Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by The Collective and published by LucasArts for the Xbox, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Mac OS X. It features cover art by Drew Struzan. The game is an adventure of fictional archeologist Indiana Jones. The story takes place in 1935, acting as a prequel to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The tomb mentioned in the title is that of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

The game had a mixed reception from critics. It was praised for successfully recreating the spirit of the films, but criticised for its camera controls and graphical issues. In March 2015, the game was re-released digitally through GOG.com, and in November 2018, the game was released through Steam.

Gameplay

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is an action-adventure game. It is played from a third-person perspective, and takes place across 10 levels. As Indiana Jones, the player can run, jump, climb, and swim. Numerous enemies appear throughout the game, including Nazi guards. The player has a variety of defensive moves, such as punching and kicking. Various guns can be used throughout the game as well, and the player can also use improvised weapons, such as the legs from broken chairs and tables. Emperor's Tomb uses an enhanced version of the game engine used for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002), also developed by The Collective. Among the differences is the use of improvised weapons.

LucasArts employee Hal Barwood offered some suggestions to The Collective over their story choices, as the idea of Nazis roaming China didn't impress him, but The Collective chose to go on their own way, leading Barwood to feel disappointed with the finished product. Abner Ravenwood, Marion Ravenwood's father who has been an unseen character since Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), was going serve as Indy's partner throughout the game, but his inclusion was dropped due to how unwieldy his design proved to be for the game.

In the films, Indiana Jones is portrayed by Harrison Ford, whose likeness is also used in the game, but the character's voice is provided by David Esch. The game's dialogue was written by Brad Santos. The game's instruction manual was designed by Gregory Harsh to resemble a field diary written by Indiana Jones. It includes various references to the franchise. The game's score was composed by Clint Bajakian, utilizing "The Raiders March" by John Williams.

Reception

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic. In 2018, PCGamesN included the game on its list of best action-adventure games for PC, writing that while it "has some flaws, such as being unable to save mid-level, Emperor's Tomb earns its place on this list for truly making you feel like Indiana Jones".

References

  • Official website, archived via the Wayback Machine