Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine #20 Soviet agents are sniffing around an ancient ruin

In 1947, the nazis have been crushed, the Cold War has begun, and Soviet agents are sniffing around an ancient ruin. Grab your whip and fedora and join Indy in a globespanning race to unearth the mysterious "Infernal Machine." Survive the challenges of unusual beasts, half the Red Army and more (including - oh no - snakes!). Puzzle your way through 17 chapters of an action-packed story. Travel the world to exotic locales, from the ruins of Babylon to Egyptian deserts. All the weapons you will need, including firearms, explosives-and of course Indy's trusty whip and revolver.

Introduction

The Communists are trying to reassemble a machine that will open the door to a parallel universe. However, many of the key parts are missing. It is up to you as Indiana Jones to search the globe and recover the pieces before the Soviets do. You will have to run, jump, swim, and fight his way through 19 levels of action. Luckily, you can use a whip, pistol, machine gun, and grenades on the Soviet soldiers, spiders, scorpions, snakes, wolves, jaguars, sharks, jellyfish, and poisonous lice you encounter. After completing a level, you will be treated to a cinematic clip that will advance the plot and reveal the password you need to continue the game. The world will only be safe when the missing parts are recovered and the Communist threat is quelled in INDIANA JONES AND THE INFERNAL MACHINE.

One could say that developer Core Design merely turned the Indiana Jones movies into a game and replaced Harrison Ford with Lara Croft when it created Tomb Raider. Ironically, the argument could also be made that last year LucasArts returned the favor when it released the officially licensed Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine for windows Platform — a game that so closely resembled the look and feel of Tomb Raider that it was undeniable. Unfortunately for PC players, while the product delivered a strong storyline and cleverly designed puzzle-filled worlds worthy of Dr. Jones' name, it also suffered considerably from the same shortcomings of Croft's; in particular, a terribly disorganized control system and a good amount of bug-ridden code to boot.

Zoom to the present. LucasArts has teamed with developer Factor 5 to bring The Infernal Machine to Nintendo 64 owners — only this time without the inherent flaws of the Windows version. To its credit, the company has largely succeeded. Indy 64 sacrifices nothing from the PC version, except for many of its frustrations. It looks just as good, if not better, and thanks to a totally redesigned control scheme, it feels as it should have to begin with — more intuitive, tighter, speedier, and all around more balanced. All of the puzzles and superior level design of the PC title, meanwhile, remain perfectly intact. It is not a perfect game, mind you, but it is the best version of Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine ever created — and it blows the top off any of today's Tomb Raider offerings too.

If you enjoyed any of the Tomb Raider offerings, consider yourself a fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, or are just looking for a quality action-adventure on your N64, we recommend you make the purchase. It is one of the console's last great selections, and you would be doing yourself a disservice if you overlooked it simply because it was not available through regular retail outlets. See below:

The Facts

• Based on Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine for Windows
• Whip, leap, climb, crawl and swim your way through amazing 3D environments
• Survive the challenge of hungry critters, hostile robots, weird monsters, half the Red Army and more (including "oh no snakes!")
• Puzzle your way through 17 chapters of a gripping, action-packed story
• Travel the world to exotic locales, from the ruins of Babylon to the labyrinths of the Nubian Kings
• All the weapons you will need, including automatic pistols, machine guns, grenades, satchel charges, bazookas and, of course, Indy's trusty whip and revolver
• Engine completely recoded by LucasArts and Factor 5 for maximum performance on N6
• 4MB Expansion Pak support game runs in high-resolution mode
• New control system corrects clunky, awkward movement of the Windows version
• New lighting effects, particle effects and water transparencies add even more realism to an already realistic title.
• Loads of in-game speech and brilliant surround sound using Factor 5's trademark compression techniques.

Story According to LucasArts

The game begins when the CIA, led by Indiana Jone's old friend Sophia Hapgood brings him alarming evidence that a Soviet physicist Gennadi Volodnikov has been searching the site of the Tower of Babel. The Soviets are looking for evidence of an ancient machine that can open the door to a parallel dimension called the Aetherium. Volodnikov and his Communist henchmen are anxiously trying to reassemble the machine, but need to find several crucial parts to get it working. The missing parts, scattered throughout the far corners of the globe, are the targets of Indy's quest.

