Difference between revisions of "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine"

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Template:Infobox video game Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine is a multi-platform action-adventure video game by LucasArts released in late 1999. The first 3D installment in the series, its gameplay focuses on solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and various platforming sections. The story told is set between the events of Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and puts the eponymous protagonist, the adventurer Indiana Jones, against the Soviet Union. In a race for a mythological Babylonian power source, he joins forces with the Central Intelligence Agency and collects four pieces of the Infernal Machine, an ancient device that allegedly opens a portal to another dimension.

The title was designed, written, and directed by Hal Barwood who considered the Indiana Jones franchise a perfect fit for the action-adventure genre. Initially developed for the Windows 95 and 98 operating systems, the game later received an enhanced Nintendo 64 port jointly developed with Factor 5, as well as a 2D version for the Game Boy Color created by HotGen. Infernal Machine received generally favorable reviews, having been praised for its detailed storyline and sophisticated level designs, though widely criticized for its unwieldy control scheme.

Gameplay

Infernal Machine is an action-adventure and, as such, features a hybrid of various gameplay mechanics. The player sees Indiana Jones from a third-person perspective and controls him through 17 levels<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> of a fully polygonal 3D world.<ref name="indyexp" /> A recurring element of Infernal Machine are platforming sections, for which a combination of running, jumping, climbing, and the use of the protagonist's trademark bullwhip is required.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Furthermore, several human, animal and supernatural enemies are encountered during the course of the game, which the player can fight off with numerous firearms, the aforementioned whip, and a machete.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In addition to these obstacles, the game largely focuses on solving puzzles and discovering treasures.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some levels include vehicle-themed portions such as rafting, jeep treks, and mine cart chases. The main objective of the game is to collect four machine parts in order to complete the titular Infernal Machine.<ref name="parts" />

Plot

The story of the game is set in 1947 and depicts archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones returning to his digging career after his involvement in World War II.<ref name="introduction">Template:Cite book</ref> Sophia Hapgood, an old friend of Indiana and now a member of the Central Intelligence Agency,<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> visits him at his dig site in the Canyonlands, and informs him that the Russians are excavating the ruins of Babylon.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> Led by Dr. Gennadi Volodnikov, a physicist interested in alternate dimensions,<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> the Soviets' supposed objective is to find a weapon more powerful than the atom bomb, giving them a decided advantage in the Cold War.<ref name="introduction" />

Sophia hires Indiana to investigate what exactly the Russians are searching for, and he travels to their dig site in the Kingdom of Iraq. There, he joins up with Sophia's boss Simon Turner<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and finds out that Volodnikov is looking for the Babylonian god Marduk who lives on another plane called the Aetherium.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> Deep in the ruins of the Etemenanki, Indiana translates some ancient tablets with cuneiform writing explaining the true story behind the Tower of Babel: 2600 years ago, King Nebuchadnezzar II was inspired by Marduk to build a great engine, but the frightened Babylonians tore the tower housing it down, leading four of the god's disciples to escape with some parts of this "Infernal Machine".<ref name="introduction" /><ref>Template:Cite video game</ref>

Indiana embarks on a journey to find these machine parts before the Soviets do, and eventually retrieves all four of them from a monastery in the mountains of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, an active volcano on Palawan in the Republic of the Philippines, an Olmec valley in United Mexican States, and a tomb near Meroë in the deserts of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.<ref name="parts">Template:Cite book</ref> He is then confronted by Volodnikov and Turner who both demand him to hand over the parts as they think they would not be safe with the other side.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> Untrusting of his fellow Americans, but opting for the lesser evil, he gives the parts to Sophia and Turner.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> Volodnikov says that it was probably better this way, as Marduk would have his revenge on those who desecrated the machine.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref>

Alarmed, Indiana travels back to the Room of the Tablets in Babylon, and finds a now-opened gate leading even further into the ruins, to the core of the Infernal Machine. He catches up with Sophia and Turner, the latter of which intends to convince the other dimension to cooperate with the United States of America, and uses the machine parts to activate the engine.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> He then pushes the unwilling Sophia into a mystical cage as a means of sending her to the Aetherium as an ambassador.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> Indiana sees no other way but to kill him to reclaim all parts and rescue her.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> However, the activated machine goes awry, and Indiana and Sophia are sucked into a portal that leads to the other dimension. There, he defeats the malevolent Marduk<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> and frees Sophia from her cage. Having escaped back to Babylon, the team is greeted by Volodnikov, who is curious to find out if they encountered God on the other side, which Indiana denies.<ref name="ending">Template:Cite video game</ref> In the ensuing conversation, the Soviet doctor turns out to be a lot less extremist than assumed, and the three wander off into the sunrise in search of a good bottle of vodka.<ref name="ending" /> A bonus level sees Indiana return to the Peruvian temple from the opening of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, and has him find another golden idol in a secret room.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref>

