Letters From The Infernal Machine, Part 3
Serial review by Randall Coots and Chris Seip
Although Indy seems triumphant upon his defeat of the volcano monster, things take a sudden turn for the worse upon his emergence from deep underground. Those pesky Russkies have taken up station outside of the base camp and are making much heat for our intrepid hero. The only chance for escape from Palawan? Hop in a handy jeep and roar out of there!
High Speed and Lost Valleys
Now this seems like a load of fun at first, racing a WWII-era SUV around hills, through tunnels, and leaping over bridges. Unfortunately, the jeep drives suspiciously like the raft that we gratefully left behind in the frozen mountains of Tibet. Plus, although Indy can pull off acrobatic moves worthy of Jackie Chan, he can't seem to drive with one hand and shoot with the other. So we're ducking bullets constantly as the Russians make like a shooting gallery on our poor jeep.
Things get even more complicated as Indy finds himself lost in a maze of canyons, flying along in the jeep, with a truck full of Russians in pursuit. They've brought along a heavy machine gun! They can also shoot while driving, probably graduates of Soviet combat driving school.
A cleverly laid ambush would seem to be just the ticket as Indy parks his jeep and readies a few grenades. The truck arrives and several well-thrown grenades land perfectly in the back. But those nasty Reds have another trick up their sleeve. They must've cracked the invulnerability cheat code in the game and turned it on. Grenades, machine gun fire, even Indy's trusty whip have no effect on enemies standing on the back of a flatbed. Indy must simply run from these super soldiers (and their super truck) until an exit from this area can be found. Dying repeatedly again brings out the very long reload times--just long enough for us to fume about invincible bad guys. A final cliffhanging escape in the end of the jeep trek is a welcome relief.
Pyramid Puzzler
So it's out of the Philippines and on to Mexico. The globetrotting continues with a visit to the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan (pronounced TAY oh TEE wah KAHN). More leaping, dropping, and climbing leads to a very clever puzzle at the center. Indy needs to be geared up and ready to roll (as well as push) to solve this one. There's layer upon layer here, as well as more story, as the race with the Russians continues.
Beyond the Temple of the Sun is a lost valley. This is an excellent change of pace, with a small river, high mountains, and even a lake. The Olmec Valley has resident jaguars that have also managed to crack the invulnerability code. Maybe they're in league with the Russians! Nevertheless, a few good shots will run them off, albeit temporarily.
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| Indy discovers the pyramid in Olmec Valley. |
| Click the thumbnail for full image. (68K) |
The valley has a succession of small puzzles and diversions, with more climbing, jumping, and shooting. Blocks are shoved and heads roll before we finally set eyes on the lost pyramid of the valley. There are some grand scenes and excellent views. It's a stirring moment as we behold this remote step pyramid of the Olmecs. Indy was impressed enough that he took some snapshots with his trusty Leica camera. Great for those slideshows back in Archaeology 101 at the college! We think another Infernal Machine part may lie within...
Breaching the pyramid requires a workout on the real-world stair climber. Good thing Indy's in such excellent shape! It's not long before a disturbing trend is revealed. There's a snake motif to this area. A real decorating trend. There're also a lot of snakes, too many snakes in fact. Did the Olmecs have some legends about snakes? Great big snakes? Why did it have to--no, we're not going to say it.
The Olmec pyramid is another exercise in good design, which is more typical than not in this adventure. There are some levers, buttons, and hidden treasures. In fact, there are ten treasures in every place Indy will visit on this grand adventure. We're saving pennies because we want to buy the secret map at the supply store. Take our word on it, pass up buying those extra clips of machine gun ammo and save, save, save for the secret map. Don't buy it just yet, but have the cash on hand at the end of the game. Trust us.
Serpentine Fire
Well, we've tracked down another machine part. Problem is, there's a snake guarding it. Just one, but then Godzilla is just one lizard, and even he doesn't spit baby Godzillas all over the place. Have your poison kits handy and get by with a little help from below. Brains, not firepower will carry the day. Snake-kabob anyone?
