection.