Review: Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

Indiana Jones was a fun game that my wife and I were easily able to play and enjoy together. It has an slick drop-in/drop-out mechanic that lends itself to easily allow for you to play single player while seamlessly adding a second person mid-game. There was no online support for this title, save achievements. I would highly recommend it as a fun family game or as a recreational title to spend a rainy afternoon with. This title was reviewed on Xbox 360, but is also available on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable.

Presentation

Indiana Jones The original Saga allows you to play through each of the first three Indiana Jones movies (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade) individually. You can select any of the movies at any time while playing simply by going back to your home base of Barnett College. While this seemed appropriate for a game that includes three sections, it kind of caught us off guard the first time we had to work with this system. Upon exploration, we found that there is a bulletin board in the center of the school that allows you to select from the various available levels in the game. Each movie has six levels that have automatic save points throughout the individual levels. Once you complete each level in story mode, you can replay it in “Free Play” mode at any time. This is advantageous as some of the achievements in the game are unobtainable in story mode. Comedy undertones are apparent throughout, providing some enjoyment for adults that the kids may not catch.

Graphics

Graphical presentation is smooth throughout, whether you’re looking at a cut scene or the actual game. Transitions are fluid and animations are solid. You’re not getting Unreal 3 Engine (Gears of War/Rainbow Six: Vegas Series) graphical quality here, but for what this game is, I think the graphical style is appropriate and well done.

Sound

As with all Lego games from Traveler’s Tales, there is no voice acting, just the hilarious grunting, humming, and various noises that emanate from the different characters. Sound is immersive and melds the worlds of Lego and Indiana Jones together in grand fashion. One issue I had was the fact that stereo, instead of surround sound, was automatically selected in the game’s menu system, even though I have it set to Dolby 5.1 in my Xbox 360 Dashboard.

Gameplay

The camera really detracted from our enjoyment of this game. At times we were repeating things over and over due to the horrible camera angle that we were provided. When playing single player, however, I didn’t notice this camera issue as much, but as I played most of the time with my wife, we dealt with the camera problem on almost every level. Game mechanics were fairly solid. Weapon aiming was a guess if you were shooting something, and we constantly found ourselves smacking each other with melee objects, oftentimes killing one another. Collection of Lego pieces and artifacts was emphasized slightly, but only necessary if you wanted the achievements for doing so. Team puzzles were a big aspect of this game, making us feel at home playing co-op. If you’re playing by yourself, you’re able to switch between characters at the push of a button, as some special abilities necessary to solving a puzzle are only given to one character per level.

Replay Value

If you’re into achievements, you will find replay value here. Some achievements can’t be obtained on your first run through. You can go back and play each level in Free Play where you can select three characters to accompany you and your partner in the level. You can then switch between the various characters while in game to capitalize on their different abilities. If you enjoy the Indiana Jones saga, or your kids enjoy this game, there will also be replay enjoyment, as playing some of the levels a second and third time will allow you to catch some extra things, such as the Star Wars tie ins and extra characters, that you may have missed the first time.

Review originally posted on GamerHusbands.com.

One Response to “Review: Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures”

1. Godlywayz says:

   August 7, 2009 at 12:25 am

   My wife and I have been hoping to play this together – price is down to $20 new, so that’s not bad.

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