Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Xbox 360)

...something undeniably appealing about the Lego series of games. I loved playing with Lego when I was a kid, and the opportunity to see classic movie moments played out in mime by Lego figures as if being re-enacted by six year olds is one I'm sure most people will enjoy. While this may feel like "Lego Star Wars" in all but name, there is still plenty in the game that fans of the films will find to enjoy - whether they are kids or adults ...
...all charmingly played out in Lego figures; throughout the entire game not one word of dialogue is spoken, with all the action in cut-scenes provided by wonderfully animated mime sequences. The first time you play a level, you will be presented with the "story mode", which, as the name suggests, means you play through the plot of the relevant section of the movie storyline with the appropriate characters. There are usually two, but sometimes ... more

There is something undeniably appealing about the Lego series of games. I loved playing with Lego when I was a kid, and the opportunity to see classic movie moments played out in mime by Lego figures as if being re-enacted by six year olds is one I'm sure most people will enjoy. While this may feel like "Lego Star Wars" in all but name, there is still plenty in the game that fans of the films will find to enjoy - whether they are kids or adults who want a not-too-serious gaming experience. Like "Lego Star Wars", "Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures" features the first three classic movies in the franchise - "Raiders of the Lost Ark" from 1981, 1984's "Temple of Doom" and "The Last Crusade" (1989). The game begins, as it should, with the opening sequence from "Lost Ark". It is 1936, and Indiana Jones is leading an expedition through the jungles of South America in search of a golden idol, which just happens to be hidden deep in a cave filled with deadly traps. Jones succeeds in recovering the idol and escaping the cave, only to come face to face with his nemesis, the French archaeologist Rene Belloq. Losing the idol to the evil Belloq, Indy flees on a seaplane and returns home to Barnett College, which from that point on acts like a hub for your adventures. It is from Barnett College that you can start playing the three movie games, access cheats and unlock special characters to help you on your quest.

-Game Design
Each of the three movies within the game is made up of six levels, and while you can play the three movies out of sequence if you wish, within each movie you can only access one level after you have first completed the previous one. Each of these three stories features a simplified version of the movie plotline, all charmingly played out in Lego figures; throughout the entire game not one word of dialogue is spoken, with all the action in cut-scenes provided by wonderfully animated mime sequences. The first time you play a level, you will be presented with the "story mode", which, as the name suggests, means you play through the plot of the relevant section of the movie storyline with the appropriate characters. There are usually two, but sometimes three, characters in the story mode levels, one of which you control, with the other(s) controlled by the game's AI - this both allows a second player to drop in and out in a co-operative play mode, and means a single player can utilise the attributes of different characters by switching between them. For example, Indy has his whip (which allows him to swing across gaps and disarm enemies at a distance), while female characters can jump higher (to allow them to access certain features that male characters cannot reach), small characters can access hatches that lead to otherwise inaccessible points in the game, while scholar characters carry notebooks that can be used to translate hieroglyph panels (which open doors, etc). In story mode you will be given the character combination necessary to complete the level, but not to access all the hidden areas with it.

The real fun begins when you complete a level in story mode and unlock the "free play" option, however. In this version, you have access to eight characters rather than the two or three of story mode, so your options for exploring the level and finding all of its secrets are greatly increased - providing you have unlocked all the necessary types of characters first that is! Characters can be unlocked either by playing as them in story mode, or buying them in Barnett College once you have enough studs to do so, there being 60 characters across all three games to collect. The studs are coin-like objects created from the circular studs you find on top of Lego blocks, which you collect as you play the game - some will be scattered around the level, while others can be earned by smashing appropriate objects and solving puzzles. Different colour studs have different values, and once you collect a certain quantity (which varies over the levels) you will earn "true adventurer" status for that level. Be warned though, being killed will cause you to drop some of the studs you have already collected. Other items to collect in the game are treasure chests (10 in each level) and parcels (1 in each level, to be posted in the in-level post box). Each of the treasure chests within a level contains a piece of an artefact, so when you have collected all treasure chests for the level you will receive bonus studs, and the complete artefact will appear in the artefact room in Barnett College - allowing to work towards more secret parts of the game. Posting the parcel for a level allows you access to cheats, which range from the highly useful (such as the artefact detector) to the downright silly (such as allowing characters to wear disguises). Once a parcel has been posted, the cheat can be accessed - for the right price - in the Barnett College mail room.

