Review: LEGO Indiana Jones

LEGO is a toy that has almost unlimited possibilities in gaming. The LEGO Star Wars games were genius. Cute, inviting gameplay elements with only slightly infuriating controls and level design. They sold a crap-ton of copies and everyone loved them.

LEGO Indiana Jones, though, is that annoying cousin that comes over to your house and cons you into trading all your good baseball cards to him for candy and bends all the others.

Everything I loved about LEGO Star Wars is in Indiana Jones, but as sequels sometimes do, the developers tried to take advantage of that love and beat it to a pulp, reconstitute it and serve it to you again. It looks a little different, but when you taste it, it's sour. Beautiful level design is flawed with a bad camera, making jumping around ledges and working with a friend co-op harder than it has to be. Figuring out what to do to get to the next scene is sometimes only accomplished with dumb luck. Long character animations get in the way. Set pieces like ladders and tables are hard to navigate. The list goes on.

I honestly cuss more at this game than I do enjoy it. I used to love playing Star Wars with Nicole every night until we 100% completed both of them. But Indiana Jones frustrates me and, in-turn, makes the game less fun for Nicole. I fight the game every step of the way and just want it to be over. I'll care less if we get the game done much less 100% complete.

This is also making LEGO Batman look less appealing. I'll probably either wait until reviews come out or try to buy it used.