I have a fairly extensive library of Xbox 360 games including all the LEGO games (except LEGO Rock Band). These games include the more popular titles including Gears of War, Halo, Call of Duty, Bioshock, etc, but my collection also includes a fair amount of what some people call childrens game or party games such as Viva Pinata Party Animals. I don't obsess over achievements in my games as long as I can enjoy them and finish them (not for points, just the campaigns/missions). As a matter of fact, my only games to 1000G comletion are Fusion Frenzy and Disney-Up (many other games in the 500-900 gamerscore range). The only reason to provide this background is to show that I am fairly open-minded when it comes to playing games and getting enjoyment out of it.
Having said all that, I can safely say this is about the worst game I have ever played in my 30+ years of gaming and of my 150+ Xbox 360 retail and arcade games. I'll put aside the lockups for now since that has been covered by other reviewers. My main problem with this game is the difficulty and poor design. I have used YouTube, online walkthroughs and I even have the Prima official guide and yet there are still many areas of the game I can't open, can't access, can't finish, etc. I was making a mental list of all the areas I had problems with so I could call out specifics in my review but the list got too big! One example that comes to mind is Kingdom of the Crystal Skull III. I was able to access the temple through story mode since it was a linear path but for the life of me, I can't get back to the temple to complete the missions/events Treasure Trail and Tie-Up High Up. It should not be this hard. Once you get into the missions, they are pretty easy (especially with a guide and cheats enabled) but to spend literally hours finding places is just not reasonable.
Another issue I have is the requirements to start a mission. This is not the same as the requirements to play a mission as that part is automatic. For example, let's say you have a guy with a sword unlocked but you are not in control of him. To start mission "x", you have to cut something with the sword. Where is he? Just roaming around the map somewhere.....could take a very long time just to find him in these new hubs. Because of issues similar to this, I am unable to complete the Temple of Doom and Crystal Skull III hubs. For those who have played the game, yes....I have checked where I unlocked the character I need.
Another issue is some of the levels. In particular, the balloon popping missions. Who designed these? Forest Forage is particularly brutal.
Finally, there are the achievements. As mentioned above, I don't need to get 100% or 1000 G to enjoy a game but I DO like obtaining achievements for myself. What this game does is link a lot of achievements together. For example, if I am missing one mission out of sixty-six, I would miss 25 G for the bonus level, 75 G for all the artifacts, 100 G for completing to 100% and depending on the level, anywhere from 10-40 more points for missing something i.e. a vehicle. That to me is a pretty big penalty for missing 1 of 66 missions.
I have gotten a lot of mileage out of the game so far and will continue to play for a short while longer - because parts of it are still fun. However, when I review a product, I think comparison to previously existing product is important and in that respect, this game fails miserably.Get more detail about Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues.
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