Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine

Brief game description

The war is over, but the Russians are up to something and it is up to Indiana Jones to find out what. It seems one of their researchers may have found an important archeological item, but he isn't nearly as good on a dig site as Indy. It's a race to the finish as Indy tries to find the artifacts before the Russians do.

The game is split into a number of chapters. Each chapter has some specific goals that must be filled before you advance to the next chapter. Also there are 10 treasures hiddenn in the area you explore during the chapter. You don't need to find all of them, some will be tough to find or well protected, but you will need to find some.

This game was advertised as an action/adventure game, and it is a hybrid that may or may not appeal to hardcore fans of either action or adventure. The adventure part of the game is world exploring, but there are few puzzles of any real caliber. When Indy finds a lever, he'll need to use it. When he finds a button, he needs to push it. There are also some features such as Indiana automatically aiming a weapon at an enemy that might make this game less than attractive to fans of the action genre.

So what's on the plus side for this game? Indy, his whip and his natural instincts for this sort of work. There can be a real sense of accomplishment as you finish some of the levels, or make it through a couple of the tougher sequences. It's entertaining to play, it does take some thought some observation and some good sense to make it through the game. Each chapter has a number of locations or rooms and there is quite a lot to do to get through it.

Game play and hints for Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine

Save the game often. Save when you find an item. Save when you've made a difficult jump. The game does automatically save between levels, but you'll need to do it the rest of the time. Eventually I found using chapter numbers to be the easiest to organise the saved games. There is a quick save function, but you should have multiple saves for any chapter. There will be times when you'll need to restore from a previous save because you've done something like jump in a pit and you needed to start a machine *before* you jumped in the pit.

Listen closely. The music lets you know when you have completed something, when you have found a significant area, when you are in dangerous territory. Russians frequently yell at each other, dangerous beasts make noises as they approach. Indiana will also tell you things, and he is always right about them.

Beware of traps. Indy will warn you about some, but there are a number of pressure plate traps that he might not mention. You'll learn to recognise suspicious floor tiles. But floor tiles aren't the only traps around, you'll just have to be careful.

Save the game. If something seems too hard, like a very long jump, it's time to look around. There may be an alternative path. There may be some object nearby that Indy can use the whip on. You may not even need to go that direction at all.

The treasures scattered throughout the game are hidden behind objects, at the dead end of a trail, on ledges and in somewhat hard to get to spots. You trade in treasure to buy ammunition, medical supplies and a map to a hidden level. Treasure never shows up on your map

In the inventory, you have a lighter and a piece of chalk. These are extremely useful and valuable items. Use the lighter in dark areas to find ledges, hidden corners and in caves. The chalk allows Indy to mark where he has been. If you're not good at building a mental map of a location, this can help a lot. (I turned left at the R2D2, marked a dead end with a Tentacle, and opened the door leaving behind a No Snakes mark.)

Gripes about the game

Well, I knew what to expect. But I'm not keen on games where death is frequently and timing is critical. For other action wimps who want to play the game, but don't need the challenge of an action game, I've included the cheat codes for the game. Using the cheats can make it more pleasant to solve the game.

Actually, I originally started this review almost a year ago. I made the fatal mistake of finding a patch and using it while in Chapter 4 the first time. The idea of playing through previous levels again was enough for me to put the game to the side.

Conclusions for Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine

I would not recommend this game for the frail of heart, those who *hate* to die in a game and those who hate needing to get their timing just so. Also, if you try to avoid games where you need to kill things, avoid Infernal Machine.

If you want to try a bit of an action game, don't mind death and want some thrills, Indy might be just what you need. The game is old enough that you'll get it at a nice price as well. I like the game, but I wouldn't say that everyone would. Using cheats can make a big difference to how you feel about it.

Some final thoughts on the game.

You do get some strange side effects on Invicible Indy mode. My favourite was getting caught in a boulder trap. A flat Indy floats above the ground. He can move, but you'll quickly find that he can't jump, or use a weapon, or do anything useful. So you'll have to restore a previous game. Indy floating is pretty neat though.

Some of the hardest parts of the game were trying to control the raft and the jeep. When you don't play these games, operating the character can be hard enough. Trying to steer a raft is very difficult.

Have I mentioned lately that you want to save often? Save again.

If you want to find older LucasArts games, go to their site and check out the store. They have released a number of older games in various collections. They are one of the few companies who recognise that some people want to play good games, not just bleeding edge games.

Cheat codes for the game

This information is taken from a web page. I have only tested the first of those cheat codes, but that one works as described. I make no promises about the others.

Here is a list of cheat options that are available throughout the game. Press F10 during Game play to open up the Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine console. You'll notice a prompt at the top of the screen.

Type in the following to activate the various codes.

taklit_marion on:
Toggles invincibility.

urgon_elsa:
Gives Indy all weapons.

azerim_sophia:
Provides Indy with health items.

nub_willie:
Allows the player to gain free hints without hurting score.

framerate:
Displays the framerate and some other debug information.

fixme:
If you get stuck in the environment, such as between a rock and a wall, type this to free yourself.

makemeapirate
Umm, this was an interesting? idea.