If you're like me, any time an Indiana Jones flick in on the boob tube, I'm watching it. Just like most movie franchises, the sequels never quite lived up to the original Raiders of the Lost Ark, but they still took us on one hell of a ride. Sure, there are plenty of rumors going around Hollywood of a final Indiana Jones film, but in the meantime, we'll have Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb to hold us over. We were able to check out the latest build of the game to see what Indy is made of.

LucasArts recruited the team at The Collective for latest Indy videogame adventure. Most recently known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the Xbox, The Collective has taken all the goodies and knowledge from Buffy and implemented them into their latest action/adventure game with an Indy flavor. As you may have guessed, Indy utilizes a modified version of the Buffy engine, but that certainly isn't a bad thing. Even though, Buffy wasn't a "mega" hit, it still proved to be one of the best action/adventure titles on the Xbox. Now Indy gets to reap all the rewards as he spans the globe in an attempt to disrupt the forces of evil and, of course, get the girl.

The story appears to take place somewhere between Raiders and the Temple of Doom timeline of the movie trilogy. After an initial "training level" to get you accustomed with the controls, the primary plot of the game is revealed. Indy is visited at the university by Marshal K'ai, a Chinese business man, and his associate Mei Ying. Mr. K'ai informs Dr. Jones that the excavation of the tomb of China's first emperor has begun. Many folk tales regarding the tomb have been past down through the generations, as no one has been permitted in the tomb for over 2,000 years. Within the emperor's tomb is a flawless black pearl, the Heart of the Dragon. Whoever possesses the pearl is said to also have the power to control the will of men. Apparently, an evil alliance between a Nazi mercenary and an Asian underground society, the Black Dragon Triad, has been formed in the hopes to acquire the Heart of the Dragon. Mr. K'ai recruits Indy to find three pieces of the Mirror of Dreams, which serves as a key to the Emperor Chin's tomb, and then retrieve the Heart of the Dragon for the people of China, before it falls into the wrong hands. And so the adventure begins.

The game itself is a third-person action/adventure title similar to the Tomb Raider series, although we all know who the "real" tomb raider is. Indy will travel to several exotic locations, including: Sri Lanka, Prague, Istanbul, Hong Kong, and a Nazi Sub Base, just to name a few. The game consists of 10 levels total that are made up of several areas. Many of the areas will require Indy to explore to find artifacts, solve simple puzzles, and take on a few bad guys in a number of ways. We all know that Indy is quite the pugilist, so you'll be able to swing, punch, head butt, basically anything you might imagine him doing in the movies, to get out of trouble. He'll also have a wide array of items and weapons in his inventory, including his trusty bull whip.

The control scheme is pretty straightforward and easy to get used to. The Left Analog Stick is used to move Indy, while the Right Analog Stick rotates the camera and also is used to shimmy Indy up a rope. The D-pad access the inventory menu, by scrolling through the available items while pressing right or left, and equipping or closing the inventory by pressing up or down respectively. The L trigger moves the camera into a first-person perspective for sniping purposes, or just to get a better look at the next cliff you'll be diving for. R trigger will block or lock on to enemies during a scrum. The X and A buttons are used as the primary attack buttons. Hitting the attack buttons will result in Indy performing a number of punches, kicks and simple combos. If armed with a weapon, a pistol for example, the X button will pistol whip an enemy, while the A button will fire the weapon. The B button allows Indy to jump or swim depending on the situation. You'll get used to this button, as there are more than just a few cliff ledges to jump to. To perform specific actions, such as pulling levers or opening doors, the Y button is used. Even the White and Black buttons are used to reload a weapon or draw the most recently equipped item from inventory respectively. While the controls may sound daunting, when actually applied to the gameplay, they work quite well. Plus, there are little nuances to the controls scheme that you'll pick up on throughout the game.

So far, the Emperor's Tomb is like an Indiana Jones movie on steroids. The numerous locations and various enemies are straight from the movie motif. Expect Indy to do everything from exploring ruins while taking on ivory hunters, to disguising himself as a Nazi officer to infiltrate a sub base. The Collective even through in a few first-person areas, such as trying to escape from the Black Dragon Triad in the streets of Hong Kong, to make things a bit more enjoyable. While riding in a rickshaw, you'll have to take out the oncoming enemies with your machine gun. While there are only a few of these areas, it does help to spice things up a bit from the typical third-person action/adventure title.

The graphics are looking superb with very detailed environments that are diverse and very deep. From the jungle ruins of Sri Lanka to the neon streets of Hong Kong, everything is depicted in an accurate and believable fashion. Making use of many nice particle and lighting effects adds to the movie feel of the Emperor's Tomb. Everything from the water spray of a waterfall, to the eerie glow of tortured souls, look fantastic. And unlike previous Indiana Jones games, the Emperor's Tomb sports an accurate looking Harrison Ford model to boot.

The audio is right on par with any LucasArts title. Of course, the original soundtrack has been implemented, but many new variations on the original score have been created specifically for the game. The voice acting adds another whole level with Hollywood quality voice acting, including an accurate Harrison Ford imposter. Throw in the use of Dolby 5.1, and the Emperor's Tomb sounds as good as it looks.

So far, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb looks to be a nice addition to the early 2003 Xbox lineup. Ms. Croft had a nice little run, but Indy's back and this adventure looks to be the best yet.

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is set to ship the middle of February. We'll have more on Indy, including character profiles and a full review in the upcoming month.

- by HORUS