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Indiana
Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
The
next Indiana Jones movie is some ways off yet.To fill the void, LucasArts and The Collective are bringing Indy
back to the small screen in a new adventure called The Emperor’s Tomb.
A
hallmark of any Indiana Jones outing is a straightforward story but one
that makes archaeology the most exciting profession going.The majority of archaeology is slowly digging up bits of earth in
an effort to find a pottery shards or piecing together the cultural life
of an ancient society based on cave drawings.Indy follows a lesser known branch of archaeology: Beating
the Hell out of Bad Guys in Pursuit of Mythical Artifacts. (You really
have to look carefully through archaeology course offerings at the
better schools to find it.)
In
this case the artifact is a black pearl called the Heart of the Dragon,
which reportedly has the power to mold minds – and not in a good
Play-Dough way.Indy is
hired by the Chinese government to find the pearl rumored to be buried
in the tomb of China’s First Emperor.Simple enough – but there are complications.Also in pursuit of the pearl are the Black Dragon Triad and
German mercenary, Albrecht Von Beck, that have teamed up to form a real
obstacle to the final goal. (You just know the Nazi’s are going to
show up.)While most of the
action looks to take place in and around China, Indy has to travel the
world in search of the three key pieces that will open the tomb.He’ll hit hotspots like a 15th Century castle in
Prague and “an underwater palace in Istanbul” spread across 10
sprawling levels.
Since
the adventure takes place in 1935, expect everything to be circa 1935
– meaning no uzis but lots of pistols and the trademark whip.Most of the video available shows an emphasis on hand-to-hand
combat, and as any fan of the movie will tell you, this is true to the
movies.Indy only used guns
as a last resort (or when he was too lazy to use his whip) so the
fisticuffs are very welcome.His
whip looks like it will serve as a multi-tool to swing over gaps, among
other things.He can also
use “improvised weapons such as shovels, chairs and table legs” to
beat up on the Bad Guys.How
all of this will be controlled is unknown, but since the game uses a
now-traditional 3rd Person perspective, controlling Indy
should be along the same vein as many other games so we won’t have to
relearn everything.
There
is also mention of a “stunningly beautiful assistant, Mei Ying” that
will help Indy out through his tribulations.How much of an effect she’ll have on gameplay is not known, but
I doubt she’ll be a playable character. (But it’s a sure thing there
will be some chemistry between Mei and Indy.)Possibly she’ll act as a research assistant or offer help
overcoming some of the puzzles – it can’t be all action, can it?Trying to figure out safe ways to disarm booby-traps is part of
the challenge of being an archaeologist.
The
Collective provides the 3D engine and it looks great, but most of the
levels shown seem a little empty (although, this might be due to the
rapid cutting techniques of the teaser films) but
with good detail to both the characters and level textures.The animation seems pretty solid though (especially the way Indy
grabs a bad guy’s lapels and starts throwing punches), and since the
Emperor’s Tomb is scheduled for a Fall 2002 release (another 5 months
from now), this is likely to
improve.
Indiana
Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb will ship on Playstation2, Xbox, and PC.
