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Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is a Wii and Nintendo DS video game that takes place after the third Indiana Jones film in 1939. The game is a return to the series' roots, featuring plentiful Nazis to battle and biblical artifacts to collect. It even features its own unique leading lady and villain, the latter of which actually knew Indiana Jones during his college years.

Gameplay[]

Indiana Jones is controlled via the joystick on the Nunchuck attachment. He can utilize his whip when the player presses down the B button on the Wii Remote and subsequently swings with it. The whip, one of Indiana Jones' primary items, can be used for a variety of things beyond battling enemies. For example, it can be used to grapple onto objects to swing to the other side of an impassable pit, grab onto objects and reel them in, and smash through obstacles. Indiana Jones' pistol also comes into play and can be aimed by simply using the Wii Remote's unique aiming functions. It only has six bullets, though it can be recharged in classic arcade fashion by directing the pointer off screen and selecting the shooting button. Finally Indiana Jones can also perform various gesture based fist attacks which are determined by what the player does with his or her Wii Remote and Nunchuck. There are, in all, three different types of attacks.

In the course of the game, Indiana Jones will travel to various locations such as California to the Central Americas to an icy tundra. Each locale has it's own share of challenges that Indiana Jones will need to overcome. In typical Indiana Jones fashion, there will be a variety of puzzles that the player will need to overcome, though the answer to the problems will not always be apparent to the player. In all, there are three vehicles that Indiana Jones will control, including planes, motorcycles and boats. Each have their own unique way of controlling them. The plane, for example, will require the player to hold the Wii Remote upright and use it as you would a large joystick to steer the plane. You can also press the B button to shoot bullets from the plane.

Story and Levels[]

The game is set in 1939, after the original film trilogy.

Sudan[]

Indiana is in Sudan recovering an artifact resembling a ram's head when he stumbles on to Magnus Voller and a Nazi camp. Voller and the Nazi's are also looking for the artifact. Indy lost the artifact to Voller but managed to escape the camp.

San Francisco[]

Having received a letter from an old friend, Archie Tan, Indy heads to Chinatown in San Francisco to meet with Tan who wants to discuss the disappearance of Charles Kingston and the Jade Sphere.

Some Chinese thugs attempt to kidnap Tan and his granddaughter. Indy rescues the granddaughter but doesn't catch up to Tan until a little later, after Indy discovers the Jade Sphere hidden in an ancient ship deep under the ground. In rescuing Tan, Indy fights off the thugs from a runaway cable car.

Panama[]

Wanting to know what was behind Kingston's disappearance, Indy heads to Panama where the Jade Sphere was originally discovered years earlier. Along the journey, Indy meets Maggie O'Malley, who is also searching for answers. While in a temple, more clues lead them to Istanbul.

Istanbul[]

An ancient palace holds some of the secrets regarding Moses and Indy realizes he's tracking down Moses' Staff, the same biblical staff Moses used to part the Red Sea. More puzzles and underground temples later, an ancient map leads Indy to a location in Nepal.

Nepal[]

Fighting through the snow and ice, they find Kingston living among the native villagers. Indy was speaking with him about the staff when Nazi's invade the village.

Indy inevitably finds tombs deep under the ground where he discovers the staff. Maggie then reveals herself to be British Intelligence, also looking to recover the Staff.

Voller shows up to kidnap Maggie and Kingston, take the staff for himself, then seal up the tomb with Indy still inside. Solving more puzzles and using his wits, Indy escapes by floating down an underground river. The river ends in a huge waterfall where Indy happens to land on the top of a Nazi zeppelin, which also happens to be Voller's mobile headquarters: the Odin.

Odin[]

Sneaking his way aboard the blimp, Indy fights dozens and dozens of Nazi soldiers and rescues Maggie. When they catch up with Voller, Voller shoots Kingston, killing him. Voller then holds the staff high, releasing massive amounts of energy that damage the blimp. Indy, Maggie and Voller are all thrown from the blimp.

Indy awakes to find that they are laying on the sea floor with the water parted around them. Voller races away on a motorcycle and Indy and Maggie give chase. Nazi's from the damaged blimp above are firing at Indy, but he manages to catch Voller and send him into the wall of water, killing him. Indy then grabs the staff and escapes back up to sea level.

While on land, the power of the staff forced Indy to close the wall of water, destroying the blimp and the Nazi soldiers. As Indy and Maggie embrace, the staff transforms into a serpent (as it says in the Bible) and slithers away.

Reception[]

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic.

Several critics reviewed the Wii version. IGN praised its interface, graphic effects, number of extras, interactive levels, and varied gameplay, but criticized its "stupidly implemented motion controls". The A.V. Club gave it an F. They called the motion controls "inexcusable" and stated the game's best aspect was the inclusion of the point-and-click adventure Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. GameSpot criticized its "terribly laid-out checkpoints", "out-of-date" visuals, and "atrocious, annoying motion controls".

Trivia[]

The Staff of Kings was based on the PS3/Xbox 360 versions from the Indiana Jones prototype that was seen in the trailer back in 2005, before the 2007 game was going to be released. The developer studios were using the run-time animation technology by Euphoria, Pixelux used Digital Molecular Matter technology and Industrial Light & Magic for the lighting. After failing their release in 2007, A2M developed and acquire for the Indiana Jones prototype before renaming the title, The Staff of Kings that was released in 2009.

External links[]

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