Customer Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Like most of you, I was excited to hear they were making a new Indy game... The Infernal Machine was pretty cool, though Indy was a bit stiff... But, it was still pretty cool and a lot of fun. Well, I hate to rain on your parade... The Graphics in this game are exquisite. Really. Beautiful. What kills this game, is two things that are critical; No saves and terrible controls! If you buy the game, you'll see what I mean. Indy moves incredibly fast, way TOO fast, making you slip over edges and falling to your doom. The camera angles make seeing what he's doing very difficult. I've played the game for over 4 hours tonight and finally quit in a rage... I get so angry because he's so difficult to control and, if you get killed, you have to start all over again and again and again... It's the same feature that ruined Hitman 47 and IGI (the originals)... Sure, it's fun for awhile. But repeating over and over and over again gets real old, real fast. On the positive side, Indy can fight. That's pretty cool, except that he often ends up with his back to the enemy and my neighbors have heard me screaming at him to "TURN AROUND!!!" And he doesn't always jump or punch when you hit the button! Controls are terrible. And just wait till you try to switch weapons in the heat of battle! You literally have to stop what you're doing when he runs out of bullets and you decide to use another weapon! And, sometimes, as the Nazi's are approaching, he fires off at a wall rather than focusing on the enemy! Try moving him or turning him around when he's in a tight spot on a dropoff and you'll see what I mean. You can't see him because of the camera angles and he moves so damned fast that it's way too easy to accidentally slip off the edge! And, in several scenes, he uses a machine gun to fire at planes or enemy troops. The movement is controlled by the mouse and it's very difficult to take aim because at those times, Indy's aim seems to "stick"... The game is easy to love due to graphics, but much easier to hate because of the sloppy contols, camera angles and lack of save game features. Why did they omit the save game feature when it was perfect in Infernal Machine? Had they spent more time fine tuning Indy's moves, camera controls and had saves like in Infernal Machine, this could've been an excellent game... I loved IGI and Hitman when they first came out, but it didn't take long to learn to hate the games because you couldn't save... I'm afraid I have to add this game to that category. Because, as it is, it's a big, big, big disappointment...

Having read some of the neagtive reviews here, I can completely agree with a lot of the complaints. Firstly the game does freeze at certain points for no reason - although I'm highly relieved that it's not my Xbox, this can be very frustrating when you are nearly finished a level and have to start all over again. The save feature is awful - you are forced to finish the level no matter what - or start again - not tempting.
However, overall I have found the game to be exciting, fun, a bit scarey (lots of real heart pounding moments), with great graphics and a really good story line. I'm not a huge game player, and tend to get bored easily, but this game really holds your interest right through. I would highly recommend to players who love Indy (and what kind of person doesn't???), players who like action games, and those that maybe are not as concerned with the bugs as having a fun time playing their Xbox - no disrespect to the other reviewers - I merely meant people like me who aren't too fussy!

Lets start with the good. Graphics are good, sound is good. Use of the whip, high point. Great use of the Indiana Jones license. Now to the bad. Buggy, buggy and then more bugs. Sometimes the game locks up for no reason. When this happens you have to quit and start the level over. Not good when you consider some of the levels are unnecessarily difficult because of grueling platform jumping. The jerky controls. See previous sentence. SLOWDOWNS!! If there is more than three enemies on screen prepare for some slowdowns.(even the music gets messed up) These are just some of the problems that I have encountered with this game. (I wont even begin to talk about some camera issues.) All things being what they are, this is probably the best Indiana Jones game ever made. While thats not saying a whole lot, hopefully these issues will be corrected in the sequel.(if there is one) They also need to put in a few save points in the levels. Buy this game if your really into Tomb Raider style gameplay or you're jonesing(pardon the pun) for a new XBOX tilte.

I bought this game the minute it came out, based on a small blurb in X-Box magazine and a preview movie seen on a demo disc. I cannot praise this game enough. If you are a fan of Indiana Jones you will dig this game. The levels are challenging and I find my palms sweating as I complete each level. The tension is high and situations pretty scary at times. The game automatically saves at certain points making it an even greater challange than if you had the freedom to save each time you jump to a precarious ledge or swing on chains high in the air. The gameplay is easy and the graphics are beautiful. The variety of weapons Indy gets to use are very satisfying as well. The hand to hand combat is fun to watch and raining blows down upon your opponents is a riot. There are puzzles to figure out as well so the game is not just continuous action scenes. If you are even considering buying this game, don't waste your time, just buy it!

Although I am a huge Indy fan of the movies and of the Infernal Machine game, this game is terrible!!!. The only good thing I have to say about this game is the graphics are great, nice textures, great 3D graphics, and nice intriguing environments from what little I saw. Honestly, I quit this game after the third level because I had to play them over and over so many times. NOTE: THERE IS NO IN GAME SAVING on this thing. Which means if you slip and fall while exiting into a new level you almost have to start the level all over again. This would happen in real life of course but this is a game, After working so hard to get through a level and the end joy would be to start the level over?? that's crazy!!! If you want a good indy game and haven't tried it, get The Infernal Machine.. Also the controls on this game are terrible, very cumbersome.

Then this game deserves much credit in it's making. In Indiana Jones and the Emporers Tomb, there will seldomly be a part in the game where you will feel bored, the puzzles are often fresh and various, the evil villains make for a nice gunfight or fistfight and the plot, hands down made me stand up and cheer when I had finally beaten it. The only drawback.....I WANT MORE.

To get it out of the way, no, you can't save mid-level, it does bite, you will have to constantly replay missions, it's no good, and we should burn this game in effigy . . .

Wait.

While the lack of saving is not the best thing on the planet, this game's pretty cool. I don't know, maybe I've got low standards or something, but this pretty much captures the essence of the movies, or at least, it did for me, and I think that's all it was supposed to do. It's a Saturday-matinee, popcorn-flick kinda game.

And just like with those kinds of movies, this is at least worth a rent.