Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb

Written by John Scalzo on April 09, 2003

First Impressions: "Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities."

Dun-da-dun-dun-da-na-na
Dun-da-dun-dun-da-na-na
Dun-na-na-na-na-da-na-dun-da-dun

Nonsense to some, the greatest movie theme ever penned to others. I definitely fall in the latter category. Every time that theme fires up, you know something is going to happen and this has been a great year for Indiana Jones. First, the long awaited DVD collection of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was announced by Paramount to be coming out in November. Then, some real progress is being made on Indiana Jones 4 and shooting should begin either sometime this year or early next year. And finally, Indiana Jones makes a return to the video game world in Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb.

The action of Emperor's Tomb takes place in 1935, the same year as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Indiana Jones has been contacted by Marshall K'ai, an Asian business man who is looking for the mythical Heart of the Dragon, a black pearl that gives it's possessor the ability to control minds, for the Chinese government. To help Dr. Jones in his adventure, Kai has offered the services of his assistant Mei Ying. To find the Heart of the Dragon, Indy has to travel the world fighting off Nazis, and always be on the lookout for snakes.

Indy's last adventure in the world of video games, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, was not exactly what you'd call a success. The game disappointed many people (myself included) and ironically felt like a Tomb Raider clone. So for this go around LucasArts has given the development duties to The Collective, those crazy guys behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the Xbox. And the first thing they did was bring Buffy with them. Indy doesn't fight vampires alongside everyone's favorite vampire slayer (apologies to Wesley Snipes), but Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb does use the game engine The Collective created for Buffy. The fighting engine in Buffy has been praised by reviewers far and wide, including our own relic hunter, Nick Doukas. It's inclusion in Emperor's Tomb can only make the combat better.

In addition to the hand to hand combat Indy will have a stockpile of weapons at his disposal. His trusty whip and revolver are there of course, but he also will have machine guns, shotguns, machetes, or whatever's handy, like table legs or shovels. And the whip is no longer just for swinging over chasms anymore either. Indy can use his whip to disarm enemies and even pull them closer so he can unleash one of his famous haymakers.

While the game focuses a lot on action there are still plenty of locations for Indy to adventure in. Emperor's Tomb has ten levels spread over four different countries that will take Indy from Ceylon to Istanbul (not Constantinople) to Prague and finally to Hong Kong. While each level is mostly set up in the Tomb Raider style of third person action there are also some sections of the game that take place "on rails" like the vehicle levels in EA's latest James Bond games. I know shooting Nazis with the machine gun on top of a truck is something I've always wanted to try.

Graphically the game looks very sharp and captures the feel of the Indiana Jones movies very well. The environments are detailed and colorful and what more can you ask for? Indy himself looks just about perfect and in a few levels even gives a nod to Temple of Doom with that white suit fighting people in a Chinese restaurant (the Club Obi-Wan perhaps?). It's little touches like that and Indy's ever present fedora (that can be lost as you play until it magically appears in the next level) that I'm most looking forward to.

LucasArts has also gone the extra mile with the sound by commissioning a 65 piece orchestra to create all of the music for Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. The score has been promised not to stray too far from John Williams original masterpiece but will include several new styles of music to recognize the game's connection to the Far East. Xbox owners have also made it known that the voice work done by David Esch as Indiana Jones is about as close as you can get to Harrison Ford without paying twenty million dollars. LucasArts has always been known for their amazing voice work and I expect Emperor's Tomb to be no different.