Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
Developer(s)	A2M, Amaze (PSP)
Publisher(s)	LucasArts
Writer(s)	LucasArts
Platform(s)	Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player, Cooperative (Wii only)

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is a historical fantasy video game published by LucasArts for the Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable. The game is the third in the series of original 3D Indiana Jones games, preceded by Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine.

Gameplay

The plot centers around Indy's search for the Staff of Moses. The game is mostly about a quest which takes you around the world on various quests, fighting Nazis, Panamanian hunters, and Tong thugs, and trying to find artifacts which will unlock other possible things for you to get and do. Although the staff of Moses is never mentioned in the beginning of the game, the plot is set about finding the staff, but the actual part of the story where the quest about finding the staff of Moses first start taking place is a lot further on in the game. It is set in 1939 (the year World War II begins, 17 years before the events in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and 1 year after The Last Crusade) and features a sequence set in San Francisco, involving a brawl outside a fireworks factory, and a fight atop a runaway cable car (inside the cable car in the Wii and PlayStation 2 version). The destinations included in the game are Chinatown, Panama, Nepal, and a zeppelin named The Odin. The Wii and the PlayStation 2 version includes Sudan and Istanbul. The DS version includes Paris.

A trailer released at E3 2006 showcased the games' use of the Euphoria animation engine, created by NaturalMotion. Further explanation comes from David Collins, sound designer and voice director of the project as seen here. He explains that by using euphoria no two reactions will ever be alike, objects will have their own unique textures, and enemies will be thinking on their own.

GameTrailers hosts a publicity trailer for the game, featuring concept art of a train station and an African Queen-style river boat. It has also been revealed that Indy will recover many "ancient artifacts from around the globe", and the artifact central to the game's plot will become a major part of the gameplay after being recovered, also the locations will include San Francisco's Chinatown and "the most sacred ground in the world." His name being featured in the tech demo videos for the game have led some to speculate that Lao Che may be a villain, though his name is only seen he has no part in the game.

The Wii version of the game includes an exclusive co-op story mode (with Indy and Henry Jones Sr.) and unlockable version of the classic point and click adventure, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (also set in the same year). On the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions you can unlock: Big Head mode, Henry Jones Sr., Tuxedo Indy, and Han Solo.

Indy has several weapons at his disposal. First and most obviously are his fists; punching and grappling the enemy helps get the job done. Naturally, you can also use your whip. With it you can disarm your opponent, or wrap the whip around their neck, waist, and ankles to pull them into your mercy. Another approach is snapping the whip up against a large piece of furniture (such as a bookshelf) and pulling out. This will cause it to fall and crush any opponents in the way.

One interesting factor is that you can also pick up several items at hand in the environment around you and use them as weapons. These include, but are not limited to: shovels, beer bottles, planks of wood, pool balls, etc. You may also grab your enemy and slam him into a solid object, including walls, fish tanks, desks, etc.

Sometimes, you will be forced to use your gun in a shoot-out. You may fire at your enemies, or look for something to fire at, including kegs of dynamite or street lamps.

Development

The game was announced in 2005 for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. During E3 2006, LucasArts heavily promoted the game by citing its use of the new simulation technology developed by NaturalMotion called euphoria, which generates "on-the-fly" animations for 3D characters thus eliminating the need for canned animations and preventing repetition of animations. At the time that game was scheduled for a release sometime in 2007, but this did not occur. Later, when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was finally green lit and entered production, many assumed that LucasArts would be timing the release of the game with the new film in the summer of 2008 (such was the case with Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures), but this did not happen either.

These delays in development were caused by LucasArts prioritizing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which uses the same technology that was originally associated with the Indiana Jones game during 2006.

In a July 2008 interview with DailyGame, a LucasArts representative dismissed rumours of the game's cancellation, stating that the Indiana Jones PS3 and Xbox 360 games were "very deep into development." The team was "working very actively" to bring the game up to form for public/media consumption, and said that "the game looks great." John Armstrong provided the voice of Indiana Jones.

On January 23, 2009 an official trailer revealed that the game would come out in the Spring of 2009 for the Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable gaming platforms. It was eventually revealed that the original, internally developed PS3 and Xbox 360 versions had been canceled after constant delays. The Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable versions had been concurrently developed by Artificial Mind and Movement (the exception being the PSP version, which was instead developed by Amaze Entertainment) and had not faced the same delays.

The game's story was inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark and is a collaborative effort of the design and management teams at LucasArts, with one of the writers being Peter Hirschmann. It was created a few years before the release and received some input from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

A novel also titled Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings was going to be released as a tie in for the video game, but because of the numerous delays the book was never released. A finished version of the book does exist, however.

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Official Nintendo Magazine	60%
VideoGamer.com	5/10

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings has received average reviews from the critics, holding a 55% average on Metacritic.

The most universal criticism of the Wii version is the poorly implemented and only partially responsive motion controls. Nintendo Power gave it a 7.5/10 praising the variety in gameplay and voice-acting. It received a 6.9/10 from NGamer UK, criticizing its "frequent remote-waggling quick-time events" and being "sometimes frustrating and dull". IGN gave it a 5.0/10 praising its interface, graphic effects, amount of extras, interactive levels, and varied gameplay, but criticizing its "stupidly implemented motion controls". The Onion (A.V. Club) gave it an F (a 0 on the Metacritic scale) calling the motion controls "inexcusable" and stating the game's best aspect was the inclusion of the point-and-click adventure Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, further adding it surpasses Staff of Kings in everything, but the "GameCube-like" graphics. Gamespot gave it a 3.5/10, criticizing its "terribly laid-out checkpoints", "out-of-date" visuals, and "atrocious, annoying motion controls".

See also

• Indiana Jones
• Indiana Jones (franchise)

External links

• LucasArts: Indiana Jones mini site