Gameplay

You have played Tomb Raider. Imagine Lara Croft was not so voluptuous. Now imagine she wore a hat and carried a whip. Welcome to Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine. The design behind the game is not original, but it does bring some new elements to the puzzle-filled action-adventure genre and there is enough variety to keep gamers happy for a long time to come.

Indy travels through 17+ different levels solving puzzles, taking out enemies and collecting priceless artifacts. He can use a variety of weapons and gadgets — everything from a standard gun and machete to a shotgun, lighter and yes, even magic. Along the way our hero will also have to boat down rivers on a raft, drive through deserts in a jeep, jump, climb, swim, crawl, whip, swing, and slide his way to victory. The selection is commendable. In the Windows version of the game simple tasks such as using weaponry were a chore as everything was confined to different keys. For the N64 "port" LucasArts and Factor 5 have taken notice of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's C-button item scheme and copied it. there is no shame, really — it rocked, and it works just as brilliantly in Indy's world. Utilizing it, selecting an item is as simple as hitting one of three C-buttons. For example: C-left pulls out Dr. Jones' whip while C-right unholsters his gun and C-down his lighter. C-up, meanwhile is used for a free-view mode in which players can simply look around at their environment — helpful when one is stuck.

Another major innovation over the Windows version's control scheme is the inclusion of an additional feature made popular with Miyamoto's Zelda title: the z-trigger lock-on. When Indy's weapon is drawn, players can lock onto an enemy with the R button, at which point Dr. Jones can simply strafe around his foe and continue to fire with a fixed camera angle. It works splendidly — just as it did for Link in his battles. it is a seemingly simple addition that in actuality goes a long way to make the feel of the adventure more intuitive, thus giving the player more confidence in their ability.

Not all is well in Indiana's new adventure, though. Certain shortcomings from the Windows version are still evident in the N64 one. The control, while improved greatly, is still awkward. Indy is Lara Croft-like in his movement — slow. He is not an acrobat capable of jumping from ledge to ledge, sliding down slopes and diving with perfect precision through a window across a chasm. Rather, he must be turned around, carefully positioned, and then given the okay to go for it, but even then there is no guarantee that players will successfully defeat whatever manipulation goal they were hoping to. Like Tomb Raider, a certain degree of patience is required to play with Indy, and if you never liked Lara's moves, you will not like Dr. Jones' either. Also, there are occasional problems with collision detection. Indiana has bounced off a ledge we had intended him to grab onto before, and similarly he has gotten caught on a rock while rafting or stuck in a wall while exploring, leaving us no choice but to reset. These examples are rare but noteworthy.

The layouts of levels are nearly identical to those found in the Windows version; huge, themed worlds with massive, stretching puzzles that trigger new puzzles, that in turn unlock new puzzles. Indy must battle tigers, run over hyenas with his jeep, avoid raft-popping rocks in the rapids, jump over boiling lava, break through walls with magic, shoot dead Russian soldiers, ride mine carts and avoid being poisoned by disgusting reptiles and insects. He must travel from snowy mountaintops to dusty deserts, through underground pyramids, into forests and down dark, underwater chasms that seem to keep going and going. Players will absolutely not get bored with the complexity or variety the game dishes up, and that goes a long way to enhancing replay value. Another, perhaps more important replay booster comes in the form of the treasure Indy collects. Priceless artifacts are hidden through every level in the game and as Dr. J collects them his IQ goes up. Once he attains a certain IQ, a very, very impressive secret is unlocked. it is definitely something for the master gamer to shoot for and the good news is players can go back into already-beaten levels at any time to seek out and save treasures.

Graphics

Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine is one of the prettiest titles to ever grace a Nintendo 64 cartridge. LucasArts and Factor 5 have actually improved the visuals in many ways over the Windows original. Think gigantic, intricately detailed worlds with magnificently ambient, crisp texture work that will have you wondering if it is actually an N64 product and lighting effects that are just as impressive. Add in an energetic particle effects system — something the Windows game lacked — that enables rocks that fall from textures as Indy climbs, or flames that shoot out sparks as they bend with the wind. Couple everything with huge 3D architecture and an amazing amount of variation from level to level. Now for the kicker — everything runs in 640 x 480 high-resolution mode given players own a 4MB Expansion Pak. For the unlucky that do not, Indy defaults to low-resolution mode, but the quality of the textures and the way in which they are laid out still gives the title a visible edge over just about any other N64 game out there.

