My current obsession is Lego Indiana Jones, the newest game in the Lego line of Console games from Traveller’s Tales and LucasArts.

QUICK RATINGS:

• Graphics - Specialized, cutesy, and completely awesome
• Sound - Great, nostalgic
• Fun Quotient - Top of the charts! Non-linear gameplay battles occasional frustrations
• Replayability - Tons of hidden goodies gives it serious longevity
• Achievement Fun - Non-frustrating, do-able achievements

I have previously played both the first Lego Star Wars (the prequels, ewww), and Lego Star Wars II - which encompassed the three original Star Wars Movies.. My nostalgia sensors were obviously beeping a lot louder while playing the Original Star Wars Trilogy as tiny adorable versions of Chewbacca, Luke and Leia, than while playing the prequels. The first game was also made before the Xbox360/PS3 era, so the graphics didn’t have the polish of later games, not to mention I was a lot more familiar with the original movies’ extended cast of 100+ playable characters. You can buy both these games together now, with the first game’s graphics updated from original Xbox quality.

If you’ve played any of those games, Lego Indiana Jones doesn’t wander too far from the established conventions. The main gist of these games is two-player co-op play, or one player with a computer-controlled partner. Most of the puzzles revolve around using both on-screen Lego guys together to complete a specific task. The AI is usually terrific and never seems to get hung up or confused, even during these cooperative puzzles.

You can shift between the two characters at any time during story mode, but when you go back and replay the levels in “free-play” mode, you can switch between all the differently-a bled characters within your arsenal, to open up new hidden areas that are only accessible through special abilities.

This game, however, does add some new elements that distinguish certain playable characters from others, and there are more types of specialization. Indiana is the only little Lego guy who can use his whip to swing across large gaps. There are also Trigg statues that open at the request of Trigg characters, mechanics who can fix broken machinery, scholars who can open hieroglyphic doors, female characters who can jump higher, rocket shooters who can blow up special silvery objects, extra small people like Short Round who can climb through small holes, and diggers who come equipped with shovels for digging up buried treasure. There also seems to be a much larger assortment of useable items that can be found by destroying scenery or punching the tiny Lego bad guys until their arms fly off. In addition, some characters now have phobias (Like Indy and SNAKES!) that turn them into cowering piles of bricks.

So overall, it is a little bit more complicated than the Star Wars versions, but it’s incredibly fun to play. I had tons of fun playing cooperatively with my husband until the 80th time I managed to fall down a hole, exploding in a little shower of Lego Brick Pegs, and he yelled out “I could probably finish this level faster by myself” and I threw a tiny dog at his face. We could easily play together more, now that I’ve gotten used to the controls and I fall down holes less frequently. Dying doesn’t even matter in this game, except that it takes away some of your pegs, which are the currency of the Lego world, allowing you to buy new characters, special modes, and other goodies. You also get a prize for the first time you collect a certain amount of pegs on each level.

Collecting up all those little goodies and completing the optional challenges is half the fun of the game. The other half is the hilarious glee that comes from punching every single Lego-based object on-screen into oblivion, accompanied by over-the-top explosion sound effects. It only gets more fun once you add the little rocket-launcher Nazi character to your huge character stable.

All the best scenes from all three movies are recreated in loving and ridiculous detail. There’s the giant boulder scene pictured above, the revolving Nazi fireplace, the sacrificial fire pit, and even a mine cart level. You can jump between the three movies at will, so there’s always a change of pace. Indy’s museum serves as the home base where you can run around punching out file cabinets and bookshelves or check out the little statues you’ve built for each level through your accomplishments. There are even some secret levels which I won’t ruin for you (but one definitely involves a train…)

The XBox360 is my console of choice for this game, so I can’t testify about the Wii or PS3 ports. I would be wary of the Wii port, since many of the tiny useable objects on screen are sometimes hard for me to distinguish, even playing in HD on the XBox360. I imagine they must be even more confusing in standard definition. My friend’s son does have this game on Wii and I’ve heard he rather enjoys snapping the Wiimote in order to swing Indy’s whip. I personally wouldn’t trade the high-def graphics for a little wrist snapping action, at least not in this case.

To sum up, I freakin’ love this game to death and I have a blast every time I sit down for a little session. The only negative I can come up with is that some of the levels are awfully long, so you can’t expect to sit down and play for 20 minutes if you are in a rush. Plan for 45 minutes at least.

Best of all, when you’re done playing Lego Indy, you can look forward to playing Lego Batman , which is scheduled to come out later this year!