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Old 05-02-2004, 03:54 PM   #2
Intrepid Homoludens
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Chicago
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"Dig this, Archaeologist Jones!"

:eek: Jeezus Cripes, Jony, I was just replaying the Prague and Istanbul levels just now! I finished the game the other night. I highly recommend it as a perfect 'popcorn game'. IMO, out of all the Indy games it's the most faithful to the world of Indiana Jones and to the movies, in terms of story, globe trotting, exploration, traps, and all out, raw action. I've heard great things about Fate Of Atlantis, etc., but I never warmed up to the idea of an Indy Jones game being pure adventure, i.e. nothing but puzzle solving, pointing and clicking, and no action. In that sense I'd say that Emperor's Tomb would be the quintessential Indy Jones experience - next to the movies, of course.

I have to warn you, this game is HEAVY, serious platformer, just like Tomb Raider. There are some jumping puzzles highly demanding of your skills and timing. But far, far more fun than that is the marvelously raw fist fights you get to have. It's sinfully satisfying on the primitive level, you'll find yourself ignoring your weapons and simply resorting to punching, grabbing, and kicking. LOL, I even found myself grunting like a real man during the fisticuffs. They did an excellent job with melee combat. There is, however, one boss sequence that's infamously horribly tough - Von Beck's Revenge, which involves split second timing with jumping and whip swinging. Fans reported having to replay it 50 times at least to beat it. I'm no exception, it is cruel and very, very difficult, but possible to beat. Don't give up, you might even have to give it a couple of days.

Graphically, it's quite pretty, though not beautiful. I have the PC version and hadn't seen it on any of the consoles. On the PC it looks wonderful, though some of the textures look washed out (a result of an average job of porting over, I guess). I'll wager the Xbox version is second place in graphical amenities, with the PS2 right after.

All in all it's a good solid romp, worthy of the Indiana Jones pedigree. I'm very much looking forward to the next title from them.
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