Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
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| Developer(s) | The Collective, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts |
| Writer(s) | Brad Santos[1] |
| Engine | Slayer |
| Version | 1.01 (April 21, 2003) |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS X Windows PlayStation 2 Xbox |
| Release date(s) | Xbox[2]
Macintosh [5]
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| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media/distribution | CD (2) |
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Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is an action video game developed by The Collective and published by LucasArts in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Macintosh and Windows. It features cover art by Drew Struzan. The game is a new adventure of fictional archeologist Indiana Jones. The story is set in 1935, just before the events of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The tomb mentioned in the title is that of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
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[edit] Plot
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb begins in the jungles of Ceylon, where Indiana Jones is searching for the idol of Kouru Watu. After retrieving the idol, Jones meets a Nazi named Albrecht Von Beck, who is attacked by a giant albino crocodile, allowing Jones to escape. Back at school in New York City, Chinese officials Marshall Kai Ti Chan and his assistant Mei Ying inform Jones of the Heart of the Dragon, a black pearl buried with the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi. Mei Ying breaks open the Ceylon idol to find the first piece of the "Mirror of Dreams", an artifact that will help navigate through the Emperor's Tomb and reveal the entrance to Huangdi's crypt.
Jones flies to a castle in Prague to acquire the second piece of the mirror, only to be knocked out and captured by Von Beck, who had survived the crocodile attack (albeit hideously scarred and blind in his right eye). Von Beck then takes the two mirror pieces. Jones wakes up in a prison cell in Istanbul where Mei Ying appears and frees him. He makes his way to the sunken palace of Belisarius to collect the final piece of the mirror. He eventually falls into a sunken amphitheatre and battles the Kraken guarding the piece. Indy defeats the beast and recovers the final piece of the mirror. Mei Ying appears again and tells him that Kai is the leader of the Black Dragon Triad, the most powerful crime organization in China. He had formed an alliance with the Nazis to get the Mirror for himself and control the Heart of the Dragon. At the Golden Lotus Opera House in Hong Kong, Mei Ying and Jones wait for Wu Han, a character from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. When Mei Ying is kidnapped by Kai's men, Jones and Wu Han chase them down to the dock, where they discover that the kidnappers are heading to Kai's private island. Wu Han and Jones follow them in a junk.
After infiltrating a Nazi submarine base, Jones sees Von Beck and Kai arguing about their deal: Von Beck can take the Heart to Adolf Hitler when Kai takes control of all China. Fighting Nazis and using disguise, Jones makes his way to the peak of Penglai Mountain, the site of the Black Dragon Fortress, where he finds Mei Ying guarded by the Feng twins, Kai's female bodyguards. After killing the twins, he falls down a shaft into the temple of Kong Tien, where he finds a magical Chinese boomerang-like weapon called the Pa Cheng, the Dragon's Claw. Jones finds Kai assembling the Mirror of Dreams and sacrificing Mei Ying to the demon, Kong Tien, who possesses Mei Ying. Indy frees her and escapes with the mirror to the Emperor's Tomb. In the temple, Jones faces Von Beck, who pursues him in a tank, bent on having revenge for the crocodile attack. The Nazi is killed when his tank falls down a chasm and Jones enters a portal to the Netherworld.
After crossing a Netherworld Great Wall of China, he finally finds Huangdi's crypt and the body of Qin Shi Huangdi. When Jones takes the Heart of the Dragon, the emperor awakens but is killed by the souls of his victims. Unable to control the power of the Heart of the Dragon, Indy collapses while Kai takes the pearl from Jones. He uses its power to summon a dragon to battle Jones, creating a shield to protect himself. Jones uses the Pa Cheng charged with mystical energy to penetrate the shield and destroy the Heart of the Dragon. At that moment Kai loses control of the dragon, and spirits of his victims rise and mistake Kai for the first Emperor of China. Jones and Mei Ying flee as Kai is devoured by the dragon.
Back in Hong Kong, Jones gets to share some romantic time with Mei Ying, but Wu Han is quick to remind Jones that Lao Che has hired them to find the remains of Nurhachi, leading into the opening of Temple of Doom.
[edit] Gameplay
The player controls Indiana Jones throughout the game. The player can make Jones climb up walls by running into them, and climb vines. The game uses the same combat engine as in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Jones can block some attacks. He can grab enemies and punch them or throw them off ledges and catwalks. Jones can use his whip to go on zip-lines, or swing across gaps. He can jump and shimmy along edges.
[edit] Music
The game's score was composed by Clint Bajakian, utilizing The Raiders March by John Williams. Thirty-three minutes of music were recorded by a 65-piece orchestra at the Bastyr University Chapel. Additional, synthesized music - mostly in the realm of softer, non-action music - was created by Bajakian. Samples of the score were for a time available for download on the game website.
[edit] Reception
The Xbox and PC versions of the Emperor's Tomb were received well like its predecessor, with critics praising it for recreating movies's feel and well-designed gameplay while criticizing bad camera, controls and some graphical issues.[6][7] On the other hand, the PlayStation 2 version (which was actually a rushed port of Xbox version) was received poorly for being too glitchy and sloppy.[8] The PC version has an average score of 71.23 while the Xbox version has an average score of 70.32. The PlayStation 2 version has a score of 68.92.
[edit] Xbox 360 Compatibility
According to the List of Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is compatible with and is playable on the Xbox 360, although it does have some audio issues.
[edit] References
- ^ Robert Mobbs (18 February 2004). "Postmortem: The Collective's Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20040218/mobbs_02.shtml. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ^ "Xbox release dates". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox/data/561295.html. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- ^ "PC release dates". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/data/561303.html. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- ^ "PS2 release dates". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/data/582270.html. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- ^ "Mac release dates". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/mac/data/943556.html. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
- ^ IGN's review of Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb by Steve Butts. April 2, 2003.
- ^ Gamezone's review, February 25, 2003.
- ^ List of PS2 version's reviews at MobyGames.
[edit] External links
- Official Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb website
- Original Official Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb website (Waybackmachine)
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb at MobyGames
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb Macintosh website at Aspyr
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