Development

Infernal Machine project leader, designer and writer Hal Barwood always thought of Indiana Jones as an action hero. Based on this notion, he decided for the game to be an action-adventure, as he was particularly fond of the genre and its use of 3D worlds.<ref name="indyexp">Template:Cite web</ref> Barwood also considered the Nazis to be overused as villains in the series and so instead set the title in the Cold War era with Russians as the antagonists.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Originally, UFOs were planned to be used as a plot device, though George Lucas vetoed the idea, still reserving it for a then undeveloped fourth movie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In lieu thereof, Barwood became interested in ancient technology like the Antikythera mechanism, conceived the Infernal Machine as the MacGuffin, and placed it in the biblical Tower of Babel, which is believed to be identical with the Etemenanki, a temple dedicated to the god Marduk.<ref name="ja">Template:Cite web</ref>

Developed for Windows 95 and 98,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the game uses a modified version of the Sith engine adapted for a third-person view by lead programmer Paul LeFevre.<ref name="co">Template:Cite web</ref> Eventually, lighting, collision, rendering and tools underwent drastic rewrites to the point that the code was renamed the Jones engine.<ref name="co" /> The levels were principally designed by Steven Chen, and later conceptualized with illustrations by lead artist William Tiller.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref> Multiplayer support was planned at the beginning of the development, but ultimately dropped because it turned out to be too complex to adequately test.<ref name="co" /> Instead, more emphasis was put on the design of the single-player campaign with its puzzles and exploring aspect.<ref name="co" /> The team implemented a hint system to lead players in the right direction.<ref name="ja" /> Additionally, the score system from previous Indiana Jones games, the Indy Quotient, makes a return.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Apart from John Williams' "Raiders March", the soundtrack was newly composed by Clint Bajakian and consists of about 130 original pieces.<ref name="co" /> Dubbed European language versions of the fully voice-acted game were released by THQ in Germany, Ubisoft in France, Electronic Arts in Spain and CTO in Italy.<ref name="German">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="French">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

An intended PlayStation version was canceled early after the game's announcement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, a team of eight Factor 5 employees teamed up with artists, level designers and a programmer from LucasArts to port Infernal Machine to the Nintendo 64.<ref name="ign64">Template:Cite web</ref> Development of this version commenced in early March 1999 and was finished in October 2000.<ref name="ign64" /> Over the course of these 19 months, several improvements were made to the game, such as enhanced real-time lighting, controls, camera and particle systems, as well as added lock-on targeting and assigning items to three of the C buttons of the Nintendo 64 controller.<ref name="ign64" /> Furthermore, the N64 version has some new musical pieces composed by Chris Hülsbeck, and employs sequenced music as opposed to the prerecorded audio from the PC original.<ref name="ign64" /> The port was only released in North America and was exclusive to the Blockbuster chain of stores and the LucasArts Company Store.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Electronic Arts planned to release it in Europe, but the title then saw a change of publisher to THQ.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Originally scheduled for March 2001, the PAL version became subject to continuous monthly delays and was eventually canceled in September.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A 2D version of Infernal Machine with top-down perspective gameplay was developed for the Game Boy Color by HotGen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

Template:Video game reviews The PC version of Infernal Machine received generally favorable reviews with an average score of 73.60 percent at GameRankings.<ref name="grpc" /> Although some critics found it to be too similar to Tomb Raider,<ref name="allgamepcrev" /> the game was noted for setting itself apart from the aforementioned series due to being based on the Indiana Jones franchise, and relying more heavily on puzzle-solving.<ref name="ignpc" /><ref name="cvgrevpc" /> IGN commended the game for its intricate and intriguing storyline.<ref name="ignpc" /> Eurogamer shared the opinion and stated the plot to be "excellently woven", enhancing the feel of "being part of a big blockbuster movie".<ref name="eurogamer" /> Computer and Video Games, Eurogamer, and IGN also praised Infernal Machine for its levels, calling them "excellently designed" and including "some of the most brilliant layouts [...] seen in a game of this type".<ref name="ignpc" /><ref name="cvgrevpc" /><ref name="eurogamer" /> While IGN thought the variety of puzzles provided was sufficient and applauded the inclusion of a hint system,<ref name="ignpc" /> GameSpot found many of the puzzles in the game to focus too heavily on platforming and went on to state that they become "quite repetitive - even predictable" after the first few levels.<ref name="gspotpc" /> The most criticized aspect of the PC game across the majority of reviews, however, are the controls. Eurogamer described them as "infuriating at times", mostly due to their faulty collision detection when performing certain actions.<ref name="eurogamer" /> GameSpot thought the control system was too jerky, unresponsive, and unnecessarily slow because of delays between the moves.<ref name="gspotpc" />