In fact, the only real downfalls to the graphics are the animation system and, occasionally, the framerate. Indy walks, crawls and climbs as if he is got something incredibly painful camped out in his rear-end — just as he did in the Windows version. It is the only aspect of the 64-bit effort that we wished had been addressed. The framerate, meanwhile, can drop in large outdoor environments with several enemies on-screen at once, but because the adventure is often confined to indoor areas and is not setup in a way that calls for dozens of foes at once, it is rare that the fluidity dips to a noticeable degree.

Sound

The Factor 5 crew has unleashed its MusyX tools to make the N64 version of Indiana Jones a much better listening experience than the Windows one — and that despite the fact that it is on cartridge. Everything in the game booms out in full stereo surround sound from the large selection of moody music (triggered at key events) to the lengthy speech delivered in cut-scenes, and to the in-game gunshots, explosions, grunts, growls, hisses, boils, screeches, and more. Additionally, the voice acting is usually of top quality too, which is hard to come by in any console game. You will not be disappointed.

The Verdict

Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine is the Tomb Raider that Nintendo 64 owners never got. it is a complex, sometimes downright difficult puzzle-filled action-adventure with beautiful visuals and a fun storyline. Thankfully, the title is also much improved over its Windows predecessor. LucasArts and Factor 5 have reworked the control scheme greatly so that it is much more intuitive and fitted toward console gaming. In addition, visuals have similarly been enhanced to allow for better lighting and particle effects, not to mention a spectacular degree of texture detail for a 64-bit cart. But not everything is happy and swell. The control scheme, while definitely fixed in many ways, still bears some resemblance to its Windows forefather and because of that is still on the clunky side — slow and very familiar to those who have controlled Lara Croft in her countless adventures. This is a shortcoming that is easily dealt with, though, and in fact it is one that some gamers have even grown to enjoy if sales of Tomb Raider are any indication.

The bottom line is that if you have ever found yourself even remotely interested in Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, or puzzle-solving action-adventure games, this is the best one Nintendo 64 will ever get, and it is a fine one to have in any library. Nab it before it is too late.

Controls

Snowspeeder Controls

This allows Indy to move freely. Move the control stick a little to walk, and a lot to run.

Standard Setup

Jump. Hold the button to help Indy jump higher. He can also climb up on top of certain blocks or ledges this way. Plus, he can move while jumping as well, which is helpful for jumping from platform to platform.

Action. When Indy's hands are empty this will perform miscellaneous actions such as opening doors, grabbing, pushing, and pulling blocks, hanging from ledges, and more. The action he performs depends on what the green circle says at the top. If he has a certain object in his hands, the button is used for that object. The revolver will fire pressing B.

, , and Store items. Weapons and other inventory (some of it anyway). One object is assigned to a particular button. At the start of the game, Indy's revolver will be in one button, his whip in another, and the other one will have his lighter. As Indy gets more weapons and items (mainly weapons) he can take them from area to another, and he can switch between them.

To pick whatever you want to use, press that particular button that item has. To switch, pause, and weapons will be on the far left colmun. To select a weapon, press any of the three C-buttons. Some items like the lighter and whip can be equipped as well.

Move view. This lets Indy see from a first-person view to see the surroundings around him, keeping in mind that you must hold the button to do this. Simply look around using the control stick.

Pauses the game and brings up a menu. The far left column has weapons for Indy to select from. The second one has health recovery items, such as Anti-Venom kits and medicines. The third one has miscellaneous items he is found, and the are usually used at the pause screen, such as keys.

The last column on the far right has options, which consists of a camera to save your game in the middle of a stage (So you will not redo the entire thing all over again), game progress of your money, IQ points, and whether you want to quit your game with or without saving, restart the stage from where you last saved, or start the stage over from the beginning. Left or right selects a column. To scroll through them, press up or down. To get out, simply press start.

When holding the z-button, Indy walks instead of runs. This also keeps the camera behind Indy and allows him to slowly walk backwards, as well as strafe slowly. With a gun out, Indy will lock onto enemies by pressing this button ("Z" targeting). This button helps him aim better.

Lock on automatically sometimes and sometimes when you release the button, the lock sticks if he is close enough. Not all enemies can be locked on.

Not used in gameplay, but can navigate the menus for you if you do not feel like using the control stick.

