In spite of the poor reviews obtained so far, I really enjoyed this game. I enjoyed it because it was something most anyone who has seen the Indiana Jones films can relate to. Granted, I was expecting more puzzle solving, and more climbing around in Tombs and Temples like TR, but over all, this game did well enough to stand on its own two feet.
I liked the music, as its the same as the sound track from the feature films. I thought graphics were for the most part excellent. It was not true lifelike which is what some are expecting today, and is an unrealistic expectation, but it also was not cartoonish which is a turn off for me, and hence why I avoided the Lego version.
Camera angles were not bad, but there were some spots where they were quite annoying, but they were rare.
Controls I thought were excellent. I like the idea that the analog stick actually moved the character around instead of having to fumble with the directional arrows. Indie for the most part almost always obeyed my commands. Hints during game play were prolific, but helpful, and required you to be fast with your hands to press the correct button or do the correct move or it cost you. Most actions performed very well and as intended. I did have some trouble with the balancing where the game did not seem to respond very well to the R and L button pushing to keep balance. Also, during the final boss fight, Indie would get out of camera sight a lot and would not respond to commands as quick as I liked resulting in him getting his butt kicked.
There were complaints of a poor story line, or no story line. I thought the story line was clear from the beginning the same as it usually is in the feature films. Indie gets word of an ancient artifact (The Staff), and goes out on request to seek clues to its location, finds same, and follows them. Were there some inconsistencies, it depends, I would call them incomplete scenes. For example, Indie has to release two aircraft from the zepplins hangar and take off in a third plane to escape all while fighting bad guys. So you fight, and manage to release the planes then the level ends, and you end up elsewhere on the zepplin. What happened to leaving in the third plane? But over all, it does not take away from the game, you still have to progress through the levels to beat the game.
Levels sometimes did feel a little too short, and some were quite easy. Others were just a pain and you were grateful they were short. Outside of the last boss level, I don't think any of the levels were that hard, and should be beatable by most gamers. Advanced gamers, will find this game a bit too easy. Personally, I liked the shorter levels and found them packed with lot of goals, which in most cases were obtainable.
The designers gave the players opportunities to increase our strength, and health and damage inflicted. But it all depends on how well you do in each level and how many of the level's goals you achieve. For those you earn points, which you can use to increase the levels of the various items mentioned above.
For those who care, there is a lot of punching and hand to hand fighting. As the game progresses, Indie can use objects to help him out such as chairs, bottles, shields etc. There is no blood or gore in this game so I'd say its safe for younger players in that regard. There are also not a lot of gimmicks for Indie. You sometimes have a revolver, and you always have your whip. Other than those two items, its only what you can pick up, or interact with.
There are NO walk throughs for this PSP version of the game. None are really needed, as the game is fairly intiutive. There are a few levels where you really do not have any idea what to do or where to go. Just wing it, and figure it out as you go, its not that hard.
The hardest part of the whole game is the last boss level aboard the zepplin. I will give some hints here as I needed them badly and died many times before I figured out what I needed to do.
You will enter a room with book cases on three walls and a piano in the corner. Placed in a semi-circle in the middle of the room are a few statues. The balance of the walls are windows and there is a desk and chair. The boss is up on a platform above and dares you to come get the staff. As you enter two thugs attack, and take your pistol so your left with your whip. Around the room are some vases, these are worthless so do not mess with them. To your left is a globe, this is also useless. Off to the right is a suit of armor. This is an important piece. There is an artifact pick up behind it, and one behind the desk with a medi-pack. What you want to do is take out only one of the thugs by fist fight. Then, work your way around so the other guy has had a few punches and is now between you and the suit of armor. Use the triangle button to shove him into the suit of armor. The thing falls apart, but leaves a mace and a shield on the floor. If you break the suit of armor too soon, the thugs will pick the mace up and use it and it will be gone later so the idea is to free the shield and mace and quickly finish off the second thug.
This brings a cut scene where the boss comes down a ladder and drop kicks Indie. He goes to the desk and loads a sub machine gun while taunting you. When you regain control, he starts shooting and your behind one of the statues. Wait until he is out of ammo and reloading and run to the desk and pick up a shield on it and quickly charge the boss and get a few hits in. You will only get a few punches in before another cut scene and Indie disarms the boss making the fight a little more even. Not really. Your normal punches are worthless against the boss unless he is stunned. The boss will chase you, but if you keep moving you should be able to stay ahead of him. You can pick up the artifacts at any time, and the medi-pak when you need it. As you run around the room, you will notice a brown triangle appear. This is your cue that you can pick an object up, like a book from the book case or a brief case from a corner or the shield from the suit of armor. Try to make sure your a little distance away from the boss, pick the item up and as the boss approaches be facing him and use X to toss the object at the boss. If you were not too far away, and hit your target, it will stun him for a moment and you can quickly get a few punches in on him then run. There are about 5 books on the shelfs, a brief case by the door where you came in and the shield by the suit of armor. Use as many as you can. If the boss catches up with you and starts punching you, it will stun you and its very hard to break away. A bonus hit is standing in front of the piano, and as the boss approaches, you'll see a yellow triangle, its quick, but if you get the button press in, Indie will grab the boss and bust his head into the keyboard knocking him out. It only lasts a second or two, and it takes NO health from the boss so just use it to get the extra points, and time to run.
After you've softened up the boss, and he has softened you up a bit, you will have no more objects to toss at the boss and will be wondering how the heck do you defeat this guy. Go for the mace from the suit of armor. Start laying into the boss with it. Another cut scene ensues. When you regain control of Indie, the boss will not seem to punch as much or as hard, but will be hell bent on charging into you with a body slam. Get between him and any of the statues, and move as soon as he charges you. He should ram the statute, breaking it apart, and taking some damage. Once the statue is broken you can pick up a piece of stone from it and toss it at the boss just like you did with the books, but the stone does a little damage too. Move in and get some punches in. Eventually you will defeat the boss, and the final cut scene plays.
There is one more escape level to play after the big boss fight to end the game.
Over all I enjoyed this game. It was not too too hard, but difficult enough that it was not a push over. Some levels are tough to figure out what to do in at first, but that's all part of the fun. Controls were excellent for the most part, and camera angles were better than average almost all the time. The story line was typical Indiana Jones, and the graphics were excellent. Some levels were a bit short, and yeah, the game could have been a little longer, and had more tombs, crypts, and puzzles, but over all I would still recommend this game for all but the well advanced gamer who would probably find it too easy and boring.Get more detail about Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings.
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