Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

ReleaseMac OS XGenre(s)Action-adventureMode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is a 2008 Lego-themed action-adventure game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts. Based on the Indiana Jones franchise and the eponymous Lego Indiana Jones toy line, it follows the events of the first three Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade. The game includes local co-op gameplay as well as puzzle and platformer aspects, and there are 84 playable characters with a variety of special abilities and phobias. As the players go through the stages, they collect Studs, the currency of Lego games, avoid traps, assemble Lego blocks, and engage in combat. Climbing, swinging, and throwing objects as weapons are new inclusions that have not appeared in previous Lego video games by Traveller's Tales.

LucasArts announced the game in 2007, and the developers based the mechanics on prior Lego Star Wars games. The design of puzzles was altered to fit the Indiana Jones franchise, but any mentions of Nazism were removed entirely, with Traveller's Tales attempting to make the game more family-friendly and Lego replacing the figures with similar ones its Indiana Jones Lego sets. The game was advertised at conventions, and a demo version, a Flash Player web game, and a computer-animated short film were all released in 2008. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox 360 platforms in June 2008, while Feral Interactive released the Mac OS X in November 2008. It was later made available on Steam in 2009.

The game received generally favourable reviews from critics. Its gameplay, retelling of the films, and co-op mode were commended by reviewers but had conflicting opinions about the second player's artificial intelligence and game mechanics. Reviewers also praised the game's graphics, environments, and soundtrack but disagreed on the sound effects. The Wii and Xbox 360 versions garnered praise; however, the PSP version was criticised for its puzzles, excessive loading times, and lack of multiplayer support. A mobile Lego Indiana Jones game and a sequel, Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, were released in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is an action-adventure game played from the third-person perspective, in which the player controls a Lego figurine in areas inspired by Indiana Jones film scenes.^[1][2] The game is a humorous retelling of Indiana Jones' first three films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade.^[1][3] The game consists of three chapters, each with six stages.^[4][5] The chapters are accessible from the game's hub, the Barnett College, which serves as Indiana Jones' teaching location in the Last Crusade.^[6][7] Inside the hub, players can unlock additional content, enable cheats, and examine their own accolades and statistics in various classrooms.^[8][9] When the player selects a stage, a cutscene appears, introducing the player to the segment of the film being played.^[10][11] Notable segments from the first three films were recreated, including the boulder escape from Raiders of the Lost Ark and the minecart escape from Temple of Doom.^[1][12] Lego Indiana Jones incorporates aspects of the puzzle and platformer genres.^[13][14]

The game's primary mode is a two-player local co-op game, with a total of 84 characters.^[2][15][16] In the absence of a human partner, the game's artificial intelligence controls the second player's character.^[16] For the first time, the player can only use preselected characters to complete missions; after that, the player can use any other unlocked character when replaying the game in the freeplay mode.^[6][9][12] These characters can then interact with the environment in ways that other characters sometimes cannot do during the story mode, allowing them to obtain new items or find new puzzles and collectibles.^[4][13][17] The player can also buy characters at Barnett College.^[18]

The story mode can be completed in about 10 to 14 hours.^[6][14] As the player progresses through the game, they must gather Studs, the currency of Lego games, assemble Lego blocks to make specific items, avoid traps, and partake in combat with enemies.^[4][13][19] The player can additionally collect Extras, a bonus that boosts their Studs total, by collecting parcels and mailing them to the Barnett College.^[13][17] The three bonus levels in the game are unlocked by completing a puzzle in the game's hub and collecting treasure in each stage.^[20] The game's mechanics and engine are similar to the Lego Star Wars video games.^[13][16] The player has a limitless number of lives and instead loses Studs after losing all four health points.^[21][22] The player can also use vehicles and animals to navigate certain stages.^[13]

