Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb

by LucasArts

Product Features

• It is 1935, and Indy must race against both the Nazis and the Asian crime syndicates to possess the legendary Heart Of The Dragon
• Travel with Indy from the jungles of Ceylon to the underwater palaces of Istanbul to the violent streets of Hong Kong
• With help from his beautiful partner Mei Ying, he'll use his whip and gun to avoid traps and survive street brawls & martial artist wars
• Leap, swim, climb and punch your way through exotic locales as you survive an adventure just like the movies!

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00006ZLP8
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 24, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,147 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: Xbox

Amazon.com Review

"If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones." So says the Temple of Doom movie poster, and--Lara Croft notwithstanding--Indiana Jones is still synonymous with glory, romance, treasure, and adventure. Previous Indiana Jones games were produced by the graphic-adventure game masters at LucasArts. This latest installment is an action-oriented romp made by the Collective, the same development house that produced the critically acclaimed Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Xbox. The Buffy game engine is a good fit for Indy, as he travels the world on a quest to prevent the discovery of an ancient Chinese secret that could spell the end of creation itself.

Such a quest should be easy for an adventurer like Indy, and with game controls that are as well laid out as these, it is easy. Indy can run, jump, shimmy up ropes, swing with his whip, and duke it out with nasty villains. True to the movies, Indy also has to navigate an almost constant stream of deathtraps. Caves full of traps, ruins full of traps, medieval castles filled with traps, and guess what you find in China, yes, more traps. It gets repetitive, but the game has some clever tricks in its floppy hat. For example, skulls make noise, so Indy can toss a few and watch crocodiles target them instead of him.

Indy can execute quick punch combinations to knock his foes out, or he can pick up weapons such as a chair, plank of wood, machete, or firearm. His famous whip can be used to disarm foes. The only problem is the camera, which is difficult to keep in the right position--you have complete control of it, but it's hard to manage a camera while you're fighting a martial arts expert, a Nazi with a gun, or a poacher keen on decapitating Indy.

The graphics are good, pleasantly reminding you of some of the movies' more memorable locales. The in-game Indy mug looks like Harrison Ford down to the chin scar. Other nice touches include how Indy has to actually pick up his hat if it falls off during a fight, and the little '30s plane flying over the aged and weathered world map. The music is pure John Williams, and the voice work is handled by convincing imitators. The guy they got for Indy, in particular, sounds a lot like Ford himself. Sadly no other movie characters of note appear in the game. (I was looking for John Rhys-Davies at least, because he seems to be in every video game that comes out.)

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb does right by its license and provides hours of entertainment for anyone who's ever wanted to relive the movies starring the most exciting adventurer alive. Lara Croft, eat your heart out because if gaming adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• True to the films
• Great graphics and fight controls
• Good voice acting

Cons:

• Too many trap sequences
• Camera problems common to third-person action games

Product Description

In Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, you go on a globe-spanning adventure to prevent an ancient artifact from falling into the wrong hands!

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From the OXM demo, February 7, 2003

By 

James Hebenstreit "jamesheben" (Reston, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (Video Game)

