Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Wii)

Review by Dragonlord for Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Wii)
Rating:
I loved the first three Indiana Jones films as a child and enjoyed the new one too. I have always thought that the last two Indiana Jones games The Infernal Machine which I have on the PC and The Emperor’s Tomb on the PS2 were a little bit behind the best Tomb Raider in terms of quality. The Staff Of Kings fixes this because the developers have put alot of time and effort into giving Indie the most excellent Wii controls. There are three types of punches that you can do japs, hooks and uppercuts by using different motion movements with the Wii remote or the Nunchuk for left and right punches. You can grab your enemies and throw them into different objects such as a table or through a door. Indies whip is put to good use as you can disarm a enemy or ensnare them on the neck, waist or feet which is done with motion movements on the Wii remote. He can also destroy parts of the enviroment with his whip and cross large areas too. Indie can dodge by pressing A and B on the Wii remote simultaneously and if you are successful in dodging your attack, Indy will spring up and counter the attack. There are also objects that Indy can pick up and attack with or throw. Later on in the game you get to use a gun which is always the fastest way to kill a Nazi! I am trying my hardest to find 35 artefacts so that I can unlock Han Solo which will be rather cool. The graphics for a Wii game are excellent and it really captures the feel of Indiana Jones films very well. The music is spot on and indys voice sounds good too. This game is out on the PS2 as well and I think that the brilliant Wii controls will make this the better version because it really adds alot to the gameplay for me. So if you are a Indiana Jones fan or enjoy the Tomb Raider games then this really is a must have game for you to buy.

Review by Ledreppe for Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Wii)
Rating:
I agree with everything DragonLord said in his review.

But I would like to point out that there can be times when the Wii’s motion control can be very tricky to master. I especially refer to the Piano on a crane section on the last chapter in Odin, in Germany inside the blimp. I had a reasonably ok time with the motion controls until I got to this point, and I still haven’t got past it – so I have just gone back through the previous chapters trying to collect all the artifacts to unlock the extra game modes, like playing ‘The Fate of Atlantis’ game and the skins, such as the Han Solo costume! I’m also trying to master all the glory moves for each chapter, this is a very taxing part of the game but also very rewarding when you clean up each chapter with 100% completion.

If you have high expectations of this game based on the puzzle solving element, then I may warn you that it is mainly an action game, there is very little puzzle solving – and what puzzles there are are often simple. Indeed, there are quite a few gun slinging sections in each chapter, but you will quickly work out a technique for disposing of those troublesome Nazis – and I’ll not tell you the technique incase I spoil it for you!

Overall, this is worth playing if you know exactly what your letting yourself in for – and a gem of a game for Indy fanatics. There are some annoying flaws in this game though – mostly the checkpoint save system which forces you to redo sections of the game after dying, meaning you have to retrace your steps or start shooting hordes of Nazis all over again – can be quite repetitive if you haven’t mastered how to approach the situation in front of you!

Oh, I must add finally…

The game has crashed on me in two seperate occassions, forcing me to reset the system, go thorugh all the introductory splash screens and then the cutscenes of the chapter I was on – and also having to redo the section I was on from the last checkpoint reached!

Review by Fizzy Vimto for Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Wii)
Rating:
Good fun, but not for long.

It’s a great way of using the Wii remote in another original way, and suits the Wii very well but the response times are not up to much and you will end up frustrated that you’re getting beaten senseless by a German hardman while shouting “I thumped you!” at your TV.

Also you can’t turn off the tutorials so when you have to re-start from checkpoint (because the controls didn’t respond quickly enough), you still have to follow the instructions before progressing.

Despite these flaws I enjoyed playing Indiana Jones but had finished it in just a few hours so not one to get if you enjoy a challenging game.

All in all, not bad for the younger/less experienced gamer but not value for money in my eyes.