Genre: 3rd Person Action

Format: 2 CDs

Developer: The Collective

Original Publisher: Lucas Arts

Mac Conversion: Transgaming Technologies

Mac Publisher: Aspyr Media

Minimum System Requirements: 800MHz G4, Mac OS X v10.2.6, 256MB RAM, 2GB hard disk space, 32MB RADEON 7500 or GeForce 2 class 3D hardware acceleration

Review Computer: 867MHz G4, 640MB RAM, ATI RADEON 8500, Mac OS X v10.3.2

Network Feature: No

Price: $39.99

ESRB Rating: Teen (violence)

Availability: Now

Official Website: [url=http://www.emperorstomb.com]http://www.emperorstomb.com[/url]

I haven't finished this game. More on that later.

When I first installed and started playing Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, I had to call my wife upstairs. "Tieraney, look at me! I'm Indiana Jones!" Her response? "So?"

In her defense, Tieraney was all of two years old when Raiders of the Lost Ark was released. If she's seen the movie since then, it's been on video...or worse, newtork television. She doesn't understand the magic of the movie, how it was able to throw back to a time when movies managed to be fun but still have substance, yet still was able to seem completely fresh. She doesn't understand exactly how cool Harrison Ford without being all obnoxious like today's action heroes. After playing through the game a bit, though, I'm not sure the developers understand any of that, either.

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is a good enough game. It has its heart in the right place, and it's certainly more true to the characters and feel of the movies than, say, this. There's a lot of puzzle solving, some great fighting, that whip, and Indy's affection for his hat. Yet, the further into the game I got, the more I realized that Indiana Jones himself is completely replaceable here. He could be Lara Croft, for example, or maybe American McGee's Indiana Jones.

It's not the fact that Harrison Ford isn't playing the voice of Indy in this game. David Esch does a fine job with the material he's given. (Had Harrison taken this job, though, I'm sure he would've found the dialogue much easier to deliver than what he's been forced to act out by George Lucas.) It's not that the locations and enemies aren't exotic enough. What would an Indiana Jones adventure be without Nazis and Arabs, after all. The story itself develops pretty well for a computer game, too, certainly following in line with the Indiana Jones adventures. It's just that the pieces don't all come together quite right. It's like the developers relied more on the style and limitations of other computer games to develop Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb than on the movies that are its inspiration.

But again, certain elements save this game from becoming a throw away title. First of all, the graphics are gorgeous. They're surprisingly colorful, and the level designs are sweet to look at, if not all that exciting to navigate. The outdoor shots, especially, are quite attractive...like thumbing through a copy of National Geographic. The audio is equally impressive, especially with the music. The cues, pulled from the John Williams score, are dead on, and even in a game like this, they manage to stir the adventurer in all of us.

Then, there's the fighting. The controls are simple, so it's not like you're pulling off Oni-like moves. This is basic, bare knuckle fighting, Indy style. Sure, you can kick, too, but simple button combinations (right or left mouse button) can pull off some really cool moves, like putting your opponent in a headlock and pummelling his face. Sweet. It's too bad some of the battles require you to use weapons, because the fist fighting is much, much more fun.

Beyond that, your movement options are typical. You can swing on and climb ropes, swim, shimmy across ledges, etc. Various objects scattered around can be used to your advantage, too. Smash a table, for instance, and you may get a table leg that can be quite effective in combat. Wine bottles make pretty good projectiles. Your whip can yank the gun from an enemy's hand. When the combat has worn you down, you have a couple options for regaining health. You can use any med kits you may have found, or you can drink from your canteen. Scattered about the levels are various fountains you can use to refill your canteen when it's low. Quite helpful.

The controls are fairly easy to master, combining traditional WASD movement with the console like camera control. You can use the mouse to control the camera angle, which thereby also allows you to turn with it. I grew to like the combination, but the camera did get quite annoying. It had a nasty habit of repositioning itself behind Indy when I was trying to use it to peek around a corner. It also jumped at odd times when moving, throwing off my timing when trying to execute various jumps and moves. And believe me, there are many times in this game when you need to execute various jumps and moves. If you're not into platform jumping games, better stear clear.

The interface suffers from what I guess I'll call console convolution. You have to work through an attractive but pointless little movie to zoom up to the options, then navigate through a book to load up your game, then select start to get into it. Would that all games were like No One Live Forever 2, in which you simply hit one key to load your game and start playing. Quitting makes even less sense. You have to quit, tell the game you're sure, then go back to that movie room with the book and tell it to quit again to actually leave the game. To make matters worse, getting back to this room requires a lengthy loading period (depending upon your computer speed, of course). I'm willing to suffer through loading periods to get into a game, but not to get out of them.

Now, I mentioned that I didn't finish the game. Here's why. After playing through the game for a while, it suddenly started to stutter horribly during the load screens. I mean, I was lucky to get one frame every two seconds. Because of the stupidly long starting process, getting into the game proved too frustrating. I managed to make it all the way through once to find that the stuttering continued within the game itself. After a reboot, it played fine again for a few more days, then started up again. This last time, I haven't been able to correct the problem. I tried disabling my Startup Items, throwing out the preferences, and reinstalling the game, but the problem remained. I'll work with Aspyr regarding this problem, and will update this review if they're able to fix the issue.

That problem, however, isn't affecting the rating I'm giving this game. I'm giving it what I'd give any decent but uninspired third-person action game. It's fun enough. The action is great, and the story flows well. There are better games out there, and there are certainly many that are worse. Unfortunately, with all this competition, the only thing really distinguishes this game from the others is the Indiana Jones name. And, if you're anything like my wife, that's just not enough.

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