Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Other Titles:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
Maker:
Lucasfilm Games
Year:
1989
Systems:
Amiga (OCS) / PC (DOS) / PC (EGA)
Genre:
Adventure
Tags:
Based on Other Media / Fighting / Flight / Humour / War / Myths and Mythology / ScummVM
Languages:
English / French / German / Spanish / Italian
Median Rating:
5/5

Thoughts by Mr Creosote (11 Jul 2008) – Amiga (OCS)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – the last of the movies (well, at least they said it then), and the first Indiana Jones movie to become an adventure game (the second time Lucasfilm used its software branch to make an adventure game of any movie). Huge expectations, because in an adventure game, storytelling has to be a little better than in a simple action game throwing a few snakes at a whip-wielding hero sprite.

They really tried their best making the game as cinematic as possible. From the great credit sequence (showing the train chase sequence the movie starts with) to numerous lines of dialogue directly taken from the original script, this is a very good conversion story-wise. All the important characters are there, they all look right (as far as 20x50 pixels can do that, of course) and the locations are visited just like in the movie, too.

Even a few puzzles were incorporated directly, so being equipped with relatively fresh memories of Harrison Ford’s hunt for the Grail (and his father) certainly helps. That’s not everything there is to solve, of course. In such brain-overloading situations, Henry Jones' Grail Diary in its two incarnations (a printed one containing all the regular information plus an in-game one which contains slightly randomized clues) often comes to rescue, and otherwise, common sense and logical thinking is required.

In spite of all the fun I had with this game, there are two major obstacles barring it from an even higher rating. First of all, there are three stupid mazes. One of them can be avoided by solving an alternate puzzle at least, but that’s still two too many. To make matters worse, there are action scenes in this game. Sure, Indiana Jones needs action, and it’s not even all that badly incorporated. The problem is the fist fighting specifically, because it’s all too easy to die there (and that damn energy bar just doesn’t replenish itself after winning such a brawl).

In addition, there are a few nitpicks. I’ve already mentioned there are alternate paths / solutions sometimes (which is good). However, sometimes one of them can only be triggered by having done something completely different at a completely different place way earlier. Players without the gift of precognition will have a hard time taking the easier routes. The same thing applies to a few (really few) other puzzles which require you to have written something down way earlier – something which wasn’t really obviously important (sorry to be so vague, but you know… spoilers).

None of that really spoils the game completely. To this day, I take it out from time to time to play it again, and each time, it’s a very rewarding experience. Little did anyone know then, of course, that the big adventure game revolution was still to come – but that’s another review.

Archived Thoughts

Thoughts by serwar@gmail.com (17 Sep 2018) – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure – PC (DOS)

A great graphic adventure by Lucas Arts, based on the movie of the same name. You will have to help Dr. Jones to follow the clues of his father’s diary to find the holy grail, solving puzzles and conversing with a great variety of characters.

This is one of the most innovative adventures of Lucas Arts, which expanded the structure of the traditional adventure by adding flexible points (called IQ, or Indy Quotient), a system that allowed the game to end in different ways. The scoring system was similar to that of the Sierra Entertainment games, however when restarting or loading the game, the IQ total from the previous game was retained. The only way to increase it was to find the alternative solutions of the scenarios (for example, to fight with a guardian instead of dodging it, or vice versa) and a maximum of 800 points could be reached. This system contradicted one of the most common criticisms of adventure games (which says that, since there is only one way to complete the game, it has no replayability). It should be noted that some of the alternative fights, such as the one that occurs with the assistant of the zeppelin in case you do not have a ticket, are practically impossible to pass, therefore the maximum IQ is difficult to acquire.

The game was originally released with EGA graphics; then it was updated with VGA graphics and an orchestral soundtrack for the FM Towns version; only the VGA graphics were ported to the re-launch for PC. The project was led by Noah Falstein, David Fox and Ron Gilbert.

The game box featured a replica of the grail diary owned by Henry Jones, Indy’s father, who appeared in the film. Although it was very different from the one that appeared in the film, it provided a wonderful collection of information and also anti-copy protection.

It was also the first LucasFilm game to include the Look and Talk verbs. In some situations, a primitive system of dialogue was given in which the player could choose one among several phrases. This system of dialogues evolved completely in The Secret of Monkey Island and was used in the rest of LucasArts' adventures.

An action game, also based on the movie (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game) was released at the same time, but the adventure found much better acceptance, sales and criticism.

Play

Screenshots

Amiga (OCS)

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PC (DOS)

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Box

Amiga (OCS)

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PC (DOS)

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Files

Videos

World of Longplays (FM Towns)

Amiga Longplay

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