Add to favorites Examiner Bio

Review: 'Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings'

I’ll admit it: I’m not a big fan of action/adventure/shooter games on the Wii. I think the Wii is a great idea, but up until now it seems the only good games were those made by Nintendo. Then again, they designed the console; they should know how to write games for it. I tried hard to like the Wii for titles that weren’t Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Star Wars: Force Unleashed left me willing to trade my soul just to get a freaking controller in my hands.

 

Then Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings comes along. I love Indiana Jones but when I heard it was a Wii title, I was a little disappointed. The problem with the other games I’ve tried is they were designed for the other consoles in mind then converted for the Wii. But Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings was made specifically for the Wii (and DS, PSP, and PS2), so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.

 

And it wasn’t… that bad.

 

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings takes place in 1939, one year after The Last Crusade. The game plot is set in Sudan, San Francisco, Istanbul, and other cities, having Indy look for the Staff of Moses while dodging bad guys and Nazis. Each level involves a series of Legend of Zelda-type puzzles within level designs similar to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. What’s neat about the various puzzles is figuring out what specifically needs to be done instead of having everything laid out for you like a piece of IKEA furniture that can only be assembled one way. Any item in the levels can be targeted, but it’s up to the player to determine just what specifically needs to be moved/whipped/broken. Some instances can take multiple attempts to figure out which item is the correct one to use in order to advance to the next section of the game. It can be frustrating, but it’s also fun—if you’re one for puzzles.

 

Before you begin the game, there is a tutorial option on the main menu. I normally skip tutorials in favor of diving right into the game, but since you can’t really button mash with a Wii remote, I flipped through the 16-moves tutorial to learn how to accomplish the various arm-flailing moves. But the tutorial is nothing more than a picture guide of how to use the Wii remote; it doesn’t actually do anything.

 

The first level was the actual tutorial, so skip the flip-book and dive right into the game play. The movements are pretty simple and logical. In each level, pictures appear over objects, showing you what you need to do. Flick the Wii Remote and press B to have Indy use his whip. Hit A to pick up an object. Near the end of the level, Indy teaches you how to engage in combat. And by “teaches you how to engage in combat”, I mean he literally teaches you. He doesn’t pop out of the television—which would have been awesome—but instead the game pauses and Indiana takes time out of his fist fight to give players a monologue on the move he’s about to teach you. Yes, I realize that’s there to help players grasp the controls, but the game constantly pausing so Indy can go into his monologues left me wondering how the bad guys feel. (“Hey, Bob, I think Dr. Jones has gone insane. He keeps breaking the forth wall.”) You can’t skip the tutorials, so pay attention to Indy; there is a pop quiz at the end of the level in the form of five guys trying to fight you at once.

 

Like I mentioned before, the game play isn’t all that bad. The motion controls make sense; swing the Wii remote right to land a right hook, swing the nunchuck left for a left hook. There is a slight pause between movements, so swinging your arms around thinking you’re going to land rapid punches isn’t going to happen. As long as you’re patient with the controls, the fights can be fun. I found myself enjoying the fight scenes, especially when I’d dodge at just the right time and watch one baddie take out another baddie by mistake. (It’s a good thing this game believes in friendly fire.)

 

The rest of the game is a lather, rinse, repeat of the tutorial level with one exception: Indy’s revolver. There are instances in the game where Indy will pull out his six-shooter and—thanks to unlimited ammo—kill any baddie in his way. The interesting thing about the shooting stages is sometimes outright shooting an enemy isn’t the answer. In one instance, shooting down a billboard leads to the enemy’s death, or blasting a box of fireworks. At another stage, Indiana is attempting to make his grand escape on a San Francisco trolley car with gangsters driving down the hill guns firing. In this instance, shooting the front grill of the car makes it explode, and Indy can escape unscathed. That stage was one of my favorites.

 

There are additional elements to the game other than knocking out baddies or shooting crates of fireworks. For example: The tutorial level ends with a flight simulator of the Star Wars Death Star Trench Run…if it took place in a rock canyon and you were flying a biplane instead of an X-Wing. Your Wii remote serves as your yoke, and I, for one, mastered this unique level on approximately the 87^th attempt. It’s a good thing the game has unlimited lives, because apparently crashing into the jagged rocks equals instant death. And to make maneuvering matters worse, there were enemies trying to shoot me out of the sky. (I don’t understand why; I was doing a perfectly good job of killing myself without their help.)

 

There are some downsides to Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. No health packs, for example. Health is only regenerated at save points, so if Indy’s low on health the only options are to truck on through to the save point or die and try the stage again. The combat is also muddy as Indy takes a second or two between punches. It can be frustrating when Indy doesn’t immediately react to the proper motion to land a right hook to the baddies jaw. And don’t try to button mash (remote flail?)—Indiana only reacts to certain combos to punch enemies. And speaking of enemies, if a party of three or more surrounds Indy, they take turns fighting him. Each enemy will patiently wait for you to finish fighting one of their friends before they attack. While convenient for players who are still learning the moves, it’s almost funny and unrealistic given other games on the market.

 

Other than those downsides, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is a fun game. The animation is great for a Wii title, catching the tiniest of emotions in Indy’s face. Other than the sensitive controls, slight pauses in combat and patient enemies, the game is good. Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings also features a bunch of extras, including game skins that change Indy to Tuxedo Indiana or Han Solo, trailers from all four Indiana Jones movies, and a copy of the 1992 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis PC game.

 

If you like Indiana Jones, puzzle games and can’t wait for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, try Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. It’s not, by any means, worth buying a Wii just to play, but the game is still a lot of fun—provided you’re patient with the controls.

 

Overall score: Three fedora hats out of five.