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Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb for PlayStation 2
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb for PlayStation 2 sends the archaeologist in search of the Heart of the Dragon in 1935, a powerful black pearl in the tomb of China's first emperor. The journey begins among the ruins of Ceylon and passes through Prague, Istanbul and Hong Kong, among other places. You control Indy from a third-person perspective, climb along ledges and swing across gaps with his whip. Mercenaries, Nazis and other treasure hunters stand in your way among ancient mechanisms and hidden passages.
Combat often revolves around fistfights. Indy can punch, kick, block and grab opponents, while chairs, bottles and other objects become temporary weapons. The whip lets you attack or disarm enemies. The pistol helps at a distance, but ammunition is not the answer to every problem. In a small room, a well-timed throw can create more space than a shot. Afterwards you find another climbing route, operate a mechanism or dive towards an underwater passage.
This is a single-player adventure played with a standard DualShock 2; you do not need a second controller or a Multitap. The story follows set locations and uses cinematic scenes to tell of encounters with Mei Ying and other characters. You do not choose extensive dialogue branches. The variety comes from what the environment demands: judging a jump, avoiding a trap or keeping several attackers at bay while looking for the next exit.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
LucasArts released Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb in 2003, with the European PlayStation 2 edition arriving in August. Development was handled by The Collective, which had recently made Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During development, LucasArts producer Jim Tso explained that an early demonstration of Buffy had shown how useful that technology would be for a new Indy adventure. The combination of physical combat and an ongoing story particularly suited the direction the publisher wanted for the archaeologist.
The developers wrote a new adventure rather than directly retelling a film. According to Tso, China provided a setting that earlier Indy films and games had not explored in the same way. The team researched the first Chinese emperor and his tomb and connected that starting point to a journey through several countries. The year 1935 places the events in the same period as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The tone remains that of a fictional adventure with historical references, not an archaeological reconstruction.
The presentation was also intended to echo the films. Clint Bajakian wrote new music around John Williams's familiar Indiana Jones theme, with recordings by a real orchestra. Conversations appeared in cinematic scenes; the game did not build on the branching dialogue of the older graphic adventures. This gave Emperor's Tomb a clear place within the series: fistfights, jumps and environmental puzzles take centre stage. This original PS2 game is a different adventure from the later Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Tomb Raider: Legend also has an archaeologist climbing through ancient buildings and searching for a legendary object. Lara uses her grapple and twin pistols, whereas Indy fights with his fists more often and picks up loose objects. Both games require you to read the space to reach the next ledge. Emperor's Tomb gives that climbing a rougher character through the whip and the short brawls between puzzles.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time combines palace puzzles and combat with long sequences of jumps and wall runs. Indy also finds routes above gaps, but he does not have the dagger that allows the prince to reverse a mistake. His whip helps at fixed swinging points, and his fights revolve around human fistfighting. As a result, the jumps here require careful aiming without a magical way back when you land badly.
Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings offers another standalone PS2 adventure featuring the same archaeologist and his whip. The later game makes prominent use of specially arranged combat environments where you turn objects against attackers. Emperor's Tomb puts more emphasis on the combination of free-form brawling, climbing routes and ancient mechanisms during its 1935 quest. These are different stories; the Wii bonus Fate of Atlantis is not part of this PS2 comparison.
Beyond Good & Evil connects action and puzzles with investigating a conspiracy. Jade takes photographs as evidence and receives help from companions who can tackle particular obstacles. Indy does not collect a journalistic dossier and remains the only controllable adventurer. The similarity lies in alternating observation, movement and fighting. Emperor's Tomb does this through a journey across separate locations, with the sought-after relic connecting the different chapters.
The Great Escape, like Emperor's Tomb, uses a familiar film world for a third-person adventure. There, the initial focus is on slipping past guards unnoticed and using different prisoners' abilities. Indy remains a single hero and resolves encounters with a direct brawl much more often. Both games alternate quiet exploration with chases, but Emperor's Tomb adds ancient temples, supernatural threats and climbing with the whip.
