Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb Review

If I were to say to you: I'm thinking of a third-person adventure game where you run around through crumbling ruins, swing over pits lined with spikes, trade gun fire with hired goons, jump impossible distances and scoot around crumbling ledges, all in a quest for an ancient artifact that could shift the balance of power in the world - all singlehandedly, your eyes would light up and you would proclaim

A good old-fashioned gunfight! Maybe Indy should've been played by Clint Eastwood.

Toss a coin and make a wish!

"Tomb Raider!"

Then I would have to slap you to get that silly, glazed look off your face as you think about Lara Croft and her flotation devices. After rousing you from your sick digital fantasies, I would mention one more element that I neglected from my description. Nazis.

You brow furrows and you cry, "There were no freakin' Nazis in Tomb Raider!!"

Ah, but I never said I was talking about Tomb Raider. I'm talking about Indiana Jones and The Emperor's Tomb, the latest offering from LucasArts. Think Tomb Raider without the boobs, on the hero anyway.

Set in 1935, the intrepid Dr.Jones is spanning the globe, once again hot on the trail of a mythical artifact that promises world domination for der Fuhrer should it fall into his hands. Your goal is The Heart of the Dragon, a black pearl that was buried with the first emperor of China. You must track down the pearl and, by doing said tracking, save the world. On your quest you will travel through Istanbul, Prague, Hong Kong and finally the Emperor's Tomb. It's a hell of a fun ride the whole way.

Playing on the Xbox (the platform this review is based on), PS2 or PC, you get to take control of my favorite fictional archeologist. (Hey! He can't be your favorite fictional architect! He's my favorite fictional architect! You can't have him! - Six) Lucas has worked hard to ensure that the game has a nice balance of combat, puzzle solving and exploration on each level.

The first level serves as a tutorial on how to move and interact in your new environment but everyone should be familiar with the basics. A lush jungle in Ceylon (we call it Sri Lanka today) with vine covered ruins covered sets the stage as you begin your adventure with a whip, revolver, map and water canteen. Running, jumping, climbing and combat are introduced in a fashion that instructs you how to play the game and keeping you interested as well. Soon you find a machete that allows you to clear vines from your path and makes a nice hand-to-hand weapon as well. Other items around the levels can be used in combat as well. Shovels, bottles and boxes can be used to dispatch the bad guys in a variety of pleasing, bone crunching ways. On the first few levels bad guys are ivory hunters (a general run of the mill thug) but later you will encounter soldiers, gangsters, crocodiles and one very large octopus. Firearms have a limited amount of ammo and once you have fired your last shot, you have to find more shells or you can just use the gun as a club. Your whip pulls double duty as you use it as a weapon and to swing over obstacles. In combat, the whip does little damage to enemies but can be used to disarm them or pull them closer to you where you can administer a knuckle sandwich. The canteen is used to restore health after nasty falls or combat and can be refilled from fresh water fountains scattered around the levels.

Wait, who put this NOLF 2 screenshot in here?!

It's a long walk to the exit. I hope there aren't any nasty surprises waiting for me along the way...

Control is well done on the Xbox. The left stick is used to move Indy around and the right stick is used to control camera angle. You can zoom while using firearms by holding down the trigger button and can even stick to the wall, using the Y button while your back's to the wall, then slink around corners like in Splinter Cell.

Audio in the game is good in every area except one very minor annoyance I had: the voice of Indy. For whatever reason, Harrison Ford was not used for voice-overs, so they had to get someone that sounds like him. At first, I was impressed with how closely the Indy in the game sounded like the real Indy in the movies. But as the game went on, it began to bug me that whoever they got was trying TOO much to sound like Harrison Ford. It grated on me, but aside from that minor foible, the audio is first rate. Music helps sets the mood as you explore new areas, enter combat or are surprised by traps. Background and environmental audio are perfect weather you are in the jungle or on the streets of Hong Kong. The attention to audio detail really adds to the enjoyment of the game.

Graphically the game is very solid. The buildings and their surrounding environments are well done and have little flourishes like birds that take flight as you approach. Character detail is shown off during combat or movement. Little flourishes during combat are fun too. For instance, when I got Indy punched in the face especially hard, his hat went flying off and would remain on the ground unless I went and picked it up.

If there is a problem with the game it's that it offers nothing new to this style of game that hasn't already come from the Boob Raider saga. That's not to say it's a bad game. It a great game, I enjoy playing it as does as my 4 year old son. Frankly, I would be hard pressed to find something new to add to a Boob Raider type game myself. What LucasArts has done is taken a great genre, added a well-established character and added the detail and polish that they have been known for. The end result is Indiana Jones and The Emperor's Tomb combines the right amount of action, puzzle solving and exploration and overall, is quite entertaining.