Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings review

One for raiders of the bargain bin

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Fun combat

  • +

    Decent story

  • +

    Nice controls

Cons

  • -

    Fisticuffs quickly get repetitive

  • -

    Not challenging enough

  • -

    Too many QTEs

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The latest Indy never really threatens to buck that old film to game trend (mediocrity hastily boxed up for quick cash injection) but it’s not a total flop. The purpose-built story packs in plenty, though it could be longer.

Combat is fun, if over-simplified, allowing a few different moves to string together for combos. Given the game’s heavy reliance on fisticuffs though, this quickly gets repetitive. Overall, the adventuring controls work well, and the camera behaves itself during critical jumps. If it was a little more challenging this could’ve been a real blast.

Sadly, Quick-Time Events cut the action apart every few seconds. Any time an action is required, an on-screen icon glows. It keeps things action-packed but renders progression absurdly easy. Looking for a challenge? Steer clear of this casual gamer fodder. Desperate for more Indy? Go on then – if you must, just don’t pay full price.

Jul 24, 2009

More info

GenreAdventure
DescriptionBelieve it or not, this is one of the better recreations of Indy in games in a long time. It gets the feel of the series well enough to overcome some over-dependence on shallow button-mashing quicktime events.
Platform"PSP","Wii","DS","PS2"
US censor rating"Teen","Teen","Teen","Teen"
UK censor rating"12+","12+","12+","12+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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