It puts away whatever Indy has equipped currently.

Indy crawls which is useful for avoiding some traps or crawling through small areas.

Characters

Indiana Jones

He holds an advanced degree, speaks and reads a dozen languages, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the past, and teaches school. Yet Indy is anything but a mild-mannered professor. He has been everywhere, seen everything, and when he gets into trouble he knows how to get out–using his wits, his fists, his whip, a gun–whatever it takes. His boundless appetite for treasure and adventure stems from an abiding faith in the mysteries of life.

Sophia Hapgood

Indy has crossed paths with this resourceful and independent woman before. They worked a dig site in Iceland together, where she found a medallion that awakened her psychic powers. Later she helped him find Atlantis. Then, after a tumultuous romance, she disappeared. Now she is back, a spy for the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency, recruiting Jones to figure out why the Soviets are digging up Babylon.

Simon Turner

Sophia's boss. he is a military intelligence officer who parachuted into France to help organize the Resistance during World War II. When President Truman established the CIA, Turner was one of the first to join. he is cool and competent, always near the action, rarely in it. He hates the Communists, because no one gets rich in their system. Where would America be without men like him?

Nubian Boy

An agile young boy living among the pyramids of the Sudan. Educated in a British missionary school, he is fascinated by European technology–and scared to death of hyenas.

Dr. Gennadi Volodnikov

Analytical by training, mystical by nature, this near-sighted Soviet genius spent the war years designing top secret military codes. Now he is busy investigating the ruins of Babylon, convinced that the Tower of Babel once housed a power more terrifying than America's atomic bomb. Volodnikov is an unlikely archaeologist, more at home with tea and piroshki than fieldwork. he is not much of a Party man either, but the force of his intellect keeps the Communist ideologues at bay.

Holy Woman

The last resident and apparent caretaker of an ancient sanctuary in the high mountains of Soviet Kazakstan. Her withered frame and abrupt manner conceal a radiant energy Indy must learn to release.

Levels

• 1. Canyonlands
• 2. Babylon
• 3. Tian Shan River
• 4. Shambala Sanctuary
• 5. Palawan Lagoon
• 6. Palawan Volcano
• 7. Palawan Temple
• 8. Jeep Trek
• 9. Teotihuacan
• 10. Olmec Valley
• 11. V.I. Pudovkin
• 12. Meroë
• 13. King Sol's Mines
• 14. Nub's Tomb
• 15. Infernal Machine
• 16. Aetherium
• 17. Return to Peru

Review - Joe Fielder

December 22, 2000 6:17PM PST

Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine is a big game, to be sure, with enough levels to keep you busy over a three-day rental period.

It took five games starring Lara Croft to arrive before the character that inspired her in the first place finally returned to video games in a 3D adventure for the Nintendo 64 - Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine. The game itself is a port of a PC game that was less than well received when it came out last year. One might assume that LucasArts must not have too much confidence in the game, having released it directly to rental through Blockbuster (and for sale in limited quantities through its Web site). This fact sets your expectations for Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine at an ideal level, though, as it is a good rental for the N64, but nothing more.

The game is set several years after the last Indiana Jones film, after the end of the second World War. Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones has been coaxed back into the field by the CIA to keep an ancient Babylonian device from falling into the hands of the Soviets. Oddly enough, the parts of the device have been scattered around the world, left in remote tombs that are as hard to get to as they are to penetrate. Indy must face many creatures and foes along the way, ranging from mystical beasts and Soviet troops to spiders and snakes. To help keep you alive in this journey, you have your trusty whip, antivenom kits, and whatever firearms you can take from the Soviet forces, such as an automatic pistol, a machine pistol, and a combat rifle.

The gameplay is similar to that of Eidos' Tomb Raider series. It involves a lot of running, jumping, climbing, pulling levers, and pushing buttons, though Indy can be found doing a few things that Lara Croft does not. For instance, your whip is more than just a weapon - it can be used to latch onto objects to allow you to swing across chasms or climb to higher ground. The puzzles in the game are very straightforward and simple, but they are also often hard to perform. Sometimes they involve different gameplay elements such as riding along a river on a raft or barreling through underground tunnels in a mining cart, which are less fun than they should be due to the game's graphical and control problems. For example, the raft ride feels similar to games that you play at carnivals for prizes; it is so tough to keep Indy from hitting the rocks that sometimes you start to think that the whole thing is rigged, and not in your favor.

