Warning: Fanboy alert!
I’m ridiculously optimistic about the upcoming Indiana Jones And The Staff Of Kings for Wii. Even though the trailer revealed last week was just CGI, and wasn’t indicative of gameplay, I already knew I’d be buying this on day one. With the first details revealed a couple of days ago, my anticipation is mounting. There is, however, a fear of betrayal – more on that in a bit.
First of all, I’m glad it’s a proper 3D Indy outing. A colleague told me he’d actually seen this game behind closed doors a couple of E3s ago and it has been presented as a 2D brawler. When I watched the trailer again, I noticed that Herr Jones never actually strays from a 2D plane – he spends the whole trailer running from left to right or (for a change of pace) right to left. So I began to worry.
Fortunately, this seems to have been rectified as the first wave of screenshots show 3D environments that look perfectly suited to Indy’s escapades: jungles, mountains, deserts and crumbling temples – all his usual holiday spots. The character’s look a little shabby, for sure, but I’m faithful that my dilapidated telly will solve that – all Wii games look better on my TV than they do on the Internet because it is so shabby.
Once you get past the admittedly ugly visuals (there’s still time for a bit of polish, LucasArts – get to it!), things really begin to take shape and the Indiana Jones checklist is gradually filled in:
- And then the Christian God will fall…
Everyone knows the best Indiana Jones films/books/etc were the ones focused on religious artefacts, particularly those of Christianity. Oh, sure, the Sankura Stones were suitably exotic, but they didn’t quite have the widespread appeal and inherent mysticism of the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail.
Sure enough, Indy is on the trail of another Christian artefact: The Staff Of Moses. Presumably the one that split the Red Sea in two and brought about the Ten Plagues, making it an item that well and truly belongs in a museum, rather than the hands of some nefarious German dictator. And so far, no aliens in sight…
- Nazis! I hate these guys…
But it wouldn’t be Indiana Jones without them. Even Lucas and Spielberg recognised the need to pit Indy against uniformed officers of a dangerous military force in Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, bringing Russian soldiers into the picture that looked comfortably reminiscent of the Nazi troopers. Who cares about political correctness? We want to barney with the folks from the Fatherland! Which leads me nicely onto…
- And zis is how ve say goodbye in Germany, Dr Jones…
Combat. With the exception of the occasional Wild West-style shoot-out, the action in the Jones trilogy (yes, that’s trilogy. Three films only) tends to focus on proper bar-room brawling. EA has already hit the mark with the combat system in James Bond titles Everything Or Nothing and From Russia With Love, not to mention the Wii edition of The Godfather, so there’s no reason LucasArts can’t follow suit. From the reports that have emerged, it sounds like Staff Of Kings will have a similar system based on Wii Remote gestures. Speaking of which…
- Throw me the idol, I’ll throw you the whip…
Having Indiana Jones without his trusty bullwhip is like having Bond without his Walther, Skywalker without his lightsaber, Kryten without his groinal attachment. The whip will obviously be key to the game, both in terms of combat and interacting with the environment, whether it’s pulling objects down upon unsuspecting Nazi heads or activating an ancient booby trap mechanic. It’ll be activated by the Wii Remote, naturally, and will probably work similarly to Ms Croft’s shameless rip-off, the grapple hook, from Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Which, coincidentally, worked rather well.
Shaping up nicely, isn’t it? And that’s without the extras…
They have them, in the belly of that steel beast…
While vehicles such as planes and tanks will appear throughout the main campaign, the interesting part is that they have been used to form a multiplayer mode. Reportedly, up to four players will be able to engage in vehicular deathmatches – now this will either be an entertaining distraction from the main game or a pile of utterly deplorable garbage. It doesn’t matter – you don’t have to play it, after all. It’s just nice of Lucasarts to make the effort.
I’m allowing you to tag along…
I’m sorry? Hastily tacked on deathmatch mode not enough for you? Well, how about a full co-operative campaign then? Yeah. Thought so.
This should be brilliant. There aren’t enough decent co-op games these days, especially on Wii, so the ability to have a friend join you on Indy’s journey should promise to rectify this. After all, he’s always joined by a friend or two, be it Sallah, Short Round or Satipo. Reports suggest that a character that has never been playable from the Indy universe will be the companion for this mode – I’m guessing they’re excluding Lego Indiana Jones, since everyone was playable in that one!
I’m selling these fine leather jackets…
This is the cherry on the icing on the cake of deliciousness. Indiana Jones And The Staff Of Kings will include, as an unlockable extra, the SCUMM-driven, highly acclaimed Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis.
And with that lengthy sentence, you’ve all run out of reasons not to buy this.
* * *
Now I mentioned the fear of betryal. Those who know me will remember I recently had my hopes shattered by another action hero, the one man I idolise more than Dr Jones. Given the slight shoddyness to this first batch of screenshots, the suspiciously late announcement of Staff Of Kings (three to five months before the game’s US release) and the apparent inability of the games industry to utilise licenses properly, I realise this game may just be another knife to the heart.
Please don’t let it be so, LucasArts. Don’t rid me of another hero.
Tags: ds, indiana jones, indiana jones and the staff of kings, james, lucasarts, Preview, wii