They're digging in the wrong place! Review of Lego Indiana Jones for Wii

I just beat Lego Indiana Jones. Well, not quite. But I'm 99.0% finished, according to the meter that keeps track of that particular statistic.

Let me first say that Lego Star Wars was the first game Alesha and I bought for the Wii, and it is now one of my all-time favorite games. It is straight-forward enough so that my wife, who did not grow up glued to the Nintendo, can figure out the puzzles and keep going to the next levels. It also has enough hidden features and challenges that it still keeps my thoroughly entertained. I had high expectations with the Lego Indiana Jones game.

I can honestly say I enjoyed playing this game. The bazooka soldiers have to be my favorite, if I can manage not to blow myself up. I think the leap from the lion's head scene from The Last Crusade is cleverly done. The elephants and horses--and all of the animals, now that I think about it--make for some good variety. And I think most of the puzzles in this game are superior to its Star Wars counterpart.

There are a several of thing I didn't like though. First of all, this game is rated E10 instead of E like Star Wars. I guess it's hard to clean up Nazis, decapitations, and ripping a still-beating heart out of a man's chest. But where Star Wars makes violence seem clever, it seemed like Indiana Jones is forcing the humor a bit much.

Another thing that I think is lacking is the number of characters that were allowed. Star Wars has a veritable cornucopia of characters. Indiana Jones has about half of that number, and I think there are at least 2 Sallahs, 3 Marions, 4 Willies, and 6 Indianas. Indiana Jones seems a bit shallow compared to the rich variety of Star Wars characters.

The biggest thing I don't like was the pick-up-an-item system. In both games, you can unlock playable characters. The characters fit into certain categories which determine what powers and abilities they have. In Star Wars, a Jedi has Jedi powers and R2-D2 has astromech powers. Jedis come with light sabers and force power, and R2-D2 comes with levitation and a universal adapter. In Indiana Jones, there are mechanics and shovelers and swordsmen. The mechanics always have a wrench, the shovelers always have a shovel, and the swordsmen always have a sword. But in Star Wars, C3-PO can't pick up a red light saber and become a Sith Lord. In Indiana Jones, anyone can pick up a wrench or a machine gun. This sounds useful, but it's not. If you are using bazooka guy and accidentally pick up a pistol, you are stuck using the pistol until all of the bullets are gone. This gets really frustrating when all you want to do is blow a box up, but you have to run around firing a gun for 30 seconds just to get rid of it.

Like I said before, I really do enjoy this game. The complaints I have are admittedly nit-picky. If you are a hard-core Indiana Jones fan or Lego series fan, I would definitely recommend the game. If you already own Lego Star Wars, you might just want to rent this one.