"very fun"

Three years ago, Lego Star Wars: The Video Game came out of nowhere to be the sleeper hit of 2005. By mixing simple, yet addictive, gameplay with the charm of Lego building blocks, sprinkling in an iconic movie franchise for good measure, Traveller's Tales was ults. Now, after a successful sequel and a compilation of those first two Lego movie offers, Traveller's Tales has tackled another epic trilogy with Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.

For the most part, not much has changed since the Lego Star Wars games. The three movies are once again each broken up into six levels, and you are tasked with getting from the beginning to the end by solving a slew of puzzles, fighting some enemies, and jumping a few platforms. As was the case with Traveller's Tales' Lego Star Wars offerings, to truly appreciate The Original Adventures, it really helps that you are familiar with the three Indiana Jones films. The thin story presentation is greatly amplified by the development team's humorous takes on famous scenes, like the heads of German soldiers popping off after they open the Ark or the Grail Knight impersonating Darth Vader. Also, the achievement names will bring a smile to the face of any movie quote geek, such as myself. Seeing “No ticket” pop-up on screen nearly sent me to the floor.

Lego Indiana Jones, like its predecessors, has a massive cast of playable characters, some of which are unlocked as you beat levels, whereas others need to be purchased with the Lego studs you will collect throughout the game. Once again, different characters have different puzzle solving skills and tools. The various versions of Indiana Jones all have a whip that helps him swing across gaps and pull items closer. Scholars, like Henry Jones Sr., possess a book that enables them to solve hieroglyphic puzzles. “Shorties,” like Short Round, can wiggle into crawl spaces to reach completely inaccessible areas. This time around, though, it is sometimes possible to find character-class specific tools, like shovels or wrenches, lying around a level. Characters that do not usually have such items can pick them up and use them to open up areas that were once solely left for free-play.

As usual, the replay value is fairly high. After completing one of the story-based missions, you can play through it again in the aforementioned free-play mode, which allows you to go into battle with a handful of different characters, so that you have all of the tools and abilities necessary to solve every puzzle. Playing through the levels again will allow you to collect artifacts, which help to unlock hidden levels, such as the beginning of The Last Crusade, where you play as Young Indy. There are also postals that need to be deposited in mailboxes, which are sent to Barnett College (your hub) and allow you to purchase special abilities, such as the ever-popular stud multipliers and invincibility. Traveller's Tales also gave fans of the Lego Star Wars series even more incentive to play through the levels again, by adding surprise cameos from various Star Wars icons. If you are lucky enough to find them all, you might just be able to unlock Harrison's Ford other iconic movie persona.

My issues with The Original Adventures are few, and they certainly don't ruin the experience in any way, shape, or form. Still, it is this handful of issues that keeps the latest Lego game from being the ultimate adventure, and I hope that Traveller's Tales decides to address them in future titles.

Unfortunately, unlike the Star Wars series, which focuses on numerous characters and the paths they walk down, the Indiana Jones series is all about Indiana Jones. Sure, there are some other memorable characters, but there is still a considerable gap between Indy and everyone else, whereas one can certainly create a pantheon of Star Wars demi-gods. I have a sneaking suspicion that many players will do what I did and spend most of their time playing through levels as Indy, only switching when absolutely necessary. Of course, this is obviously not a design flaw of any sort, but it still takes away from some of the experience of unlocking characters. While I looked forward to gaining the necessary studs to purchase Darth Maul or the ghost of Yoda, I cannot say the same for Rene Belloq or Walter Donovan.

The artificial intelligence, though slightly improved, still makes your computer-controlled ally pretty darn useless. They are inept at defeating enemies, but at the very least, they will often stun them, so that you do not find yourself dodging attacks from five or six guys at a time, a common occurrence thanks to respawning. Even worse are the times when you need both characters to solve a puzzle. For instance, your partner might need to pull down on a rope and reveal a platform that you can jump on to reach the next area. There are simply too many times when your partner decides they do not want to corporate and would rather just follow you. A little patience will eventually pay off, but it does get quite annoying to see a complex puzzle's end in sight, only to have it snatched away by incompetence.

Because of the semi-fixed camera angle, there are certain platforming moments where you simply have to do like Indy did towards the end of the third film: take a complete leap of faith. Early in the game


So, have we been here before? Yep. This is pretty much Lego Star Wars with a new theme. But if you liked the previous games, that's not a bad thing at all. Traveller's Tales brought back everything you loved about those games and simply turned it up a notch. I highly recommend this game for any fan of the Lego Star Wars games or the Indiana Jones films. In closing, I expect to see you in the fall, when the Dark Knight descends on the land of Legos.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/10/08

Game Release: Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (US, 06/03/08)