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| This mammoth serpent is going to give Indy some nightmares. |
| Click the thumbnail for full image. (72K) |
Fortunately, Indy overcame his fear of snakes enough to help us out in narrowly escaping with another machine part. But what's this? No sooner does our acrobatic archaeologist escape from the Olmec pyramid when he walks right into a snare set by that conniving leader of the Russians, Dr. Gennadi Volodnikov. Again, we surpass the once leading lady Lara in plot twists and dialogue. The puzzles have been more intricate and the design not simply built to challenge the twitch factor of the intrepid adventurer, but to amuse and entertain.
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| Indy, snared (or is it scared?). |
| Click the thumbnail for full image. (61K) |
Indy's just hanging around, as Volodnikov and his Spetsnaz troopers relieve him of all the fruits of his labors up to this point. Taken prisoner, again we see that there is nothing Indy cannot possess that the bad guys cannot take away. Will Indy escape? What challenges lie ahead? Will our fingers fall off? Stay tuned!
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
[street: $40]
LucasArts
ESRB rating: Teen ("T"), "animated blood", "animated violence"
School of Hard Nox
Review by Chris Seip
The video clip at the beginning of Nox introduces you to two main characters: an evil leather-clad woman who seems to be amassing some darkly magical powers, and a young trailer dweller named Jack who gets sucked into her world of caves, creatures, and magic. Okay, no trouble figuring out the good guys from the bad guys here.
Nox's first interactive step has you choose your character class. Will Jack be a strong and fast warrior, a magically adept wizard, or a conjurer, which is basically balanced between the other two types? You may be thinking it's fun to see some role-playing game (RPG) features, but dyed-in-the-wool RPG gamers may be rolling their eyes at only three basic character classes. Well, three was enough for me.
Next, you can customize Jack's appearance, from his skin color to his sideburns, even down to the color of the stripe on his shirtsleeves. In the most obvious omission of character customization, lady gamers may be rolling their eyes at the limited gender choices for the main character (sorry, male only).
An Enticing Blend
Nox takes many cues from the wildly popular game Diablo, starting of course with that choice of three character classes. Like Diablo, Nox mixes a few RPG elements with an action/arcade game format, and the results are exciting largely because the final product is so polished. Your overhead-angled viewpoint on the action scrolls across the landscapes as Jack walks along. You collect objects, spells, food, weapons, and armor--again blending in some of that RPG influence.
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| Our young hero Jack explores the creepy caverns of Nox. |
| Click the thumbnail for full image. (66K) |
With spells and/or combat, you'll be battling plenty of foes, starting with bats and spiders and moving on up through the "dark side" talent roster. You'll also meet friendly characters with things to tell you or favors to ask of you. Depending on your abilities, you may even be able to conjure a friendly critter. I'll go way out on a limb and mention a well-aged, text-based Unix dungeon romp called Nethack, in which you can name a pet dog or cat who will more or less follow you and fight for you. Your conjured sidekick in Nox may bring about the same welcome feelings. It's a fun touch.
You Look Mahvelous
Graphics in this game are fairly rich. Nox eschews the modern 3D look of animated polygons, but its old-fashioned 2D/painted graphics don't look dated at all. This is thanks in part to its engine's ability to exercise the MMX instructions in your CPU, and of course it owes much to the programming and graphical design talent focused on the game's creation. From the magic sparkle dust on your mouse pointer to the whiz-bang magic spell effects, your eyes remain entertained. It's not the kind of game that shows off your fancy new computer, but everything seems to look just right, with pleasant surprises here and there. The engine scales up to 1024x768 resolution, which could be useful if you have a large monitor and enough computer horsepower to keep up the pace.
One graphical feature of Nox that truly sets it apart from its competition is named TrueSight. This feature dynamically displays only what is within the line-of-sight of your character, Jack. It's as if Jack is the main source of light within the game, casting deep moving shadows across portions of the screen. My immediate impression was that this was terribly distracting and perhaps a bad design decision, but within only a minute I was accustomed to the effect. After a few minutes I figured it even adds to the creepiness of some of the levels, and it sort of enhances the "reality" of the game experience. It's certainly unique.
