Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 2008 game, Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. The game allows players to play all four cinematic adventures,[1] including the latest film in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was not included in the previous game. Despite being tagged as a sequel, the game contains newly designed levels for all four movies. The game is available on the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows.[2][3] The Mac OS X version of the game was released on 2 April 2011 by Feral Interactive.[4]
| Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues | |
|---|---|
 Cover art for Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues | |
| Developer(s) |
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| Publisher(s) |
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| Director(s) | Jon Burton |
| Producer(s) | Steve Wakeman |
| Designer(s) | Jon Burton |
| Programmer(s) | John Hodskinson |
| Artist(s) | James Cunliffe |
| Composer(s) | David Whittaker |
| Series | Lego Indiana Jones |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | OS X
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| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Gameplay
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues lets the player control a Lego figure in areas related to movie scenes and situations. Each movie is broken down into five levels, with the exception of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was divided into three five level parts. The movies would also include a level that would have the player defeat a certain number of various enemies to complete the level. The vehicle levels involved the player using their vehicle to destroy enemy vehicles. The last level of each movie would consist of a major boss battle, where the player would need to defeat the movies' main antagonist. All versions of Lego Indiana Jones 2 include a level creator where players can create their own levels and objects. Two-player co-op mode has been enhanced with split-screen; rather than forcing both characters to always be close enough to fit on the same screen, the game will seamlessly split when characters wander apart and merge into one screen when both players are near each other. The hub has also been redesigned; where before each hub was a small area with easy access to levels which had been unlocked, now each hub is a large area in which entrances to levels must be discovered.
This game has Trophy support on the PlayStation 3 version and on 23 November 2009, LucasArts revealed on Twitter that it was working on a patch for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game which has enabled online co-op gameplay, but was never finished.[5]
Plot
The game closely follows the plot of the four Indiana Jones films, namely Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with some modifications, to fit the Lego style humor and 2 player co-op gameplay. Each of the four film has a hub world, with 5 story mode levels each (that follow the plot of the movie itself), 5 treasure mode levels (that take place in the same area as each of the story levels, but in the aftermath of the story's events; the goal here is to find a way to collect a treasure hidden somewhere in the level), 5 bonus levels (where the players take control of Indiana and another random character in a level similar to those that can be created in the level creator; the goal is once again to make it to the end of the level and collect a treasure), and 1 super bonus level (which is unlocked by completing all treasure mode and bonus levels in a hub). Each hub acts as a mini-open world, where the player can unlock new characters, vehicles or complete short races and other challenges.
The plot of the first three films has been significantly shortened compared to Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, as the focus is mostly on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (because it was absent from the previous game). Thus, whereas the first three films have only one hub with 5 story levels each, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has three separate hubs, totalling 15 story levels.
The game begins with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Part 1, which follows the first act of the movie (until Indiana and Mutt depart to Peru to find the titular Crystal Skull). Afterwards, the player can choose to play any of the other five hubs: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Part 2 or Part 3.
Reception
The game generally received mixed reviews. GameTrailers gave the game a score of 7.0, citing it as more repetitive than previous titles and criticizing a lack of online features to complement the co-op and level editor modes. They also criticized the fact that half the game was based on 'the worst movie in the series.'[6] However, GameSpot suggests that the "roll-your-eyes nature of the film" finds a much better fit in the Lego game adaptation, giving the game an 8.0 overall.[7] IGN gave the game 6.0, citing the lack of secrets in the main levels as well as the new hub worlds being a mess, but praised the soundtrack and lasting appeal.[8] Kotaku, however, says the game delivers on many levels and recommends it over the first game. It is also criticized for not staying onto the details of the movies, a feature that was present in its predecessor.[9] As of May 2012, the game has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
References
- "LEGO Indiana Jones 2 Arriving This Fall". 27 October 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- "LucasArts Press Release". 29 May 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
- http://videogames.lego.com/en-US/IndianaJones2/AboutTheGame/Screenshots/Default.aspx
- "Feral Interactive: LEGO Indiana Jones: The Adventure Continues".
- http://kotaku.com/5411348/lego-indiana-jones-2-will-continue-adventure-with-online-coop
- http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-lego-indiana/59193
- http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/adventure/legoindianajones2theadventurecontinues/review.html
- http://ps3.ign.com/articles/104/1047796p1.html
- http://kotaku.com/5407380/lego-indiana-jones-2-the-adventure-continues-review-nuke-the-mini+fig
