Page One: Last Crusade/Fate of Atlantis
Page Two: Infernal Machine/Emperor's Tomb
Continuing our discussion on which Indiana Jones game is the Best Thing Ever, we shall move onto 3D...
Best game ever. 10/10 on everything!
Oh, and one other thing about the paths.... before the age of walkthroughs, if you got stuck on a path, you could just try another one :D That was great. Sorry, yeah,
Infernal Machine.
Me too. Very different from FOA.
I like the Melee Island reference! :P
I think it'll slip quite badly as we look at it close-up, but it won't stop me thinking it's one of my favourite PC games ever. And you can turn into Guybrush! And fire chickens out of your bazooka!
Ok, I'm gonna be weird and say I didn't care for it much. I liked it more than the one we're gonna talk about later though...
Heh heh. Right, starting with STORY/WRITING.
Yeah, it's a bit clunky if we're being brutal. "That thing looks whippable!"
We got to see Sophia in 3D! But she cut her hair :(
Yeah her hair was reduced to one big polygon
Hey, Sophia's body's in Graphics/Art. I told you two before!
I've been listening to this Sophia song on a loop for two hours. My ears are starting to bleed.
Real shame, especially with Hal Barwood still on board.
I think he's better at pure adventure. Still, it's not bad. It's not brilliant, but it's not bad.
I look forward to his new game.
Yeah, I think it'll be good.
Anyway, MACGUFFIN QUALITY (which can either mean the Tower of Babel or the Infernal Machine itself).
Hmm... well it's very original I think.
That's the second level!!!
Zaarin never got out of Canyonlands :P
Did too! :P I got to a beach somewhere...
I love the idea of the Tower of Babel, but the Machine is bit
too "out-there". Then again,
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is going to be "out-there" too from what I can tell.
By "out there" you mean...?
Out
there, man...
(Zaarin points in a random direction)Less biblical, more supernatural.
Okay... The kidney liver stones were as well. And it's not just the Infernal Machine though, is it?
True, there are loads of other cool things - like King Solomon's Mines and Shambala. It ties them all up quite well.
Yeah, I love the mines! Second best level. Easily.
Yeah, it was very good. Best level?
My favorite level was the actual Infernal Machine level.
Oh okay, that was good. The monastery was nice as well.
And Marduk is quite cool.
The whole thing. Lots of atmosphere.
Meroë is my favourite. Three pyramids full of traps! And non-linear too!
I hated Aetherium, except for the easter egg :P
The big snake was awesome!
I'll give old Maccy an ... 8!
9/10.
"Part of the Infernal Machine!" "I'm no gardener, but I read somewhere that plants need water."
Yeah, that one's a bit unsubtle. Now then - MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE ACTING.
10, *Great* music, still good voices.
Hmm... 7/10. There was a lack, but the lack worked. Lots of atmosphere!
Short, low quality cues... 6.
It was not much, but I liked it.
I don't know why the music is so short and low quality, really surprising for LucasArts.
And great sound effects -- wind and birds and water. The map music was nice as well.
And the voice acting - was actually good I think.
I'd like to get the full version on that. Yeah the voice acting is good as it always is.
Volodnikov was very good too.
I love that level where you chase him around. And you just see his fat bottom wobbling around, and you have to shoot him in the bottom. The game is really bottom-fixated!
Which one was that again?
Heh. I don't believe he survives!
He has to have butt surgery.
He's the only bad guy not to reach a nasty demise!
True, "good socialist vodka".
He's not as bad as the other ones.
He's no uber-man either...
Yeah, that's sort of why I like him. Nice twist in it.
But I'm going to give it 9/10 JUST because The Russian March has been stuck in my head since I first played the game. And I do like having the Soviets as villains. I'm looking forward to seeing them in Indy IV.
Hey - I'm back, I'll read some previous discussion & add in scores etc. but first WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO SOPHIA?!
The short hair wasn't
too bad... ;)
Yeah! Short one polygon style hair... And she had a lisp... And no bottom! They took all the polygons from her arse and hair and put them on Volodnikov!
At least she has a boob polygon left!
You're the only boob around here, Zaarin! (I'm on fire tonight)
Get some water! And I'm puny.
I was gonna make a reply about squirting and milk, but that would gross everyone out so I'll keep quiet :P
(
Due to Mojo's rule of one-in, one-out, now that jp-30 has entered again Clone2727 is killed as a Zeppelin crashes into his house. Or maybe his computer just got screwed up, I don't know.)
Ok, INFERNAL MACHINE Jp-30. Story/Writing?
Ugh. "Hey look, an idol." "That thing looks whippable." This was the game where they made Indy a mass murderer. Grenades. Bazookas. Uhh, jeeps. And once it got from the real world to the Aetherium it just got dumber and dumber. 4/10
Lame. Lame. Lame. It may have been ok if it weren't for the ice monsters and the aetherium ending. But it really was a bunch of toss. 3/10
Double ouch. Music/Sound/Voice acting? Remember, don't blame the actors for "where did that Commie rat scurry off to?"