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| A lightning spell should do some damage. |
| Click the thumbnail for full image. (65K) |
The extent of the RPG features reaches into the way the single-player levels are played. If a friend tells you that single-player Nox seems a bit short, keep in mind that it is reasonably fun to replay it as each of the three character classes. The differences in their approaches are interesting, even when traversing the same territory. Nox's attempts at being an "RPG lite" type of game are dropped, however, in multiplayer. Options for connected games include such familiar pastimes as Arena (deathmatch) and Capture the Flag, but Diablo fans have sorely wished that Nox included a cooperative adventuring mode of multiplayer gaming.
Playable Interface
One highlight of Nox is its user interface. It may not appear instantly intuitive, but it becomes so. There are a number of little features that help you along the way, and with just a little patience it all makes sense. I liked the inventory and spell management features particularly well. The graphical controls and the hot keys made reasonable sense and were set up in eminently usable ways. Even those little pop-up descriptor boxes helped me stay in sync with what's what. Clearly, more than the usual amount of thought went into Nox's user interface, and the result enhances Nox's playability.
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| Accessing some character data, in Nox. |
| Click the thumbnail for full image. (79K) |
The music in Nox is well done, nicely orchestrated and never annoying, and it changes to reflect what is happening on-screen. Standing out even more are the sound effects. A rich spread of noises and ambience to help make Nox's places, objects, and magic elements seem more real. Voice acting is also well above average, almost always believable and sometimes quite entertaining.
As with a handful of recent games, e.g., Dune 2000, Westwood seems once again to be fighting some common and unfortunate expectations in the marketplace. Westwood has certainly broken new ground in the past. We've heard disappointment from Diablo fans that Nox isn't vastly superior to their baby, and in particular that Nox doesn't allow the enjoyments of cooperative multiplayer questing. Dune 2000 and Nox may be good examples of Westwood choosing solid, happy playability over 'knock your socks off' innovation.
So, if you're loaded down with Diablo-type games, Nox might not be looming on the gaming horizon as the Next Big Thing. Okay. But on the other hand, if you'd like to spend more time in a game that's highly reminiscent of Diablo, or if you missed Diablo completely, Nox is a solid, well-crafted, smoothly playable fantasy, action, and RPG blend that really does work. Grade: A-.
Nox won't hack-n-slash your computer if it meets these minimum requirements: Pentium II or P-200 MMX (Pentium II 266 or faster recommended), 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended), 300 MB free hard drive space, Windows 95/98 with DirectX 7.0 or Windows NT 4 with Service Pack 4, 2 MB video RAM (4 MB recommended), 8X CD-ROM drive, a DirectSound-compliant sound card, and a 2-button mouse. Windows 2000 is also supported. Internet requirements include a 33.3 kbps Internet connection. For hosting an Internet game, you'll also require at least a Pentium II 266 and 64 MB RAM.
Nox
[street: $40]
Westwood Studios
ESRB rating: Teen ("T"), noting "animated blood" and "animated violence"
Lighter Blue: Mini-Reviews
A Brief Look at Cabela's Outdoor Trivia Challenge
This game's trivia base is a solid foundation of 1500 questions in 5 categories: ecology, fishing, hunting, outdoor survival, and wildlife. I can't claim much expertise in these areas, but at the "beginner" level I was able to hit and guess well enough to stay competitive. That kept me going for a while, and the occasional audio or video question helps shake things up a little. There's a simulated board game on-screen that has the players competing along branching paths to reach the lodge, and your correct answers to the trivia questions propel your character forward.
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| Outdoor Trivia Challenge lets you buzz in and then give a multiple-choice answer. |
| Click the thumbnail for full image. (50K) |
Unfortunately, graphics quality is lacking--nice trees, I guess, but there's just not much going on, and the little animations aren't very effective. If you're here for the questions and not for the board game, you might not mind at all. Play against up to two opponents, human or computer AI. The program has some odd rough edges, like seeing Windows error pop-ups when you use ALT-F4, or having to press your buzz-in key a second time to make your character move along the board. I find it tough to recommend this program, unless you're avidly interested in the outdoors and trivia is your main game. Grade: C.
Cabela's Outdoor Trivia Challenge
[street: $19]
HeadGames/Activision/Elsinore Multimedia
ESRB rating: Everyone ("E")
