Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings Review

December 20, 2022

The history of the Indiana Jones titles on the video game market is kind of funny if you think about it. We're not talking about the classic point-and-click adventure titles that came out during the golden years of the adventure genre – but rather the action-oriented ones that started coming out a bit later. By the time the first action game with the Indiana Jones name hit the shelves, Tomb Raider was well ahead in its development, spanning over several games already.

And even though TR was admittedly based on the Indiana Jones movies, the first IJ game received heavy criticism for actually copying elements of TR's gameplay. It seems that LucasArts are well intent on fixing that mistake though, as the newest Indiana Jones game looks a lot more promising.

Gameplay

The game will take you through several locations around the world, as you follow Indiana Jones on his search for the Staff of Moses. You'll encounter all kinds of enemies on your way – since the game is set right at the beginning of World War 2, those will also include Nazi soldiers, among others. The gameplay is really varied and never feels monotonous – there are lots of elements that help spice it up, such as scripted chase events, wild melee fights, and other one-time scenes that add to the game's charm.

The new Indiana Jones also doesn't feel as stiff and limited as its predecessors did – some of you may remember how much criticism the developers got for limiting Indy's movements so much in the first game. Well, now you can perform all sorts of tricks, and with the Euphoria engine taking care of the visuals, it'll look as spectacular as it feels.

Graphics and System Requirements

As we mentioned just above, the game is powered by the Euphoria engine, which you may have already seen in some other titles like the famous GTA 4. The engine is especially well-known for its solid physics simulation system, and Indiana Jonse and the Staff of Kings feels noticeably more flexible than any action game that's come out under the IJ brand. Lighting and other visual effects are top notch as well, and some of the deeper caves will present you with spectacular sights.

Sadly, the game didn't make it to the PS3 and Xbox 360 as its developers had originally planned, so they had to stuff all that hi-def content in a bit older hardware. As a result, you may get some slowdowns in some spots, as the engine hasn't been 100% optimized for the aging hardware of the PS2.

Other

While the new movement abilities of Indy are very welcome, we couldn't help but notice how clumsily they were implemented. You may feel a bit frustrated trying to work with the game's control system, and it will definitely take you a few failed attempts at making that large jump until you've got it.

Conclusion

Tomb Raider may be the definite leader in the tomb exploration action games, but the newest Indiana Jones shows that LucasArts still have a few tricks up their sleeve and definitely aren't willing to give up the crown so easily.