Lego Indiana Jones features special abilities for characters to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.^[13][18] For example, Indy can wield his whip to attack or tie up enemies, manipulate objects, or swing from the ceiling.^[1][12] The Wii version of the whip is controlled with motions.^[19] The game also features shovel-carrying characters, wrench-using characters, high-jumping characters, crawlable characters, the Thuggees, who can communicate with ancient statues, and characters who can decode hieroglyphs, such as Henry Jones Sr.^[12][13][23] These abilities can be obtained by any character who acquires the required item.^[13][24] The player can obtain weapons and rewards by excavating in certain areas or killing foes.^[1][13][17] Lego Indiana Jones characters have limited ammo. When Indy is near snakes, his fear prevents him from being productive, forcing the second player to assist him out.^[1] The same effect applies to Willie Scott and her phobia.^[6][13]

The game also allows players to personalise characters and create their own creations. The ability to climb, swing, and throw objects as weapons is a new addition to the Lego video game series.^[16][25]

The Nintendo DS version of the game has undergone considerable changes to meet the DS's memory and size limits, as well as its unique touchscreen capabilities. Due to constraints, cutscene details had to be cut and compressed.^[4][15] In comparison to other console versions, the developers placed a greater importance on the game's platforming and combat components in the DS version.^[26] Using the stylus, the player can control characters' unique skills, such as Indy's whip or Satipo's shovel, as well as components like switches.^[19][15] In addition, the built-in microphone comes into play, allowing the player to physically blow out torches on some levels, inflate rubber rafts to bridge water hazards, and launch the player in air when standing on propellers.^[4][15]

The DS version also includes a number of minigames, including action minigames, Tangram, and minigames in the game's hub.^[27][28] The game also features a minigame where monkey brains are roasted, as seen in the Temple of Doom.^[29] The player can also play as Indy and Marion Ravenwood's pet monkey, climbing to previously inaccessible areas.^[30]

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts.^[16][13] The Nintendo DS version was developed by TT Fusion, a subsidiary of Traveller's Tales that also worked on the Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga in 2007.^[4][30] Activision was also involved in publishing Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions in Europe.^[31][32][33] The Mac OS X version of the game was developed by Robosoft Technologies and published by Feral Interactive.^[34][35] Jon Burton served as the game's director, Steve Wakeman as its producer, Glyn Scragg as the lead game programmer, James Cunliffe as the head of art, and David Whittaker as its composer.^[36]

The game was heavily based on the Lego Star Wars games and their mechanics.^[25] According to Nick Ricks, a Traveller's Tales producer, the development team initially experimented with creating the game on top of Lego Star Wars because the Indiana Jones franchise also featured action components and that the end result "felt like LEGO Star Wars set in 1945". Traveller's Tales then decided to develop the game from its foundation, introducing new features that were not present in the previous Lego Star Wars games.^[37] The developers adjusted the design of puzzles due to the absence of the Force and the importance of adventuring in the Indiana Jones series.^[7][37] While Traveller's Tales was working on introducing ranged weapons to the game, they were unsure if the ammunition should be limited; in the game's official release, the team limited the player's ammo, which differed from how the ammo worked in prior Lego video games.^[1][37] The game features references to previous franchises Traveller's Tales has worked on.^[38] Jonathan Smith of TT Games said that the team succeeded in developing a recognisable personality for Lego Indiana Jones while retaining well-received game elements from prior Lego video games.^[30] The user interface was unchanged from prior Lego Star Wars games.^[9]

Shawn Storc of LucasArts said that their biggest obstacle during the development was to align the gameplay and its character mechanics with the films.^[25] After the debut of Indiana Jones Lego sets, Traveller's Tales announced that they would remove mentions of Nazism from the game, citing the fact that Lego replaced Nazi characters with similar "genocidal, occultist, trenchcoat-wearing master-race" characters. Burton expressed the belief that "[the studio] doesn't want to change the game so much that we lose the audience".^[1] Traveller's Tales sought to make the game more family-friendly; children were the target group for Lego video games.^[39][40] Ricks also said that the developers debated whether to include the Iron Cross but eventually just kept the Reichsadler (eagle) in the game. Traveller's Tales improved the second player character mechanics and introduced unique abilities that any player character could obtain, in contrast to Lego Star Wars games, where a character's ability could only be obtained by one character rather than multiple. An addition to the Lego Indiana Jones is the character's fear effect system, which Ricks regarded as a handy utility that emphasises the use of the second player character's powers when the main player is in danger.^[37] Storc also noted that the characters in Lego Indiana Jones are more athletic than in their prior Lego titles.^[25]

