Don't Lose That Hat

Another video game related post. Please, try to contain your excitement. So, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb* is another of those games I owned and traded in, though it's not one I traded in because I'd beaten it. Nope, this is the classic "this part is frustrating the hell out of me, screw this game" trade-in. Just couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do about that giant crocodile. Now, thanks to the magic of online walkthroughs, I was able to get past it, and since then, I haven't had much trouble. Granted, I've only completed one more level, but I didn't have any real trouble with it's boss**, so I consider that a good sign.

There was one online review I read for the game that said this should be a fun game, but technical issues screw it up at every turn. Maybe I'm not far enough in, but I haven't really noticed any technical issues yet. Unless they mean a lack of controller sensitivity. Because for a game that puts so much emphasis on jumping to ledges or chains, and making smooth swings to various other ledges or whatever, the controls worry me. Sometimes I can't get Indy completely lined up with whatever I'm preparing to make a running leap towards, and all I can do is hope I'm close enough to on target the computer will count it. So far, so good, but there's always that moment as I make the jump where I wince a little, expecting to miss the mark and go plummeting to my doom***.

The gist of the story is that a fellow from the Chinese government has asked Indy to gather these three pieces of this thing, that will point to the location of some famous Emperor's Tomb, which supposedly has vast riches, and undoubtedly also houses an artifact of immense power. 'Cause that's how Indy's luck runs, right? The government fellow, whose name escapes has an assistant, a young woman who pops up from time to time dressed as a ninja. One time she helped me escape, the other time she was just running across rooftops. Also, there's some German fellow after the pieces as well, and he's proving a right pain in the arse. Kind of like Belloq, he keeps popping up to steal the things you've put in all the effort to take. What a lazy ponce.

Enemies in this game a really resilient. You have to punch guys a lot to make them stay down, and even if you get ahold of a Schmeisser machine gun, it can take half of a 40 bullet clip to kill a guy. That gets a little irritating. Plus, you've got Indy's trusty revolver, but so far I keep fighting German who carry Luger pistols, which have different ammo type. It's not a big deal, since I just take their guns, but it's made the revolver feel superfluous so far. If you only have six bullets for it, and no one in the level's going to be carrying anymore, it hardly seems worth carrying. You're also packing your whip, naturally, though that's mostly good for tripping opponents, knocking weapons from their hands, or otherwise keeping them off-balance. And you can pick up all sorts of objects from your surroundings to use. Shovels, table legs, bottles, stuff like that. Indiana Jones may not be MacGyver, but he does know how to use what's at hand, after all.

I don't think it's Harrison Ford providing the voice, but whoever it is doesn't do too badly, though there isn't that much speaking, outside the cut scenes. So there's lots of fighting, some jumping and swinging, lever pulling, a little bit of puzzle solving, and that's about it. So far. Having gotten past the original point of frustration, I find myself having a pretty good time, those moments of stress before jumps aside.

* Did they make a game for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, or did they figure the Lego Indy game was sufficient?

** It was some metal guy you defeated by throwing acid on him. Part of me wishes I'd been able to punch him out, but it wasn't to be.

*** I guess that means I would have failed the 3rd test from Last Crusade, where you must leap from the lion's head.