Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings has been on my radar for a while now - it's a real, honest-to-goodness Indy game. the first in almost Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb in 2003. I've put in about 45 minutes, to get through the first level of the main game, as well as the opening to Fate of Atlantis.

Graphics:

The game actually looks pretty good. Some very nice landscapes and scenery really stand out to sell the game. The character models are OK... but it would've been nice to see a little more detail overall. The animations are well-done, outside of the occasional hiccup in transition to certain sequences. On the whole, it looks like a late-generation PS2 game... emphasis on late generation. That's definitely not a bad thing, considering how much people complain about the visuals.

Sound:

LucasArts went above and beyond on this end. The game sports a John Williams soundtrack ripped straight from the movies, and an actor for indy that sounds eerily like Harrison Ford. The rest of the acting and sound effects are spot on.

Gameplay:

The biggest point of contention so far... and they're not bad. This is the first game I've seen that uses the LiveMove technology, and it works pretty well. The game doesn't really punish you for inaccurate motions, most of the time. The worst I've experienced so far is an uppercut coming out as a jab, or vice versa. Nothing to cry over, since you're stil getting the freakin' punch... unlike some games (Escape From Bug Island, I'm looking at you!). Whip play is simple and it really feels intuitive.

The first level involves flying a biplane at the end of the stage and, really... it's almost perfect. You hold the Wiimote straight up in the palm of your hand and use it like a flight stick. It takes some getting used to (there is no resistance so it's easy to oversteer), but it's definitely workable and well-implemented.

Fate of Atlantis controls exactly as one would expect - point, click, boom. Nothing to really mention there, otherwise.

Plot:

To be short and simple - this is more of an Indiana Jones story than the last movie. Set shortly after Last Crusade, it puts Indy in 1939, just before the start of WWII. I haven't seen MUCH of the plot yet, but it looks like a rival of Dr. Jones is out to do him in this time. Oh, yes... there's also Nazis.

Anyway, I'm definitely happy with this right now. LucasArts made a quality game that got crapped on due to the platform. It's a shame, really. At the now-universal price of $19.99, there seems to be no reason to pass the game up... Fate of Atlantis alone is worth that much.