In February 2008, it was announced that up to four players would be able to play in co-op mode on consoles; however, this later turned out to be a miscommunication.^[19][41] LucasArts instead stated that up to four characters would be visible on the screen, but only two could be controlled by players at a time.^[42] The game's soundtrack is a mix of John Williams tunes featured from the films and a custom soundtrack inspired by them.^[43][44]

The Lego Star Wars games series were a financial success for Traveller's Tales and LucasArts. This motivated LucasArts to license the Indiana Jones franchise to Traveller's Tales.^[45] LucasArts unveiled the game under the working title, Lego Indiana Jones: The Videogame, at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2007, along with the first Indiana Jones Lego set for a release of January 2008.^[46][47] To promote the game, The Complete Saga offered Indiana Jones as an unlockable playable character when it was released in November 2007; the character can be acquired by watching the Lego Indiana Jones trailer in a room next to the Cantina.^[48][49] During the development, Traveller's Tales parent company, TT Games, was acquired by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, also in November.^[50] The acquisition had no negative impact on Traveller's Tales relations with LucasArts or Lego.^[45]

Lego Indiana Jones was announced to be added to the Games for Windows brand line-up in January 2008.^[51] The Lego Group also partnered with game development studio Three Melons to promote the game, releasing Lego Indiana Jones Adventures, an Adobe Flash Player web game, in February 2008. The game has 2D graphics and auto-scrolling platformer mechanics, with four levels overall. The game's menu included a museum where the player could learn about Indy and the game's stages.^[52][53] LucasArts also promoted Lego Indiana Jones at several conventions, including the Game Developers Conference in February and the New York Comic Con in April 2008.^[54][55] At the Play.com Live event at Wembley Stadium on 15 and 16 March, Activision made the game playable for attendees.^[56] Cartoon Network later aired a computer-animated short film, Lego Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick, on 10 May.^[57] A demo version of Lego Indiana Jones was released on 13 May 2008.^[58] The demo and the trailer for the game were also included in a remastered Paramount Pictures re-release of the first three films in the United States.^[59][60] Despite Activision's announcement that the demo would not be available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it was eventually made accessible on the Xbox Live Marketplace on 27 June.^[31][61]

The full version was released on 3 June 2008 in the United States and Canada for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, and Wii platforms.^[3] A day later, the game was released in Australia, and on 6 June, the game was released in Europe.^[62][63] The Xbox 360 version is backward compatible with Xbox One and the Xbox Series X and Series S.^[64] Shortly prior to the release of the game, the fourth instalment of the Indiana Jones film series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was premiered.^[65] Storc said that the developers only focused on replicating the first three films in the game.^[25]

In October 2008, Microsoft released a Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones bundle for Pro and Elite configurations of Xbox 360.^[66] The Mac OS X version of the game was released on 28 November.^[34][35] The game, however, does not run on the Mac Mini computers.^[23] Following its release, Lego Indiana Jones was made available on Steam on 8 July 2009, on Microsoft's Games on Demand digital distribution service on 27 November 2009, and on PlayStation Now in 2017.^[67][68][69] Lego Indiana Jones was made further available on PlayStation Vita in 2014 as part of a package of Lego video games.^[70] The game was made free from 16 to 30 November 2020 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S users with Xbox Live Gold.^[71]

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Aventures received "generally favourable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.^[84] Martin Docherty of GamesRadar+ listed the game as one of the best Indiana Jones video games in 2021, saying that "[the] game does not do a huge amount of original storytelling or dangle any intertwining narrative paths...but it is undeniably the most fun".^[2] IGN also listed it as one of the best Lego video games.^[85] In a review for MeriStation  [es], Roberto Garcia appreciated the crossover of Lego and Indiana Jones franchises, adding that the game took advantage of the success of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.^[15] Paul Freeman, who played René Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark, saw the game as entertaining.^[86]

