LEGO Indiana Jones

One of the first toys I became obsessed with as a child were LEGOs. I used to have a metric ton of them. I had the first generation Space LEGOs, the Medieval Castle LEGOs, and the Technics LEGOs. I used to save every penny of my allowance so I could get the next set. I finally, unwillingly, gave my Lego collection to my nieces and nephews. Even today, I find myself checking out the new sets.

I’ve played the LEGO Star Wars PSP series and thoroughly enjoyed them, so when it was announced that an Indiana Jones version was coming out, I was intrigued. Thankfully, they have done another bang up job taking one of the most popular movie series of all time and allowing you to put on Indy’s fedora and whip your way through his adventures, with all the slapstick LEGO humor you’d expect (think dinner at Pankot Palace).

For those who have played LEGO Star Wars, this game will be instantly familiar. You solve puzzles, such as opening a locked door by finding the key or getting across a pit full of vipers. You collect endless amounts of gold and silver studs, which allow you to purchase bonus items and cheats at the University. You’ll also collect pieces of artifacts that will be displayed in the University museum. Keep in mind, however, that in many cases you’ll not be able to get all the collectible artifact pieces your first time through.

Certain puzzles will require a smaller character, such as Short Round, to crawl through passages, or other characters that have certain uniforms or hats, in order to pass. All this adds to the re-playability. There’s a fair amount of combat as well, and an arsenal of different weapons to acquire, from pistols and machine guns to crossbows.

Indy also has a few additional fun game elements. Certain characters have phobias or hidden talents. Indy, we all know, hates snakes, so when he has to get through an area crawling with them, he’ll quiver and hide his face in his hands, forcing you to use another character to clear the path, usually with a nearby torch. Willie can let out an ear-piercing shriek that can literally shatter glass. You’ll also have to get through certain puzzles that require you to find a book to translate hieroglyphics.

The only frustrating part of this game is the AI of your partner characters that tag along. These seem to die easily falling off ledges or getting themselves killed by the enemy. But the most frustrating thing is when one of the characters falls really behind requiring you to re-traverse a difficult obstacle course of climbing and swinging. This happened a bit more often than I wanted. Other than that, you can expect hours of whip-cracking goodness that your entire family will enjoy. Now if I can just convince my wife to let me buy that Millennium Falcon Lego set …

Discuss this article in the forums - (3) Posts