Unlike Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, where chocolate and peanut butter go great together, video games and popular movie franchises rarely combine to make something good. Perhaps it is the addition of one more ingredient, LEGOs, but the LEGO series of video games based off of Star Wars, Batman, and Indiana Jones continue to prove popular both with gamers and critics. The newest release is a revisit to Indiana Jones. While it might not be the best game of the series so far, it is more than enough of a game to recommend highly for fans of exploration games with enough puzzles to interest older gamers and gameplay safe enough for anyone in your family.

The LEGO franchise continues in Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. This platform game consists of several different acts, where you explore with one or more characters, trying to make it through a given level. Each of the first three movies are covered in a single act, while the fourth movie is explored over the course of several parts and contains roughly half of the gameplay. While the levels are fun to play and entertaining, discerning fans of Indiana Jones may find the very brief (and somewhat scattered) levels provided for the first three movies disappointing. As is usual, the game takes liberties with minor points in the plots of the movies in order to poke fun at both itself as well as the movies. This is typically welcome and makes the cut scenes quite entertaining to watch. However, there are a few (most notably several giant “boss” monsters that need to be fought at the end of some of the levels) scenes that are completely made up in order to create a more standard video game feel. They’re not bad, but this game diverges from the source material more than most of the previous titles in the LEGO series.

There are only minor changes to the way the game plays (I only have experience with the Wii version). Explore an area, break everything you can, and then pickup the LEGO pieces in order to save up and spend them later. Rather than have a central store to spend your collected LEGO bits, players will come across unlockable content as they explore in the game. Spend your stored up cash and you can unlock items, vehicles, as well as some characters. Most characters become playable once they’ve been defeated in combat. As in previous versions, each playable character as special attributes, which can often help you solve puzzles to access otherwise hard to get to areas. Some characters, such as Indy, have a new move or two that weren’t in previous games. Indiana’s whip has been improved in particular. Rather than positioning the character just right to use the whip, you can just hold down the whip button, point to the screen using the Wiimote and target. Indy can also use his whip to latch on to some bad guys and drag them around the screen.

The game is typically played with two characters onscreen (a second player can hop in and out of the game quickly, and the AI is a bit better than before if you’re playing solo.) Rather than being forced to play on the same screen, if the two characters separate too far, the screen divides into an upper and lower triangle to let players go as far afield as they wish. There are even plans to include multiplayer online play (which is NOT included in the game at present) in a future online download for the Xbox 360 and PS3 (yes, the Wii gets left in the cold).

While the two-player mode does seem to control well, the weakest part of the game is probably the vehicle driving. Vehicle levels are often tricky, primarily due to somewhat difficult controls. There are vehicle scenes in most major series of acts, so it comes up often enough to be annoying but not so frequently as to spoil the entire game. I was also disappointed in the level design. Past games in the series have many, many hidden surprises in each level that could only be reached by returning with newly unlocked characters with new special powers. While I love some of the puzzles included in the first play through the game (your characters can pick up spears to throw them into a wall to climb, bottles to toss water on fire to put it out, etc…) nearly all a level can be explored the first time through. In some ways, this makes the game easier since you don’t have to worry if any given bit onscreen is something that is only accessible later, but it also means the game has a bit less replay value than past ones in the series.

The final big news in the game is the level designer. Yes, you can put together your own levels and then play through them with a friend. Items you find in the main game get unlocked and can then also be used in the builder to spice up some of the more basic items that come with the builder. This is a pretty neat feature, but it is almost inexcusable that there is no way for players to share their built levels. If you want to play your friend’s level, you have to go over to his house to try it out.

LEGO Indiana Jones 2 has some nice additions, and a few less than stellar ones, but remains a very fun, quality game. The many puzzles make it practically an educational title with some great gameplay. The LEGO theme keeps everything family-friendly and the title keeps the series’ traditional tongue-in-cheek treatment of the source material. Fans of the LEGO series and anyone looking for a nice family-friendly platform game should definitely check it out.

Kid Factor:
The game is a great example of what can be done to be entertaining for younger and older gamers. Some of the puzzle elements and boss battles might be a bit tricky for the younger set (and older set, if you overlook a needed special attack during boss battles. The two-player mode is great for older and younger pairings since an older gamer can help solve puzzles and take care of tricky combat situations. The split screen mode is great for individual exploring, but it also means it is a bit harder to “drag” another player along as you explore. Gamers who have limited time to play (such as harried parents or kids on restricted gaming allowances) may find the save game features frustrating. I would have liked to see more options to save the game as you play, as there were some levels that were quite long (approaching an hour to complete the first time through) and did not provide an option to save the game and quit until the level was completed.

Tags: Game Reviews