IncGamers' Chris Schilling gets to grips with Indy's latest outing on the Wii and finds that unreliable motion controls don't make for a fun experience.
From the review:
When we first clapped eyes on Staff of Kings, it was clear it was going to offer a fast-paced, episodic blend of action and adventure, mixing shoot-outs with whip-based combat, Tomb Raider-aping exploration and the occasional waggle-tastic interlude. Perfect for Indy, you might think, and Nintendo's Disaster: Day of Crisis proved such an approach can work - even with sometimes shonky mechanics, you're onto the next thrill-packed section before you have time to really examine the joins. Unfortunately, Staff of Kings is a disaster with a small 'd'.
Nintendo Life writes: "Filled with cut scenes and swashbuckling action sequences, The Staff of Kings has the feel of an actual Indiana Jones movie. There are a lot of concepts included here that, if fully realized, could have made for a spectacular movie-style game. Sadly, as it turns out the imagination of the game's developers exceeded their grasp."
GV writes: "The Indiana Jones franchise is one I hold very close to my heart. Even more so than Star Wars. Yeah, I said it. You see, there's just something about an adventuring archaeologist fighting Nazis and exploring our world that speaks to me. I ate up everything Indy-related when I was growing up. Of all the TV shows I watched as a child, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones was the only one I had to see every week as soon as it came on. I still think part of the reason I enjoy the "gets worse every time you watch it" Boondock Saints is because it stars Sean Patrick Flannery, who I so desperately wanted to be growing up. New Indiana Jones gaming experiences are few and far between, so when the chance to don a digital fedora came up with Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, I jumped at the opportunity. Disappointingly, like the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this Indiana Jones adventure was better in idea than it was in execution."
Evil Avatar writes: "Indiana Jones has been relatively neglected in the world of videogames when you compare it to Lucasart's most famous franchise. Odd really when you consider the that Harrison Ford's character is the perfect videogame hero. A2M, who will soon release the shooter Wet, seek to take advantage of his particular strengths for this outing. With the Lego version of Indy's first three adventures standing out against Batman and Han Solo it was always going to be a challenge to produce a more successful adaptation of the character."
The Good
* Some of the best presentation on the Wii.
* The locations change frequently and are interesting enough.
* The extras are great and the sheer volume of gameplay styles thrown into the single-player makes for a tolerable experience.
The Bad
* The combat system is fudgy on the Wii.
* The platforming is slow and simple.
* Your iconic whip is almost ignored other than a Scorpion-esque 'get over here' fighting move and being used to traverse gaps.
* There's a few glitches in the collision detection and the checkpoint placement causes immense frustration.
The Ugly
* Horrendously unambitious.
Hahahaha. That's a decent review, of a bad game.
Still, you'd think it'd get higher just for including Fate of Atlantis. Maybe not at this price point, but still... if Fate of Atlantis was re-released and had a crappy action game attached free, I reckon it'd score pretty well :)
Not too surprised about that grade...
You didn't actually expect better did you? Oh you did? *smack*
A decent Indy game is long overdue.
Oh dear, same score as the last film IMO.