That was reasonable, but nothing really sticks out other than Doug Lee perfectly capturing the catatonic voice of post 50-year-old-in-crap-interview. 5/10
Ok, we're up to date. On to GRAPHICS/DETAIL/ART and what-the-hell-happened-to-Sophia's-arse. And we're going in without Clone2727 it seems.
The textures were good. Bill Tiller had something to do with that, so 7/10.
Good for its time, which was the "lego man in 3D" era. Only back then it was unintentional Lego man :D I guess a 7 too.
Shocking. They took the JK/MOTS engine and made it worse. MOTS had some great features, but they lost all the feeling with Infernal Machine.
It
feels nice! I remember JK/MOTS being very grey. At least Infernal Machine has a lot of colour.
Bit blocky, but I think it still occasionally looks amazing. Shambala, Meroe, that gigantic beach level...
Yeah the beach level was nice.
I never liked JK's graphics that much. I'm gonna be a rebel and give it 8.
But apart from the angularity (is that a word?) some of the levels were very well designed. All the ones without 'pushing block' puzzles.
Yeah they made pushing blocks non-boring.
OK, well I didn't care for the graphics after seeing what MOTS was capable of, so 5/10.
Now then, LEVEL DESIGN/CHALLENGE.
... Blocks... Pushing blocks!
...Whatever jp thinks. Not
that much block pushing!
Well, that's what I remember.
Tomb Raider did it far worse. And considering LucasArts were supposed to be copying Tomb Raider here, I think we got very lucky with this.
I push block, you Jane! 8/10
Do we count the ridiculous holstered gun on opening door in this section?
Heh. That was annoying. It was SLOW. Turning around -- holstering weapons...
And on ladders, you had to pop off the top before drawing, and you'd usually get shot.
No wait, 6. Now Gabez will think I'm copying him :(
I'm gonna say 8. And you're both slaves to opinions! :P
Some levels were nicely put together, but the gameplay mechanics ruined any flow and for me killed a lot of the 'frantic pace' (in certain sections like gunfights and clambering) I'm expecting in a game like this.
There's also that one jump in the Jeep down the bottom of a hill, and it took me several weeks to figure out the car had 2 gears. My fault, I know, shoulda read the instructions, but damn infuriating. Running over russians in the jeep was great fun, as were the grenades, but Indy ends up with a body count greater than an Arnie move. I don't think they got the Indyness right at all. 4/10
Wow. I know what you mean though with the Jeep.
The jump or the hit-and-run?
The jump. Although the Indyness thing - INDY QUOTIENT/ACTION now.
Running over russians in the jeep was great fun, as were the grenades, but Indy ends up with a body count greater than an Arnie move. I don't think they got the Indyness right at all. 4/10
Wow, déjà vu! I feel it at least got the Action right.
No, 3/10. Would Indy really shoot scorpions and spiders with his pistol?
Probably not, but I like scaring off tigers and wolves instead of killing them.
5/10 Indy quotient. It was really good, but not quite Indy.
I'm gonna say 6. Mostly for action.
Anyone know how many times Indy swung on his whip in the 3 movies? I'm guessing zero or one.
About 6 I think. Twice per movie.
Really? Tarzan style swing, or climb-up-as-if-it-were-a-dangling-rope?
Yes way. (
After checking the films, Chris found this count was pretty much correct) Climb Up I think it's just Young Indy in the beginning of Last Crusade, even though there someone's pulling it.
At any rate, it's become the big cliché in Indy gaming. I guess it's a fun mechanic, but it's waaay overused in
Emperor's Tomb and especially Infernal Machine.
They could have done with tightening up a bit. Anyway,
Emperor's Tomb.
Yeah, was a bit convoluted.
I haven't finished it (I'll discuss more on that in the design section) but what I did get up to (a temple thing with a spinning pillar) I was really enjoying the premise. I know it all goes a bit Aetherium-esque towards the end. So from what I've seen so far, 6/10
Uhm.....7. I didn't complete the game, but I did read the plot.
I enjoyed the premise, but it wasn't necessarily well told. 7/10. Nice bits in it though. MACGUFFIN QUALITY now. (Emperor's Tomb/Heart of the Dragon/Mirror of Dreams)
Hmm... 7/10. Original but slightly dull.
I haven't got that far, but an eastern relic is a great idea. 7/10
I love the Emperor's Tomb part, but the rest is all total fiction really. It worked I supposed, but the immortality bit was done with the Holy Grail. I'll say yeah, 7.
Now Wu Han tells Indy that a man named Lao Che wants him to find the remains of Nurhachi, first Emperor of the Manchu dynasty... nice ending though :)
Doesn't quite fit with Wu Han being a very old friend of Indy who followed him on
many adventures, though. One! And on that he was basically a taxi service!
