Time for a game review: Lego Indiana Jones 2.

I Love the Lego series of games. I started with the original Lego Star Wars (episodes 4, 5 and 6) for PSP. Then, I picked up Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy (episodes 1, 2 and 3) for XBOX360. Then, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (all 6 episodes). And, being a Batman and Indiana Jones fan, I had to buy Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones.

However, I was a little disappointed with the last 2. There are only three “secret” or extra levels and no challenge modes for the levels. Plus, they introduced a couple new features in Lego Indiana Jones (that have carried over to Lego Batman) which I find a little annoying: 1. When approaching a wall or almost anything else, your character will “hug” the wall and will only move left or right until you jump away from the wall. Not good if you happen to be standing on a ledge… 2. In order to switch to the helper character, you don’t have to be standing right in front of her/him - as you did in the Lego Star Wars games. You can just hit the Y button from the other side of the room. Kinda nice, unless you’re on a level in Lego Indiana Jones, in Story Mode and have 4 or 5 helper characters following you around and you have to cycle through all of them just to get to the one you need.

With all of the previous Lego games, you choose a level from a game lobby. With the Star Wars serious, there is a main lobby/hub - either Mos Eisley Cantina or Dexter's Diner, depending on the game. From there, you choose the episode you want to play. That would take you to a different section/map and then you choose the chapter/level you want to play. Lego Batman and the original Lego Indiana Jones are very similar, but Indiana Jones 2 is very different - and not in a good way.

The main hub is the Area 51 warehouse where you are presented with 8 crates as the main menu. Each crate contains a Lego Playset which represents the 4 Indiana Jones movies (Crystal Skull has 3 playsets - parts 1, 2 and 3), plus Super Bonus Level and Creature playsets. Just like with the previous Lego games, only 1 crate/playset (in this case Crystal Skull Part 1) is available for selection until you've completed at least 1 Story mission of that playset. Once you complete the first mission in Crystal Skull part 1, you'll unlock Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Creator. After that, playsets will unlock in chronological order as you complete their Story Missions.

Once you begin a story, you'll be placed in the Hub for that story. Unlike the old games where the hub was nothing but a gallery to quickly access each mission, in this game the Hub is a level unto itself. It's a large open area with lots of places to explore and stuff to find. When you first reach a hub, you will be in a confined space and will be led right to the first Story Mission. As you progress through the Story Missions, more of the hub will open up, prompting you to explore further. You're required to perform some kind of task to open the way to the next mission, or perhaps buy a certain vehicle to clear the way.

And, that's another thing. In the hub, you're (sometimes) forced to buy vehicles and characters. In the previous games, you could buy vehicles/characters at your leisure. However, with this new game, sometimes you MUST buy a vehicle to get to the next mission. And, in some areas of the hub, in order to prevent being attacked (and killed, thus loosing studs) you must buy the enemy character that keeps attacking you.

Green arrows lead to Story Missions, so those easy to find. Once you finish the mission, you'll be returned to the Hub where the studs you picked up in that mission will be tallied to your grand total - not much change there. If this is your first time through the mission, there's a chance you'll be put into an entirely different part of the Hub once you exit, sometimes close to your next mission, but not always.

Once you complete a Story Mission, you can now play it again in Treasure mode. It's something like freeplay mode in the previous games but it's a different version of the Story Mission map (such as in the aftermath of what you've done. For example, if you blew the place up in the Story mission, you'll now be in its ruins) and the rules have changed. For one thing, you're after a treasure chest which is to be used in the Playset hub (more info on that later). Unlike previous games, you can't select the characters you want to use. You'll use the 2 characters (and only 2 characters) needed for the mission. For instance, in some Treasure missions, you'll need an explosion-capable character (soldier with a bazooka or grenade thrower) and Indiana Jones and his whip. Or, you might need one digger character and one mechanic character - although in some Treasure missions, shovels and/or wrenches are provided. The catch is, you have to have already acquired the needed character either by unlocking them through Story mission play or by buying them in the hub. And, just because you buy a bazooka soldier (for instance) in the Raiders of the Lost Ark hub, doesn't mean you'll have him in the Last Crusade hub. That's another big difference between this new game and the previous games.

Then there are Bonus Levels. These are missions hidden throughout the Hub, and they're not always easy to find and/or access. Entry may require buying certain characters or vehicles, or it may just mean bashing the right blocks or moving a puzzle piece around. Bonus levels are pretty much the same as Treasure missions - you'll need 2 specific characters to complete the level and you're after a treasure chest to be used in the playset hub - except the map isn't based on a previous Story Mission map.

This game has sets of red, green, and blue Power Bricks (10 each) that are collected in the playset hub instead of individual missions/levels. Collect all 10 power bricks of each set and a crate is airdropped into the hub. This crate contains one of the many "extras" such as Invincibility and score multipliers. As mentioned previously, you collect treasure chests in the Treasure Missions and Bonus Levels. Once you find one, it is deposited in a specific area of the playset hub. You break the treasure and then use the pieces to finish constructing a large object to be used for the super bonus level of that playset.

Something else that is very irritating is the (software) engine for the vehicles. The steering and throttle controls are very twitchy. And, on at least one of the Bonus Levels, you have to maneuver vehicles over obstacles and onto pressure switches. For instance, you have to jump a jeep (using a ramp) over a gap and onto a platform with a pressure switch. The trouble is, the platform is only big enough for the jeep, so you have to land at a complete stop. Not as easy as it sounds. You need just enough speed to clear the gap, but not so much that you over-shoot the switch platform or that you keep rolling once you land on said switch platform.