More Fun Than You Can Shake a Whip At (Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (PS2))

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (PS2)
Date:	12/10/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Good Graphics, Well Designed

Disadvantages: Price

I do like a bit of Lego, and I also do like a bit of Indiana Jones. So it's no surprise then that I've been waiting to get my grubby mitts on a copy of the PS2 game Lego Indiana Jones for a while now! It was initially priced at around the £20 mark when it was released around a year or so ago, and sadly I'm far too tight to part with that amount of money for just the one, single computer game. I was waiting until I could pick it up for under £10, which was finally possible last week as Play.com were selling this for £9.99. Bargain! Make sure you shop around if you're after a copy of this game because the price goes as high as £20 still on some sites. It's presently a whopping £16.57 on Amazon.

Now obviously, this game is not aimed at my age group. It says it's for ages 7yrs and over on the box, but I would really recommend it mostly for kids aged between about 9yrs and 15yrs as some of the puzzles are that little beyond the capabilities of your average under nine. And then of course, after that - it's good for anyone over 15 who is still young at heart (ahem).

The game is basically a little role playing and puzzle solving number. You run around as the Lego version of Indiana Jones, accompanied by different additional Lego characters on the various levels. You can press the triangle button on your controller to jump between the two characters throughout each level, and this is sometimes a necessity in places as different characters have different strengths and tools.

Throughout each level, there are a series of puzzles and mini games to complete. There are clear instructions on what to do and how to solve each puzzle on the earlier levels, but as you progress in the game, the instructions disappear and the puzzles become more complex. Nothing is ridiculously hard, but there are some good puzzles that had even me going for a while in places! I think the first one that tripped me up was working out how to repair a fallen bridge, and it turned out I needed to blast the mechanism near the bridge to release the rest of it. Not overly obvious no, but at least the answer was lying around nearby.

The graphics in this game are brilliant, and there's loads of computerised Lego pieces here, there and everywhere. It isn't just the characters who are Lego but also the tools, weapons, vehicles, enemies and even a lot of the scenery. It's balanced out with a good dose of realistic scenery though, which I like because if it was all Lego it would make it too hard to concentrate on the game.

The grandson loves sitting and watching me play this game, and in a year or two he'll be old enough to have a go at it himself. In the meantime I'm enjoying myself just fine doing it old-bloke-style though. I think this is well put together, just challenging enough to be worth playing, and yet simple and straightforward at the same time. The concept is fun and the graphics are brilliant - what more could you want in a game? I see now why the price has stayed so high for so long since it's release.

Summary: Highly Recommended