Reviewers complimented the gameplay of Lego Indiana Jones and its retelling of the films. Writing for IGN, Chris Roper commended the incorporation of characters' phobias, replayability features, and the game's pacing due to the inclusion of new segments not featured in the original films. He highlighted that the addition of new segments has resulted in "bigger separations" between the game and the films than the Lego Star Wars games.^[13] Ben Talbot of Official Xbox Magazine favourably wrote that the developer did a good job adapting the Indiana Jones films to the mechanics of Lego games.^[80] In a review for GamePro, Cameron Lewis viewed the minecart escape as one of the most unforgettable parts of the game.^[6] Andrew Reiner of Game Informer described the platformer elements as irritating, but the entire gameplay as entertaining with "moderately high" replayability.^[21] Conversely, Brad Shoemaker of Giant Bomb saw the gameplay as awkward and rough.^[10] Tim Stevens of X-Play said that the gameplay should have been improved with the addition of in-game help for certain puzzles.^[12] Docherty welcomed the addition of the co-op mode, while Roper lauded its mechanics.^[2][13] Lewis, on the other hand, disliked the absence of an online co-op mode.^[6] Cam Shea of IGN viewed the co-op mode as the most important element of the game, characterising it as its "lifeblood" and praising its player coordination mechanics. However, he did remark that the single-player mode is also enjoyable.^[87] Writing for GamesRadar, David Houghton saw the first chapter unfavourably due to dull pacing, while the other two more positively.^[88]

Furthermore, critics had mixed perspectives regarding the game's overall mechanics. Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer said that the physics engine meshes perfectly with the Indiana Jones franchise.^[24] Shawn Sparks of GameRevolution and Tom McShea of GameSpot saw the AI of the second player and enemies as chaotic, though Talbot said the AI does its tasks well.^[16][38][80] Stevens disliked the combat system for not featuring more complex mechanics of Lego Star Wars games, while Sparks and Reiner commended Indy's abilities.^[16][12][21] Writing for Gry-Online, Marcin Łukański praised the character fear system.^[9] Shea complimented the diversity of items that the player can interact with but disliked ranged weapon mechanics.^[18][87] Roper criticised the game's camera mechanics but lauded the improvement of vehicles to previous Lego Star Wars games.^[13] Reiner saw the camera mechanics as troublesome when platforming vertically and the vehicle missions as badly built, while Andy Eddy of TeamXbox criticised the camera in regard to the player falling off the game's territory, describing the experience as "claustrophobic".^[17][21] Chris Holt of Macworld disliked the respawn system.^[23]

The game's graphics have been commended by reviewers. Docherty described the game's graphics as a "blend of pseudo-realistic backgrounds and Lego pieces", while Stevens saw them as neat and silly.^[2][12] Shea commended the looks of environments and characters;^[87] Stevens and Talbot also noted that the characters animations show a lot of charm.^[12][80] Sparks praised the game's overall graphics and cutscenes, but saw the additional cosmetic characters as uninteresting; the addition of Star Wars characters was, however, commended by him.^[16] Reiner also complimented the game's graphics but unfavourably described the game as "Lego Star Wars with an Indiana Jones skin slapped on top of it".^[21] A NGamer reviewer, however, said that the game is more visually appealing than Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman games.^[89] In a MeriStation  [es] review, the game's attention to details, the looks of environments, motion blur, and dynamic lighting were commended, noting that the looks of original locations in the films retained their identity in the game.^[7]

Reviewers also praised the game's overall soundtrack but were mixed on the sound effects. Chea commended the film-inspired soundtracks and the explosive-sounding and building sound effects.^[87] Stevens disliked the game's music due to its poor replayability and its sound effects, which he saw as bland in comparison with the films.^[12] Sparks, however, saw the soundtrack positively and said that it "fits the game".^[16] Reiner also disliked the sound effects but complimented the snippets of film soundtracks composed by John Williams for "rightfully [burying]" sound effects and characters.^[21] Eddy saw the sound effects as simple and the music on the level of film soundtracks; he noted that the music is dynamic, that it changes based on the "intensity of a scene".^[17] Writing for The Guardian, Neil Davey commended the sound effects which he saw as genuine.^[83]

