The best Indiana Jones game as well as the best Lego video game.
User Rating: 9.5 | LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures X360
Indiana Jones hasn't had much impact in the gaming world. The mid '80s and early '90s saw some fun games, especially Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and then again in 2002 with Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb- which was fantastic. Now, with the release of the 4th installment in the film franchise, we have a new game, "Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures" (although I have no idea on what happened to the next-gen Indy game). Lego Indy plays like the Lego Star Wars games, which were fun but somehow they don't compare to Indy's adventures. Here we have all 3 Indy film in glorious Lego form. Now, all the tongue-in-cheek humor that we saw in Lego Star Wars is here and it's flat-out hilarious. I mean, in the "Raiders" portion, when Belloq takes away the golden head artifact in the beginning, little Lego Indy tries to give him a rubber duck and C-3PO's head!! Belloq does a 3PO impression and it's just great. There are quite a few Star Wars references in the game, you just have to find them(here's a clue on one: when you're in "Raiders" in the 2nd level when you're escaping with Marion in the mountains, be sure to look EVERYWHERE, especially down-ways...). More laughs include Willie's special ability, which is to scream!! The graphics for the game, although cartoonish, are beautiful. There's plenty of attention to detail in the environments and they look just like their film counterparts. If you play in HD, it looks awesome. All the music from the original trilogy is all here and it's so much fun for long time fans like myself to hear this music while we're playing, from the eerie sounds of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" all the way to the emotional score of "The Last Crusade". Now, like the Cantine was to Lego Star Wars, the Barnett College where Dr. Jones teaches is the HQ of sorts. Here you can view the cut scenes from the game, buy the extras, create new characters, choose which movie you wanna play, view the artifacts you've collected, etc.,etc. The trilogy's music plays while you run around the college so it's nice sometimes to just stand there and listen to it as the characters that you've unlocked walk around. There some interesting things in the game that are kind of funny. One is that character's in the game have fears. If there are snakes around, Indy gets scared and can't do anything. Willie hates spiders. It's fairly funny to witness this. Some characters have special abilities. The female characters are light and nimble so they can jump higher than Indy and reaches spots he can't. Short Round is so small he can fit into tight places to unlock doors, grab items, etc. Throughout the game, you'll use all of these characters for their respective abilities. You'll also use items like wrenches for fixing machinery. shovels for digging, guns, swords, etc. Now, you have the most crucial component to Indy besides the fedora, his bull whip. Yes, you can use whenever to jump across gaps, grab people, kill people and even grab the female heroines to kiss them(there's an achievement for doing it to all 3). One of the great things about this game is how it feels. The characters don't feel like they have weight, because they're Legos, but at the same time they do. It's weird but it feels right when you whip across gaps and jump and such. Now, this is Xbox 360 so what about the achievements? Plenty. And they're all fun to get. Each achievement (or at least most) are named after a quote from the trilogy. Some include "You Call Him Dr. Jones!", "Belloq's Staff is Too Big", "Why Did It Have To Be Snakes?",etc. Even though the game is fairly short, the game has so much replay value. There's so much to do, to unlock, and Co-Op makes it even more fun. Overall, Lego Indiana Jones is a must-have for Indy fans and it's a perfect addition to the Lego series of video game and movie based games. It's for everyone. I recommend everyone giving it a try. It's that much fun. For $49.99, it's great. I'd pay the usual $59.99. It's great. Buy it, try it, love it.