What does not help is that the controls from the PC game have been adapted to the Nintendo 64 controller in a rather clunky and unintuitive way. The A button jumps; the B button initiates actions such as opening doors; the shoulder button crouches; and the C buttons can be assigned to items such as your whip, lighter, and gun - with the top C as a free look. It is a setup that you will eventually get used to, but it never comes easy. The response that you get from the character is even less suitable for the action you need to pull off in the game. Indy may jump and swing well, but try to get him to climb the step in front of him and you will likely see him jump straight up a few times before he realizes he can simply shimmy himself forward. When an enemy comes into view, a moving circle will appear around it, and your character's movement will revolve around it until it is dispatched. It worked well in Ocarina of Time, and it works well here. Fans of the Tomb Raider series will likely prefer the fighting in this game due to its simplicity.

Graphically speaking, the game is no Banjo-Tooie, but it does a competent job of creating a convincing looking 3D world. The environments are sparse and barren, but they are often quite expansive, and they sometimes have nice textures. The characters look good enough until they start moving and you see that their animations are stiff and wooden. Indy, for example, looks ridiculous when he jumps and climbs ladders like he is bowlegged. Graphical bugs creep into the mix as well. Beyond the times when pop-up appears in the foreground, instances where textures are replaced by pulsing shades of pink, white, and gray; half the screen zones out in a video toaster-like effect; and Indy will disappear during a scripted event are not uncommon. The least forgivable bug is the kind that causes the game to lock up completely - something almost unheard of in games for the console systems.

The sound effects, voice acting, and soundtrack in the game are at least as good as the game's graphics. Unlike in Tomb Raider, you will hear music beyond just when you make a discovery, which adds more to the experience than you are used to. The voice work is performed well during the game's rare cutscenes, although the actor who plays Indiana Jones sounds more like a square-jawed Superman than Harrison Ford. And the sound effects are neither particularly noteworthy nor worth complaining about; they serve their purpose.

Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine is a big game, to be sure, with enough levels to keep you busy over a three-day rental period. The puzzles within them are not very original or entertaining, but seeing that this is the only Tomb Raider-style game to come to the Nintendo 64, it deserves at least a little leeway. Video game players went so long without an Indiana Jones game that they had to start going to other sources for their tomb-raiding fix - except for N64 owners. And they will find that there is at least enough fun to be had by renting this game that they will be able to work it out of their system.

Review

Jul 8, 2010 4:38 am GM

DO NOT listen to the stupid GameFAQs reviewer or user reviews, this game is a masterpiece.

• Difficulty: Hard
• Time Spent: 20 to 40 Hours
• The Bottom Line: "Masterpiece"

As I said, do not listen to those misguided reviewers who say this game is awful. They are spoiled on the new games that are glitch-free and have excellent graphics.

Story - 9/10

This game has an excellent storyline, and follows all the way to the end. It also has a very surprising ending, and people betray you that you wouldn't expect.

Graphics - 9/10 FOR ITS TIME

The graphics, if you qill look at the Nintendo 64 article on Wikipedia, were pushed to the absolute limit for 2000 N64 games. They are not very great compared to Halo 3 or something, but they are great for their time. The lighting, shadows, phsyics, etc, are great, but the models are very low-poly. But the immersive enviroments really make up for the bad models.

Sound - 10/10

Excellent voice acting, and excellent ambience and music. The overall 'sounds' are not bad, either. It really freaks you out if you play it with the sounds up loud.

Overall - 9.5/10

This game is veryyyy underrated. The PC version may not have as many glitches, but it does not have the graphics that the N64 version has.

If the developers had had just a little more time to work on this port, I assure you this would have been a VERY, VERY successful game. My top 5 games has this baby at the top. No joke, it really does. It might help that I played it at release almost, and lost it and then got it back some years later, and the nostalgia was there, but I still love it. There is an excellent ship level (I love games with ships) and an excellent mining-place level. It is a VERY underrated game, actually. I love this game so much. It truly is a masterpiece and a classic game. And I will love this game forever, even if video games are obsolete and non-playable by that time.

My advice, pick it up, if you do not mind a few glitches. If they were to remake this game, it would really be even more awesome than it already is. Thank you, Factor 5 and LucasArts, for a wonderful game.