You are deep in the jungles of South America. You look around and see trees and greenery surrounding you. You look down and see the trademark brown jacket and whip hanging from your side. You then see a lush valley complete with points of interest and danger likely lurking behind every corner.
You are Indiana Jones. You are seeing the world through the eyes of the legendary action hero.
Last week, Lucas Film Games announced that they were working with developer Machine Games on a new Indiana Jones videogame. Although the game will likely not be released for a couple years, and we know very little about it, I wanted to discuss my thoughts on this news and the ideal Indiana Jones videogame adventure.
While I find it hard to believe that Indiana Jones would need any introduction, for those who may not know, he is a fictional adventurer and professor of archaeology. He battles a variety of adversaries such as cultists and even Nazis, and his adventures typically take place in the mid-1930s.
The character became a pop culture icon from his films in the 1980s starring Harrison Ford. Many consider Indiana Jones to be one of the greatest action heroes in film, alongside names like James Bond.
Indiana Jones has been largely influential not just in tv and movies, but also in video games. Many game heroes have been inspired by the adventures of Indiana Jones, most notably Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise and Nathan Drake from the Uncharted videogames.
Despite the importance on the games industry, Indiana Jones has had little notable success in his own games, except for some early 90’s PC adventure games. Now, after forty years, we may finally get the Indiana Jones gaming adventure of our dreams thanks to the award-winning studio of Machine Games.
Machine Games is known for first-person games, which, perhaps controversially, is exactly what I want for this experience. I want to BE Indiana Jones, not the camera behind him. I want to see every deadly and intense situation through his eyes and use my limited tools and quick wit to approach them as he would. I feel that the first-person perspective is the best way to accomplish this and let gamers truly feel the intensity of this great adventure.
Machine Games’ productions are also known for "home base" segments where you interact with side characters. I feel these are perfect for the Indiana Jones universe. In between adventuring, you can chat with Dr. Marcus Brody in Dr. Jones’ University classroom, argue with Marion Ravenwood in her Nepalese bar, or enjoy some sugar dates with Sallah in his Egypt home. This format would let players experience the personal moments that make Indiana Jones such an iconic character.
Although many gamers tend to want more cinematic experiences for licensed games, I feel the personal touches of the first-person games Machine Games make will more than do this iconic hero justice. Whatever the result ends up being, I cannot wait to go on this adventure.
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