Customer Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I finished playing through this game recently on my Playstation 2. As a long-time Indy fan, I must say that I was very, very pleased overall. You control the intrepid Indiana Jones as he makes his way through a variety of locales, including Ceylon, Istanbul, Prague, Hong Kong, and others. The goal of the game is to recover an ancient mystical talisman from the titular Emperor's Tomb, all the while fighting off Nazis, Chinese thugs, undead creatures, and others. Indy is present in pure form, including the fact that he occasionally loses his beloved fedora hat during a fight and must go back to retrieve it when the coast is clear. I don't know who they found to do Indy's voice acting in this game, but whoever it is did a great job impersonating Harrison Ford.

The controls are intuitive and easy to master. Indy comes equipped with his revolver, a canteen of water for health replenishment, and of course, his trusty bullwhip. During the game, Indy will gain access to a number of other items, including a variety of weapons ranging from German machine guns, to a crossbow, to a variety of blade weapons. I must admit, though, that whenever I was up against only one or two bad guys, I found much more fun in just wading in with my fists, or else breaking furniture and beating the bad guys senseless with a table leg or breaking a liquor bottle over their heads. Indy has a number of different fighting moves, so fighting enemies never gets monotonous.

There are many puzzles to be solved in order to advance in the game. Some of them involve finding an item to open a secret door, others involve distracting a large, nasty monster so that Indy can quickly get across a dangerous area to safety, others require Indy to have a key item in his posession so he can view invisible obstacles, etc, etc... The action-based levels don't disappoint, either. Whether you are fighting off reanimated statues, dodging flamethrower-wielding Nazi soldiers, or perched atop a Chinese mountain gondola car, trying to shoot down German fighter planes intent on your demise, there is always something new to defeat. I found that the various levels of the game did an excellent job of presenting new challenges, and the action never felt stale.

Having said all this, why 4 stars and not 5? Well, there were a few things which detracted a bit from the gameplay. One was a few graphical glitches, such as an object that is visible from one angle would suddenly disappear when Indy moved. This didn't hurt the gameplay, but it was distracting nonetheless. A more serious problem was the fact that the game crashed a number of times during play, including twice while I was fighting the final boss. There were a few other minor bugs, although nothing too serious, at least as far as I encountered. I get the feeling that maybe they should have tested the game a bit more before releasing it. Also, the graphics themselves just seemed a bit dated and primitive for the PS2. At times, I almost felt like I was playing a very advanced Nintendo 64 title.

Even though the graphics were a bit flawed, I have always felt that graphics mean little if the gameplay itself is worthy. This title has plenty and more of great gameplay value. If you can get past what few flaws there are in the game, then this game will deliver many hours of enjoyable playtime. Highly recommended for all Indy fans and anyone else who enjoys heavy doses of action and puzzle-solving.

Stop what you are doing and buy Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb RIGHT NOW! It is a must buy, maybe even a keeper (we'll have to wait and see how it finishes up). The graphics are an A, the music is an A, the punches and revolver action is an A+, the story so far is good, just like a movie script, but I will wait on giving it a rating, the voice acting for Prof. Jones is an A+ (at first I thought it was really Harrison Ford, but it's not, that's how good it is!), great interaction with the environments (you can smash a chair or table and use it to fight bad guys (so even if you are low on bullets, you can find weapons to use in each room), and the missions are just the right amount of hard (I have it on normal) with good use of save points. I held off on getting Tomb Raider and reserved Indiana Jones instead and it was well worth the wait. So far, I have to put this in my top 10 games of all time and I've only just started it.

According to the Indiana Jones timeline, INDIANA JONES AND THE EMPEROR'S TOMB takes place immediately prior to the events in the movie INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. If you play the movie to it's conclusion, it fits the pieces together well. I'm not really a gamer, but have played more video games in the last few years than any other time in my life except when I was growing up with an Atari. I'm also a fan of Indiana Jones.

With that said, I really enjoyed playing this game. It wasn't terribly difficult, but there were quests in the game that were challenging to complete. The graphics acted up every now and again and didn't appear as defined as they probably could have, but I didn't have any major problems playing the game.

The game's story line goes something like this: Indy is approached by an Asia man who wants to hire him to find an item called the Dragon's Heart that is located in the lost tomb of the first emperor of China. The Nazis are looking for the item, too and mysterious employer wants Indy to find it first. Unbeknownst to Indy, this man from Asia is really in cahoots with the Nazis. Of course, Indy eventually learns of the plot is helped throughout the game by a ninja lady named Mei Ying. Indy travels from the jungles of Ceylon to Prague to Istanbul and finally to China. Along the way you get to fight and kill a ton of bad guys from ivory traders to Nazis to demon-possessed Chinamen; shoot fighter planes from the top of a gondola; spear a giant octopus; and tangle with a Frankenstein-type monster. All for fortune and glory, baby.