Writing for Pocket Gamer, Mark Walbank praised the design of minigames on the DS version.^[81] McShea was not impressed, but still commended them for being well-integrated with the standard gameplay.^[26] Tracy Erickson of Pocket Gamer criticised the structure of puzzles on the PSP version, saying that each puzzle takes too long to complete.^[82]

Michael Thomsen wrote for IGN's Head-To-Head report that the PSP version is the worst gameplay-wise, due to not featuring multiplayer support, having longer loading times, and because of the PSP's analogue nub controls. He rated the Wii version as the best out of all console versions, due to the console's controls and overall experience.^[90] McShea also said that PSP's small screen size made the gameplay more harder and foiling, while he also criticised its controls.^[91] Reviewers reported that the abilities of the Wii Remote were not used to the fullest extent in the game.^[14][92] The player instead has to use the joystick to control the character.^[14] Regarding the DS version, Garcia said that actions performed with the stylus in the end become uninteresting and that same actions can be performed more easily with buttons instead.^[15] Martin Robinson of IGN praised the microphone usage in the DS version.^[27]

Garcia complimented the game's attention to details in the DS version, while Craig Harris of IGN said that despite the loss of graphical quality in cutscenes in the DS version, they provided the appropriate amount of humour that was not present in The Complete Saga.^[4][15] Thomsen also noted that the DS version's graphics are detailed despite the pixelisation present in textures.^[90] In comparison with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Lego Star Wars games, Francisco Alberto Serrano Acosta of MeriStation said that the PlayStation 3 version of Lego Indiana Jones is much more spirited and comprehensive.^[45] Thomsen complained about framerate issues and screen tearing in the PlayStation 3 version, and instead listed the Xbox 360 version as the best regarding the game's graphics, particularly due to the version's lightning, colours, and textures.^[90] McShea praised the looks of the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii versions of the game.^[38] Javier Andres Alcala of MeriStation commended the Wii edition's graphics and characters.^[14]

Thomsen ranked the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions as the best in regards to the game's music and sound effects due to their usage of the Dolby Digital audio compression technology. He ranked the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions lower due to worse compression of Dolby Pro Logic II, and the PSP version in behind of the PlayStation and Wii versions. Despite placing the DS version last, Thomsen praised the addition of music despite the low memory of Game Cards but noted that the music sounds worse when played on higher volume.^[90] Shaun McInnis of GameSpot commended the sounds of birds and water in the DS version.^[93]

Shortly after its release, Lego Indiana Jones became the best-selling game in the United Kingdom according to Chart-Track during the second week of June 2008, surpassing Grand Theft Auto IV.^[94] It later returned to being the best-selling game in the United Kingdom in the fourth week of the same month, and again briefly in July 2008.^[95][96] The game's Xbox 360 version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.^[97][98] During June 2008 in the United States, the game also sold 267,800 copies on the DS, 294,500 copies on the Wii, and 260,300 copies on the PlayStation 2.^[99]

Award	Category	Result	Ref.
IGN Nintendo DS Awards	Best Action Game	Nominated	[100]
	Best Local Multiplayer Game	Nominated	[101]
IGN Wii Awards	Best Action Game	Nominated	[102]
	Best Local Multiplayer Game	Nominated	[103]
IGN Xbox Game of the Month	June 2008 Game of the Month	Nominated	[104]
2008 Spike Video Game Awards	Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show	Won	[105]
2008 Develop Awards	Best Use of a Licence	Won	[106]

Shortly after the game's release, Storc signalled the creation of a sequel due to the absence of The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from the first game.^[107] A sequel titled Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues was announced in May 2009 by Traveller's Tales and LucasArts. In addition to the first three films, the game also includes and puts emphasis on the fourth film, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It also features a level editor.^[108] It was released on 17 November in North America and two days later in Europe.^[109] The game received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic.^[110] A separate handheld version was also released.^[111]

A mobile version of Lego Indiana Jones was announced by THQ Wireless in October 2008.^[112] The game, developed by Cobra Mobile with Java, featured platformer elements. Writing for Pocket Gamer, Spanner Spencer unfavourably described it as a Super Mario Bros clone.^[113] It was released for mobile phones in 2008 and the iPhone in 2009.^[114][115]

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