Monday 30 Jun 2008

Since I am a fan both of the Lego series and of Indiana Jones I was looking forward to combining the two, I mean its Lego and its Indiana Jones, how could it not be fun.

The game follows the adventures of Indy as he faces dangers and obstacles in The Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade. As such if you have watched the first three Indiana Jones movies you will recognise many scenes made famous by the movies whereas if you are new to the series you will wonder why it has taken you so long to indulge in a little adventure or two.

Set out on an adventure

While there is no talking in the game, you will be swept away by the fantastic Indy music punctuated by grunts and actions from the cast of the game in certain situations. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming the theme tune for the next couple of days. It certainly is easy enough to follow the plot, especially if you have seen the movies.

Everything in the game is made of Lego and completely destructible. The attention to detail is amazing and you will find yourself spending longer than needed on each level to poke around, discover new treasures and collect the all important tokens. If you are playing this game with a friend this is bound to lead to confrontation since one player wants to proceed and the other to frollick around with the Lego flowers.

To elaborate on this let me explain that two players can play the game with a unique drop-in element, meaning that one player can drop-in or drop-out of the game at any stage. Obviously this is fantastic because you don’t have to exit the game if your friend wants to join or quit, simply connect the second controller and you’re in or select drop-out and you’re out.

Swing it!

The only proviso to this two player aspect is that one player cannot proceed much further in front of a second player. Sometimes if you venture too far ahead you will even meet an untimely death which will probably lead to you thumping your partner over the head with whatever weapon you currently have, in the game of course in case you were wondering. Of course with players poking around and destroying the environment you are bound to accidentally hit your partner with your spade or shoot them with your gun at least a couple of times, so be prepared for some serious retaliation but this just adds to the fun.

You will be armed with different tools depending on which character you are currently playing as. As you progress through the game you can also pick up different weapons including guns, spanners, chairs, bottles and spades. In addition each character has different skills which may be needed at different stages in the game. For instance Indy wields a whip which he can use to swing over ravines (or pull a lady closer to steal a kiss) while other characters come packing a spade, one jumps higher than others and one can squeeze into small spaces. If you are playing single player you will have to change between the different characters to make use of their different skills and advance in the game, but it is really is as simple as pushing one button to switch, provided you have the second controller plugged in that is. If you don’t you will have to rely on the AI to help you out which could prove to be a bit frustrating.

Puzzles and items

If you need a certain item to proceed in the game, you will only have to look around a bit to discover the key that unlocks the statue or the spanner that fixes the car. All the vehicles can be driven in the game and I must admit I could not contain my whoop of amazement when Marian popped a wheelie and rode over a menacing enemy in the process. Another memorable moment is when, after wondering if Indy could swim, he jumped into a lake, did a couple of laps and collected a hidden treasure in the process. Some areas are restricted and require you to defeat an enemy, pick up his hat and confuse the security guarding that area to gain entry. Again every detail on each level is well thought out and polished, there really is not that much that can be faulted in this respect. The cutscenes too are slick, funny and cannot be faulted.

Each level will have at least two playable characters but sometimes you start with more. The puzzles in each level are well thought out and will invariably require both characters to work together in order to solve them. After you have played the game for a while it really will be quite simple to figure out which character’s skill is required next. However, with this being said some puzzles really require you to think out the box and can be quite challenging.

Lego is cool

The game allows you to go back and replay any level at any time. You can do this by visiting Barnett College which also houses all the relics and treasures you have collected. Another good reason to collect those Lego tokens (other than bragging rights) is that if you miss out on the treasure pieces you can purchase them to assemble the whole treasure.

All in all you will not regret the time you spend playing this game. It is fun, challenging enough to make you scratch your head a few times and takes you back to a time in your youth when playing with Lego was cool, hell it still is cool!

Pros: Humour; replayability; great co-operative play (offline); awesome puzzles.

Cons: Not backwards compatible with PS3; minor glitches.

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Contributor:	Lisa

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