You call him Doctor Jones

Earlier this week, my daughter and I popped into the store long enough to pick up LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. We were huge fans of the LEGO Star Wars games from the time we first got the Xbox, so it was a foregone conclusion we'd pick this one up. As soon as I saw the first trailer and Indy as an unlockable character in the last LEGO Star Wars, I knew I had to have it. It wasn't until last night, however, that we got a chance to sit down and play it. Together, we made it through the first chapter of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the South American temple part. It was insanely fun! The game has captured all of the great parts of LEGO Star Wars and taken it much further with all manner of new goodies. Indy, of course, has his iconic whip, but there are several other tools scattered throughout the game. Shovels allow you to dig up various items, wrenches allow you to repair broken equipment, and keys are required to unlock some gears. In addition to the building with LEGO blocks, you can also pick up and carry various items to drop where they need to be used. There are a variety of weapons as well, including swords, pistols, and bazookas, which some of the enemy characters will drop when they're defeated. There are many more finishing moves in combat as well; I saw Indy noogie one guy to destruction, then grab another one and throw him across the room. And that's before I started him throwing chairs, bottles, and torches at the bad guys. The chapters more or less follow the plot of the original movies, and are padded out with a lot of fun action and scenery. I've only played the first three chapters myself, but I had a blast doing so and really struggled to force myself to turn the Xbox off last night to go to bed. So far, my favorite bit has been the boulder chase through the collapsing temple at the end of the first chapter. Brianna and I didn't quite escape the boulder when we played, but it still gets you out to your cut scene with Belloq. When I played it solo later, I did make it, and the cut scene started out differently, which was awesome. Some of the puzzles, particularly when they involved timed jumping, did get the better of my little girl, but she just needs more practice to work on her timing. She had a great time as well, and told me she wants to play it a lot over the coming weekend. Sounds like we have our plans made.