First death of the movie :P
Alrighty -
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE ACTING (yes, I know I'm cheating by giving this one two music cues, but Clint Bajakian really outdid himself here).
Real orchestra! But for some reason they made MP3s in 96kbps (!), 22 kHz. Upped it to 160kbps and they could have had full CD quality :(
6/10. Real orchestra... But it ain't FOA! Doesn't make me wet myself.
Sod that. It bloody does me.
Wales is turning into a pool of urine! But, okay, it got some good segues.
And sod the quality too, we just gave
Fate of Atlantis 10s here for MIDI music!
That was an oldskool MT-32 score and dynamic! 8/10!
Sounded great to me. 8/10
I think, personally, that's it's the best music Clint Bajakian's ever done. 10. Even The Raiders March sounds somehow more exciting!
Hmm, on second thought, 9! But I prefer his
Outlaws soundtrack.
Outlaws is great too. And David Esch's Indy is spot on - like a younger mix of both Harrison Ford and Doug Lee.
:( I know which voice he was!
Or the cup of a carpenter.
Just coming! GRAPHICS/DETAIL/ART then.
The graphics I really loved. 9/10. Pretty good Ford likeness too, and the goons and asian assassins were great.
It does, it can be a bit sparse and lifeless but it at least looks great. Environments could be bigger. 8/10. Okay, LEVEL DESIGN/CHALLENGE. Now
here is where the game stumbles for me.
Shitty controls, wouldn't work with my gamepad. Mouse control made me dizzy. 3. It feels half done.
Heh. I got used to the mouse controls. And of course some people might've played it on consoles too.
Is this where I can moan about the save system?
Yes!
S**tting stupid save system!!. In that there wasn't one! What brainless moron thought that no checkpoints in a game like this was a good idea?
The console style save system ruined this game for me. I was stuck in some cave/pit area where pixel perfect jumps were required. The level start was a good 5 minutes previous, and I must have fallen down that pit 50 times before I uninstalled the game, never to have played again.
It's a pity you reminded me of this jp, I was about to give it a much better score. I'll be really generous and say 5. And only because I think it's better than
Tomb Raider Legend.
IQ - 7/10. Again. And is that it?
Wait, wait, jp hasn't given his score yet.
You want to go to bed, Gabez? :P
But is that it!? Yes or no would suffice!
Pretty much, yeah. (
Gabez instantly flees) For the rest of us, INDY QUOTIENT and ACTION!
I loved the brawling, and the flying fox slides on the cables and crashing through windows!
Yeah, me too. It does have the Indy Action vibe really well done. Shame the rest is a bit disappointing. I'll think I'll give it 10 here.
Perhaps still slightly mass-murderish, but the close combat was fun to watch and pretty easy to accomplish. It gets 9/10 from me.
It does prefer you
not to kill people mostly, just beat them up. Like Indy. That's why you only get 6 rounds with your gun.
Hmmmmm! I'll give it a 8!
I didn't like those ninjas who would get up once or twice after you'd knocked them to the ground. Sneaky bastards.
I used my machete instead of fists :D No blood though :(
Indy isn't really bloody though - family action. Some grisly bits, though. Face melting, heads lopped off etc. Actually, no, forget I said anything, it's
very bloody.
Anyway.... okay! That's the general gaming chat done! Can't properly do the scores because of Clone2727's early exit but I think it's a no-brainer -
INDIANA JONES & THE FATE OF ATLANTIS wins!
I thought it'd be a lot closer, I admit! I didn't count on jp-30's staunch hatred of
Infernal Machine!
lol, "Infernal"s the word.
She's my Mom. She says "Hi".
So guys, what do you think? Will LucasArts' next Indy game beat
Fate of Atlantis at last? Which is
still the reigning Indy champion?
Only if they make it an adventure game and stop focusing on gimmicky features!
Only if it ever gets released, and only if they make a PC port, because I don't have any consoles. But no, FOA will not be topped in a poll of grouchy old nostalgists!
I think if it had the scope of
Infernal Machine, the Graphics, Sound and Brawling of
Emperor's Tomb, and the Writing and Design of
Fate of Atlantis, it would. Which ain't ever gonna happen. And yes, they better goddamn release it on PC. They haven't even given it a bloody name yet!
Sure they have -
Indiana Jones 2007!
Yeah, those big anachronists.
After getting all the missed scores and apologies from Clone2727, here are the tabled results:
So the scores are:
4th Place: 
3rd Place:
2nd Place:
Wow, that's probably a surprise 2nd place for a lot of people! But in 1st Place, still the undisputed Best Indiana Jones Game Ever...
As if there was any doubt! Thanks to The Tingler, jp-30, Gabez, Zaarin and Clone2727 for taking part and for staying up so late. We hope you enjoyed it!
Main PageGo to top
I think it'll slip quite badly as we look at it close-up, but it won't stop me thinking it's one of my favourite PC games ever. And you can turn into Guybrush! And fire chickens out of your bazooka!