- Gameplay
But what is the game like to actually play? Well, I found the level design to be great - there is an art to creating levels that are sufficiently challenging without becoming frustrating, that manage to be fun and avoid becoming repetitive, and which can still throw up surprises, and "Lego Indiana Jones" manages this well. The style of the game is generally an action platformer, although there are plenty of good puzzles thrown in as well; these vary from the simple fetch-quest (go and find the key that will allow you to work a mechanism) to pleasingly challenging puzzles where you need to piece together a string of actions in the correct sequence to progress. These are not puzzles that require you to be a member of Mensa, but are sufficiently challenging to give you a sense of satisfaction when you solve them. The game also encourages teamwork, where one character is required to help another to complete a puzzle, which is a bonus if you intend to buy this game for children to play! The levels are broadly linear in design, although the size of some of the areas to explore, plus the addition of secret rooms and hidden locations make it feel less so; the challenge of finding sneakily hidden areas with goodies in them really helps increase the longevity and re-playability of the game. The variety presented by being able to play with a choice of characters also adds to the appeal of "Lego Indiana Jones". Fortunately, the dedicated vehicle levels from "Lego Star Wars" have been removed from the game design of "Lego Indiana Jones". Although there would be some good contenders for this sort of level (maybe the dogfight from Last Crusade?) I for one am quite glad that this has happened, as some of these levels were really quite annoying in the former game (I really hated the pod race level). The AI for the CPU controlled co-operative player on the whole does its job, although there were one or two places where the second character got stuck, didn't manage to follow the player controlled character, or annoyingly regenerated near the edges of platforms and knocked me off them and into oblivion. But seeing as you have infinite lives - and can happily smack your co-op player in retaliation for their annoyingness with no ill effects - then this presented no real issues for me.

- Graphics and Sound
The graphics are not the most sophisticated you will find on the Xbox 360 - but you would hardly expect that from a Lego game, really. The characters and all objects you can interact with are built out of Lego, so are nice and clear against the backdrop, but still manage to retain a level of character that is surprisingly good for animated pieces of plastic. The characters themselves are great fun, and it is wonderful to see them rendered in Lego and each given little mannerisms to bring them to life. They are both cute and provide good comedy value. One minor niggle I had was with the camera in the game. There were places where it wouldn't behave itself, and with only very limited control over it mapped onto the right hand control stick, I found I was sometimes felt not being able to see what was going on clearly enough, or that it was hard to judge the angle of a jump correctly. The sound in the game is really pleasing, however. From the distinctive theme music that opens the game, to the excellently scored in-level music which manages to be fun without getting too childish, repetitive or irritating, it forms and integral part of the level design. Good sound effects are in place for all the actions, and I find it hard to fault any of the sound attributes of the game.

- Conclusion
I have really enjoyed playing "Lego Indiana Jones" - it is not that often I complete a game to 100%, and even as I write this I am wondering what those final secret achievements are hidden in the game, so I will probably end up playing it some more. All the collectibles, unlockables and achievements provide a great reward structure that will make you come back for more, well beyond the point where you have finished the story mode, and that for me made it great value for money. I liked the way that the levels did not get increasingly more difficult over the course of the game, so I could continue on and complete it without becoming frustrated; too many games I have tried pitch the learning curve too steeply, I find, and so you end up never accessing a lot of the material that you have paid for. This game was different, and I especially appreciated the 2 player co-op play, which is a very rare commodity in games these days I find. There were a few disappointments, though. Some of the secret stuff that you work hard to unlock turns out to be not really worth the effort, and there were a couple of puzzles that were annoying. But on the whole this is a great game that comes highly recommended from me.

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 10/10
Value for money: 8/10 for Amazon price, 6/10 for RRP
Difficulty: Easy (for story mode) to medium (for completing the game to 100%)
Learning Curve: Easy to pick and play
Longevity: 1 to 2 months, possibly longer for kids or for gamers wanting to hunt out the secret achievements
Multiplayer options: Great 2 player co-op play
Achievements: 50
BBFC rating: PG

Price: Amazon £29.98, RRP £39.99

Website: http://indianajones.lego.com/en-US/default.aspx 

...less