In the course of beating the game if you are successful in collecting all 30 artifacts (there are 3 in each level & you can go back and replay a level to collect them later if you wish) you will unlock an art gallery that displays all kinds of concept photos, sketches, and designs. Just by viewing these pictures you can get an idea of the development process because there are several sketches or photos (whole levels) that can be seen which aren't a part of the game. Besides these missing elements it is also rumored that the character of Abner Ravenwood (Marion Ravenwood's father) was to have been in the game, as well as a boat chase level.

First of all this isn't that bad of a game but it's not worth $49, $39 or even $29. If you can find it for $20 or less (perferably less) then it's worth getting. The voice acting is good, despite the slight fuzziness the graphics have at times and no random saves the game is good, especially the story line, almost just like the movies. The main reason I give this game a 3 is because of the Kraken (not the Kraken from the Clash of the Titans movie), is a pain in the A.. literally, I tried to beat him for an hour and gave up, maybe after awhile I'll go back to the game but I'm not in a hurry. The Gates of Neptune level is pretty annoying too, the concept is cool but it can be frustrating. I recommend a strategy guide for this, especially if you're not that good at solving puzzles. If you're a fan of the Indiana Jones series, this is worth having just for that.

This is a great game. If you like Indiana Jones as much as I do, (not possible, but you can try), or just like a game with a really good story and deeply immersing plot, this is your game. Gameplay is excellent, with the controls easy to master, and challenges that are tough but not impossible. This game does live up to the Indiana Jones name. Voice-acting is pretty good. If you have ears like mine for the tones of people's voices, you'll know it isn't Harrison Ford's voice, but a near-perfect wannabe. Character rendering is nice, and the graphics are very good. This is a platform game as well as action, so be prepared to jump, run, and dodge traps with your quick reflexes. And action and fighting is good too. Punch, kick, beat mercilessly, and shoot your way through hoards of ... criminals using fists, tools, and even things you break, like table legs. Use a variety of weapons (MP40, Revolver, Luger, and even your trusty whip to lay the Indy Smackdown and beat the game. This is one I highly reccomend.

I like to start with the bad and then move on to the good.
The levels can be tricky to navigate and you may waste a good deal of time trying to figure out how to proceed. The game has a slow start in that you do not get to fight a whole lot for a while. Being that the game is about the "action-hero" Indiana Jones, I would have included a lot more fighting and a lot less figuring out the path. Bullets ( of which there are not enough)don't seem to put men down fast enough and the whip is almost entirely useless against humans.
That aside, the fist fighting is a whole lot of fun(even without slow-motion punches and kicks!). The learning curve of the controls is fairly easy and the graphics are not bad at all. Being that I have only played through the first 4 or 5 levels, I hope the pace of the game picks up. If it does I'll stick with a rating of four stars. If not I would give it three stars. I would recommend that you rent first.

When I was a little boy I wanted to be an adventurer like shown on the Indiana Jones movies, finialy they have made the next best thing. I like the fist fights, and the wip, those are things Laura Croft doesn't offer. I prefur the adventerous looking man to the sexy woman (in a danjorus journey). I think that the fact that the Indiana Jones movie trilogy; being so successfil decades before Larua Croft raided her first tomb cemented Indiana Jones's place as the premire adventurer/archelogist. It also helps that this game could be Indy's fourth major adventure.

I know what you're thinking: "Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones?" I tested both, and can easily and confidently assure to you that THIS is the one to buy: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb.
Why? Because this is Indy's WORLD. Jungles? Tombs? Gruffy bad guys? WHY on earth is LARA CROFT in this world? This is the type of game that hands down the only one worthy of such adventures is Indiana Jones.
Indy tops the new Tomb Raider game. Gameplay: Much better. In Tomb Raider you slowly meek your way along a wall, an alley, a tiny room in an APARTMENT?? Call it "Apartment Raider" if that's what you're gonna be doing. In Indy, you're in the Jungle, jumping around, kicking bad-guy but, climbing vines, using your whip, exploring TOMBS, etc. In Indy, run up to a bad guy and duke it out Indy-style. Very cool. No stupid weapons here, just trusty sidearms, a machette, and of course the WHIP.
Music: Uses the Indy theme! Music amps up when you encounter bad guys. Cool.
Levels aren't too big in Indy's game, but I like that - quickly make headway in the game instead of moping around Lara's world.
Choose wisely. Choose Indy.

If you have any hesitation as to how good or bad this game is, I will simply say that this game is the best Indiana Jones game ever. All of the classics are here: the whip, adventure hat, and all the creepy-looking baddies you could want. After you play it, you will be wishing the new movie would come out right now.

"Indiana Jones and the Emporer's Tomb" is a great game for the PlayStation 2. The action is challenging and the story interesting.

Playing the game, you actually feel like John Williams is conducting the London Symphany Orchestra with every move you make. The music is second to none in video games.

The action is very good as well. Though it takes the action several steps forward in regards to weapons, it is necessary for the games development. The final scenes are very tough.

Every gamer who is a true Indiana Jones fan needs to have this game in their library.