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

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

• CD-ROM (March 25, 2023)
• ASIN: B00006IR4T
• Average Customer Review: Based on 59 reviews.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: 1171

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Quite good but did not go up to my expectations, Sep 28, 2023
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine was no doubt a very good game. The puzzles and level design were ingenious. If there were any complaints, it was that some of the levels were too long and the action was clumsy. Despite having a totally unbelievable plot (ancient mechanical machines from ethereal beings?), it was still interesting.

So then comes Emperor's Tomb. Unfortunately, lucasarts took what was good in the previous game and made it worse. The puzzles aren't really much of a brainteaser. Most people who were challenged with the Infernal Machine puzzles will find the ones here bland and kinda 'dumb'. In conclusion, this game was emphasized to be more action oriented. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if the controls weren't so horrible. It is virtually impossible to position Indy the way you'd like him to be without the camera angles and controls messing you up repeatedly. You have no idea how frustrating it can be to jump off a ledge just to grab a piece of dangling rope. You'll position Indy just perfect for the jump when he all of a sudden changes direction slightly and totally misses the rope. What's even worse is that there is no quicksave feature either; you must complete a level without dying. So basically, if you work hard through a difficult level and accidently fall off a terrace while approaching an exit then yep, you gotta start the whole level over again. This is probably what ticks off a lot of players.

I wish game companies would finally get the point that the save features in games are what really matter to people. Most games with awful save features wind up getting extremely bad reviews.

The game seems too tv-console oriented. These days, just about every game has been watered-down for ease on consoles. Ironically, the PC version of Emperor's Tomb beats the X-box or PS2 version with technical/graphical improvements.

But despite its flaws, the fighting sequences are thrilling. I've never gotten so much satisfaction beating the crap out of people with the classic overblown hollywood punches, guns, and of course the mighty whip. The game also stays closer to the movies and has a far more believable plot.

In the end this is still probably one of the better games to have come out in 2003. If you can stomach the problems, then you'll enjoy this game.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

LeapFrog, Aug 22, 2023
Two thumbs up! Greatest game ever! You should really get this game!
It has amazing graphics! Plus you can play in places such as Ceylon, Prague, Turkey, and Hong Kong, plus this game is way better than the NBA live and Madden Football series. If you get this game I guarentee you will love it!

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Lots of Fun mixed with Lots of Glitches, Aug 14, 2023
For fans of both the Indiana Jones films and avid video game players, the arrival of Indiana Jones and the Emerors Tomb was the event they had been waiting for a LONG time. Well the wait was finally over and we got a game that was a lot of fun but was unfortunately plagued with a LOT of glitces. The term "Cut Scenes" take on a whole new meaning here as many of them abruptly end before characters have even finished talking and many times do not feel smoothly integrated into the play levels. The play levels themselves can be a lot of fun though, with lots of punching, ducking, rolling, swinging, whipping, shooting, and just about everything else you'd expect from an Indiana Jones adventure. But the really cool thing about this game is that it really breaks beyond the usual third person adventure game doldrums (those produce by repetative and redundant running, jumping, shooting, etc.) by really giving you a variety of action throughout the levels that really keeps things interesting. For example, after a level of running and shooting you might go into a level that is played entirely swimming in and under water. Or you might go from an action level into a more puzzle-solving style portion of the game. Some of the funnest or the "trap" level where Indy will fall through a trap door or get stuck in a giant booby-trap from which you must escape by thinking very quickly and being fast on your feet (or thumbs in this case). Lots of fun and very reminicent of the movies.
The down side to this game are the glitches. You will ocasionally get stuck in a corner from which you cant escape (especially in some of the underwater areas) and some of the controls can be a little frustrating but in all fairness these are problems that seam to apply to most games.
As far as the story goes, it's pretty cool and feels like an Indiana Jones movie up until about half way through(lots of arab, asian, and eoropean locations and villains) but at that point the game becomes increasingly more unrealistic with demon creatures, statues coming to life and flying wizards. It would have been cooler if they kept it a little closer to the movies where most of the elements are a little more realistic with just a bit of the supernatural thrown in here and there. But then, this is a video game so it's understandable and the game is still fun to play.
One more small complaint, the voice actore who does Indys voice is not a very good match for Harrison Ford. I'v noticed other reviewers comment on how much he sounds like him and I will admit there are times when he sound very close but there are other times, especially during the cut scenes were you can really tell it's not him. Just a minor gripe but it would have been cool if the guy sounded more like him.
But this really is a fun game over all. If you like third person adventure games you will not have waisted your money if you pick this up. I just wish the company that made this game would do a sequel and iron out the glitches that kept this game from being the ultimate Indiana Jones game experience. Come on Collective! Get crackin' on that new game!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Indiana Mania, Jun 1, 2023
I think that rhis game is exellent! The game plays perfectly and it is so fun!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Better than most of today's games, May 4, 2023
When I played this game on PS2, I have to say, it's probably the first good game I've played since the first Zelda game for N64. I'll admit that certain levels are too hard while others are too easy, but I thought this was a good game. They created a story for it that reminds you of the movies, and Indiana actually looks and sounds like Harisson Ford. I never really see games anymore that have good graphics AND are good games. Don't get me wrong, I love how far video game graphics have come, but ever since they started making games with these great graphics, they've hardly cared at all about the game itself. They just put together a bunch of realistic 3D graphics, slap it all together and call it a game. Most games today are so hard that they're practically impossible, or they're easy enough for a 2-year-old to get through. This game is in-between those. It's not really easy, but it's not impossible. Compared to most video games today that are based on great movies, this one is rather good.

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