The graphics, while low on polygons, were received well for its detailed textures and the diverse locations presented.<ref name="ignpc" /><ref name="gspotpc" /> Eurogamer called Infernal Machine "one of the best looking third person adventures", and applauded the in-engine cutscenes, claiming them to be "bordering on film quality at times".<ref name="eurogamer" /> GameSpot said the graphics were "not exactly cutting edge", but "generally quite good" due to the "fairly smooth and convincing" animations.<ref name="gspotpc" /> IGN praised the environments for having "a lot more personality than the Tomb Raider series".<ref name="ignpc" /> Eurogamer called some of the locations "simply stunning",<ref name="eurogamer" /> and GameSpot found the levels to be "aesthetically well designed because of convincing architecture and wall decorations".<ref name="gspotpc" /> Furthermore, the soundtrack was stated by IGN to be "one of the best features of the game", based on its adding to the dramatic impact along the way.<ref name="ignpc" /> They applauded the voice recording for being "crisp and clean", though were disappointed with the sparsity of musical tracks and environmental sound effects.<ref name="ignpc" /> Allgame was impressed with the weapon effects and the foreign-language voice overs for the Soviet soldiers,<ref name="allgamepcrev" /> while Computer and Video Games considered the lack of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones' voice disappointing, though understandable given his high salary.<ref name="cvgrevpc" /> Eurogamer found the comments of the playable character to become annoying after a while, but were impressed with the ambient sounds and music, claiming the latter to be "ace stuff", "further enhancing the motion picture feeling of the game".<ref name="eurogamer" />

Despite its enhancements, the Nintendo 64 version fared about as well with critics as the PC original, yielding 70.99 percent at GameRankings and a Metacritic score of 75 out of 100 points.<ref name="grn64" /><ref name="metacritic" /> The control scheme of the port was well received by IGN for the addition of C button item management and Z-targeting, both inspired by Ocarina of Time.<ref name="ign64rev" /> Though they still considered the controls "slow" and "a little clunky", they commended them for being "more intuitive, tighter, speedier, and all around more balanced" than those of the PC version.<ref name="ign64rev" /> GameSpot did not share these sentiments and stated the adaption of the keyboard controls to the console controller to be "rather clunky and unintuitive".<ref name="gspot64" /> IGN was impressed with the texture work and lighting, and found the title to be "one of the prettiest" on the Nintendo 64, even more so by employing the Expansion Pak to achieve high-resolution graphics.<ref name="ign64rev" /> However, the graphics received criticism for its "wooden" character animations, occasional frame rate drops, and bugs such as pop-ups and faulty texture placement.<ref name="gspot64" /><ref name="ign64rev" /> IGN remarked that the sound was superior to the PC version's,<ref name="ign64rev" /> while GameSpot thought it was about on par with the port's above-average graphics.<ref name="gspot64" /> Additionally, GameSpot criticized the Nintendo 64 version for the many bugs and lockups, a problem uncommon for console releases.<ref name="gspot64" />

HotGen's Game Boy Color version received an average score of 73.80 percent at GameRankings.<ref name="gbcranking" /> It was panned by GameSpot for its backtracking, missing puzzle hints, and lack of plot development, but lauded for its clean animations and sound effects.<ref name="gspotgbc" /> Allgame was disappointed with the instruction manual being mandatory to understand the game's mostly non-existent plot, and criticized the decision to make the player restart a level upon dying, as well as the password system, calling it "annoying".<ref name="allgamegbcrev" /> Nintendo Power compared it to the N64 version saying it, "has almost as much depth as the recent N64 game and far fewer control problems." But describing it more as a puzzle game. "You'll find all the areas that were in the N64 game, but each location has been recreated with its own challenge on GBC."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Further reading

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References

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External links

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