Indiana Jones And The
Emperor's Tomb
Published by LucasArts and Developed by
The Collective, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb features excellent
graphics, great sound, plenty of levels to explore and puzzles to solve,
and is overall a great RPG game.
Taking full advantage of the Xbox, this fourth installment of the Indiana
Jones saga is by far the best yet with elements such as interactive
environments, hand-to-hand combat, and/or a wide variety of weapons, more
bad guys than you can shake a stick at, and increasingly difficult puzzles
to solve in order to advance to the next level. Not only that,
Indiana Jones actually looks and sounds like "Indiana
Jones"...the familiar face and voice of Harrison Ford that we all
know and love. Even though the creators did not use Harrison Ford
for the voice-over's, it sounds enough like him that I didn't complain.
Beginning in Ceylon in 1935, Indy must travel the globe in search of an
ancient "black pearl" artifact. And travel he does, with
levels spanning such places as Istanbul, Prague, and Hong Kong, Indy must
fight, jump, and swing his way in and out of some pretty messy
situations. The first thing you'll notice is the tutorial
incorporated in the game to help you learn how to move Indy and use the
items he's equipped with. Standard items include his whip (but of
course!), a map, a revolver, and a water canteen that is used to
"fill up" at various places in each level to revive Indy's
health.
As you run, jump, climb, and fight your way through the levels, you'll
notice there are also various other items Indy can pick up along the way
to use for hand-to-hand combat. Picking up machete's, shovels, table
legs, etc. can be used to knock those pesky Nazi's back to Germany!
As you progress through the levels, you not only have to deal with more
bad guys, but you will also encounter gangsters, soldiers, and even an
octopus and the oh so annoying crocodiles that are just dying to make you
their lunch! Boxes are also scattered about the levels and kicking
them will give you nice little surprises such as extra ammo for your
weapons considering you aren't equipped with this at the beginning of the
game (gee thanks). When you run out of shotgun ammo, using it as a
club to beat the bad guys to a pulp sure helps! The whip is used for
(what else?!) swinging! There are certain areas in the levels where
this is the only way for Indy to get across a crevice which would
otherwise be impassable.
Lest I forget, being Indiana Jones, exploring every avenue of the levels
is a must! There just might be a secret entrance to the next level
that you didn't see the first time around, and just when you think you're
about to reach your goal...that's when the floor crumbles beneath you or
the bridge just happens to collapse. So being on your toes is
important as you progress.
Graphically the characters and levels are smooth and unbelievable
sharp. The jungle and buildings are incredibly life-like and have
added pluses such as birds scattering as you approach them, and there is
enough variety in each graphic location to keep you playing in search of
the lost treasure. The character details are very well done and even
include Indy losing his hat in some instances where he is in hand-to-hand
combat. Don't forget to pick that hat back up...what would Indy be
without his signature hat?!
Audio in the game is first rate too. From the well-done vocal
characterization to the recognizable musical score from the
movies...you'll feel like you're right in the middle of another Indiana
Jones adventure. The background sound is consistent with the levels
and the attention paid to the audio detail in the game adds to the delight
of playing.
Overall, I found this game challenging, the levels expansive, and the
controls easy to learn and manage. Although it will certainly remind
you of the Tomb Raider series, it has enough variety to keep you playing
and is definitely one of the better games to come to the Xbox yet.
Overall Game Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Official
Xbox Website:
http://www.xbox.com
Where
to find XBox Cheats:
http://www.xboxcheats.com
