- The Original Tomb Raiding Hero is Back to make his mark on a PS2 near you this year!! The Setup Based on the hugely successful Indiana Jones trilogy, Lucasarts' Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is clambering through a dusty crypt towards you this very moment. In his latest gaming adventure Indy is plunged into an International crisis of terrifying magnitude. At the beginning of the game a powerful Asian society, Black Dragon Triad, and a German mercenary Albrecht Von Beck have formed an unholy alliance in the hopes of acquiring the Heart of the Dragon, a black pearl that gives its possessor to mould minds. The rumours are that this powerful artifact is buried deep in the crypt of China's first emperor, safely hidden for 2000 years. Now its up to Indy to prevent the Heart of the Dragon falling into the hands of an unwelcome coalition. Heart of a Hero Indiana Jones get in the race to acquire the heart when he's hired to retrieve it by Marshal K'ai an Asian businessman who wants the pearl to control the government of China. But its not that easy.

Indy must navigate 10 levels, including the streets of Hong Kong, nasty croc infested waters of Ceylon, 15th Century castles and underwater palaces in Istanbul. Why? Well because the only way to enter the Emperors tomb is by collecting all the scattered pieces of the Dragon Seal - an ancient artefact that acts as the key to open the crypt that holds the pearl.

Indy's New Chick. So Who's the Skirt? To help him track down the pearl Indy needs a beautiful assistant and in this case he's treated to the company of Mei Ying (Marshall Kai's stunning assistant). She helps him throughout the journey which culminates in China with a retrieval of the Pearl. His partner will be controllable which puts this game in direct comparison with Lara's new game, where you handle a second character during the game. Unlike Indy she can handle herself in all manners of martial arts genius and will be most appealing to watch fighting off the bad guys in a variety of short skirts. phwoar Global Gathering As you probably gathered, China and the far east play a big part in the game, but Indy does a lot of globe trotting. The game begins in Ceylon and the setting is an ancient temple in the midst of a tropical jungle. From there Indy journeys to a medieval castle in Prague, and ends up in a mosque in Istanbul. After that he travels to Hong Kong and the South China Sea, and eventually our hero ends up in Xian, where the tomb of the first emperor and the pearl lie in wait. Lucasarts are promising a wide variety of environments, from lush jungles to the darkest spookiest tombs which would make Lara think twice about raiding.

The Next Indiana Jones - Indy-pendant Cinema By the time you get your hands on the game, the next episode in the Indiana Jones film series should be well underway, but at this stage the details and are sketchy at best. Steven Spielberg said he would direct it but he is otherwise engaged as is George Lucas. Rick McCallum seems to think it's a case of availability too, he says "We have a fantastic script and everyone really wants to do it. We've now got to wait for everyone to be free. The plot is most heavily rumoured around Atlantis but Spielberg has confirmed otherwise and commented that it will be something biblical and something to do with Adam and Eve. Harrison Ford, Sean Connery and John Rhys Davies have all been asked to return for a tenuous winter 2003 shooting start. (This goes with what Lucas said - Peter) Sweeeeeeet!

Whipping the enemies has to be one of the high points of battling the baddies. Enemy Action Each environment Indy enters will have its own set of enemies. These range from mercenaries to Nazis to Triad fighters. There are also level bosses that Indy will have to defeat in each of the different locations. The developers tell us the emphasis in this game is action, so enemies will show unique Al in combat and each type of enemy will have varied ways of trying to dispose of our Indiana, according to Lucasarts. The game makers have been trying to capture the flavour of the movies, combing a fast paced story and action mixed with elements of adventure romance and intrigue.

Slayer Engine This action-centric title will be powered by a Slayer Engine, the same type as that used to power the Xbox's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a technology spawned in turn by the same teams work on Deep Space Nine: The Fallen. Thanks to this action orientated engine, Indy will be able to whip, jump, shoot, step on and punch Nazis in the typical Indy fashion. The makers also tell us to expect a loud "thwack" movie-style punch sound - in true Indy style - plus an story-driven plot with action in between entertaining cut-scenes. Indy-Structible There is going to be basically two types of combat: hand to hand and ranged. Hand to hand allows, Indy to use a wide variety of punches, kicks and grabs, as well as weapons to kill enemies, such as swords, chairs, table legs and his trusty whip. Ranged combat allows Indy to use his pistol and other weapons such as a shotgun, a submachine gun and other special weapons yet to be unveiled. Action comes thick an fast in terms of vehicular activity too. Indy's spine-tingling movie-like action sequences include a rickshaw chase in Hong Kong and a spectacular battle atop moving gondolas in the South China Sea area. It's set-pieces like these that will have to deliver the goods for the game to be a real success.

Indy In Action - What to expect from Dr. Jones. Swinging Essential to the character, to swing across ravines, attack enemies and general swing that whip around like some kind of hard guy. Tools of Destruction Indy can use his trusty pistol, or a standard machine gun, Tommy gun, shot gun, spear, spinning blade fists or feet and many more. Swim For It Like Lara, Indy swims about too but he's better at it because he's a man (bigger lungs you see) He has the same enemies too, sharks and alligators. Mei Ying You're not just controlling the whip warrior y'know! Players will also have to know how to treat a lady when they take control of feisty kung fu mistress Mei Ying.

This is the Full Article from PSI2 Magazine in the United Kingdom. Adapted for TIE.c
By Peter Lally