Indiana Jones 3 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

This game differs somewhat from the adventure games we've come to expect from LucasArts in a sense that it is not a pure adventure. It's an interesting combination of an action game and an adventure but does not really fall into the category of action/adventure games.

Story

You probably all know this from the movie (if not, then you should definitely see the movie first) so I'll be brief. After completing an exhausting quest, Indy returns to the University to continue his teaching. Just as he arrives, two men grab him, push him into a car and take him to meet with a very wealthy business man who makes him an offer he can't refuse. Indy's been chosen to lead an expedition to recover the Holy Grail. Not really believing in the myth, he almost declines but then he learns that an earlier expedition has already started the work but then disappeared into thin air. And the man leading the crew was his father...

Opinion

This game is very tough to rate. On one hand, it's not much of an adventure because most of the game is either spent in mazes or in irritating action sequences. On the other hand, the smart adventurer can bypass the action sequences easily by putting in a little extra work, solving all the puzzles and the mazes can be easily mapped, leaving everything up to your brain (and your patience).

At first I didn't really know what to make of this but then I realized the idea behind this concept. A true adventurer will always look for the puzzles and usually won't progress until s/he's solved them all. A casual player, on the other hand, might not be interested in solving every single puzzle in the game so s/he should be allowed to make use of Indy's strength and agility, just like you've seen him in the movies. You can choose the clever approach but you also have the chance to simply punch your way through.

As for the physical attributes, there's not much to say. The graphics - as you can plainly see - leave something to be desired but that's usually the case with older games. Unfortunately the music and sounds are flat-out unratable, I only gave them a 3 out of respect for the Indy tune. :-)

And now comes the hard part. What can I say about the game as a whole? The first time I played it, I hated it. The second time (years later), I ended up liking it. The Last Crusade clearly isn't your typical adventure game and is a long stretch from the usual LucasArts style adventures but it can still be fun if you know what to expect.