I've always liked Indiana Jones. Last Crusade was my favorite movie of the trilogy. As such, I have a fairly high bar for any game that is a spin off of such a fine story.
So far, I like what i'm seeing.
The actual game centers around the same theme of the Indy movies; find something before the bad guys do. Of course, Indy has his beautiful local love interest, evil nazis, and supernatual traps and beings to overcome. This game takes place in and around China, circa 1930's.
The demo starts with Indy exploring some ancient ruin. (Does it really matter what/where it is? Not so long as it's packed with death traps!) As demo's go, this is a very good one. It doesn't plop u down on level 2 of the game (I hope) and tell u to have at it. It's a step by step instructional demo walking you through the basic controlls and fell of the game.
Graphically, this game's very good looking. At one point, there are some birds just hanging out until u come along a scare them off. I mention this because it gives hope that the programmers have taken their time and added detail such as this to make the game just that much deeper.
Sound wise, i was very pleased. the bad guys interact with each other, u have the standard "jungle noises" in the backround, Indy sounds gruff but lovable.
The biggest drawbacks are what worry me. Namely, the camera. This is a 3rd person view game, meaning you only see about 170 degrees of what's happening. this would be fine, except the camera is not fond of being behind the charactor. Which goes hand-in-hand with my next problem. Combat, being a very normal occurance, is difficult. The low camera makes it difficult to judge distances, and since you are almost always swinging the angle around anyways, your right thumb is not on any action buttons. U can't see what you're fighting over half the time. One quick side note about what I love in this game is that Indy's hat can get knocked off in combat. It's surprisingly cinematic to take a pounding from a shotgun-weilding ivory hunter, then walk back a pick up your hat after dealing with him.
The last issue I have is the lack of any puzzles. Indy isn't all about fistcuffs, but the demo didn't go there. It was fairly linear, very little thinking except how to get from Point A to Point B, which was actually kinda fun. The demo did a pretty good job designing a ruined city. Nothing really felt like it didn't belong once hundreds of years ago.
Overall, this game has great potential. A solid 3 stars if they fix the camera, not that that means much. A 4 if they get some good puzzles. (Where's the people who made Myst when u need them?)
However, I'm going to have to say that this games is shaping up to be better on a PC then a console, just because the developers want to cram so much into so few buttons. Indy fans will probably be pleased, the rest of u might want to rent it first.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If adventure has a name..., September 9, 2004

By 

Victor R. Perry (New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (Video Game)

Looking a good, awesome Xbox adventure without over-excessive violence? Want to play levels across the globe, from Ceylon, Prauge to Hong Kong? Indinana Jones fan? Or are you looking for a challenge in your games?
You came to the right place.
Starting off in Ceylon, Indy is after another piece of treasure. This is where you start the game. After finally getting this special artifact, you're met by two chinese: one, may ying, gradually becomes your beautiful partner. The other is a man who tells Indy of the legend of the Heart of the Dragon: a black pearl that can bring awesome power to the one who holds it. And naturally, the Nazis are after it.
First, you get to battle a wide varitey of enimies: Ivory Hunters in Ceylon, Nazis everywhere, Chinese guardsmen, supernatural beings, and way more.
Secondly, the graphics are awesome. Ever wanted to see the castle of Prague? God, it's gorgeous. Istanbul? Beautiful. How 'bout a chinese fortress up in the mountains?
Third, this game is worth the money. I'm a "beginner" at video games, but I was still able to beat this one. It can get rough at times, but trust: the sheer number of levels makes this a worthy challenge. There's also varitey: One moment you're beating up more Nazis, the next you're shooting down planes.
Fourth: The sound is great. The plucked the original soundtrack from the movies and incorporated into this game. And Indy really sounds like Harrison Ford! Plus for Indy fans!
There are only a few problems:
-Story is a bit weak. Sometimes the guys can be fun, but others it's a bore. Still, it's more gameplay than cutscenes, so it's a minor problem.
-The "enemies" have stupid voices. There's one Nazi that really looks ugly.
-Like I said, this game gets hard: And frustrating. Often. If you don't have patience, you won't get through this game. The guys get tougher to beat as you go on. It gets especially hard when you reach the last levels.

Closing comments:
Definetly worth it. This is one awesome game that will challenge you and provide you with one great game experience. It's rated teen, but don't be fooled. Sure it has machine guns and Indy's whip...but it dosen't have blood or extreme violence. Anyway, this is one great game.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All shall be pleased with this game, March 23, 2003

By 

Hossmann "The Mann" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (Video Game)

actually a suprise that I rented the game, thanks to Xbox magazine and the demo i played on the disk, I had no doubts when i rented this game.

Pros: 1. It's Indiana Jones! AGAIN!

2. a mass array of weapons to choose from

3. fight Chinese, Turks, and, of course, NAZIS!

4. a good problem solving game

5. an Indiana Jones type of plot

6. superb acting

7. Suprisingly addictive

8. and yes, an excellent music score

Cons: 1. Save Points poorly placed

2. killing people can be tedious later in the game (dont even think about killing people with the whip.)

3. Challenges can be confusing to younger gamers.

Final Verdict: I order you to rent this game! Avid fans, casual fans, or people who dont even know who played Indy Jones in the movies will be entertianed. if an Indy addict or an archaeologist, Buy it Immediately!

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