Mr Whippy

Whip-cracking adventure with the world's coolest archaeologist

Despite what its millions of fans say, Star Wars is only the second best movie franchise of the 80s. Intelligent movie-goers know that the Indiana Jones trilogy provided the most iconic cinematic moments of that era. The be-hatted adventurer has also provided some pretty memorable gaming moments, although arguably his biggest contribution to gaming was to provide the inspiration for Tomb Raider. Past exploits aside, though, it's incredibly exciting to be able to welcome this completely new Indiana Jones story to Wii and PS2.

The brink of war

Story-wise the game slots nicely into the whole Indy legend. Fortunately it takes place a full 18 years before Dr Jones' creaking efforts in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In fact this chapter is set in 1939, just a year after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. As well as featuring an Indiana Jones still in his prime, Staff of Kings also features a suitably epic quest. This time around our whip-wielding archaeologist is searching for nothing less than Moses' staff (you know, the one that could turn into a serpent, part the Red Sea... stuff like that). Unfortunately the Nazis are also after the artefact so that they might use its phenomenal power to further their aims of world domination. We always knew those Nazis were a bad lot.

Exotic locations

As you'd expect from an Indiana Jones tale, this is a thrilling blend of exotic locations and fascinating characters. During the adventure Indy gets to apply his unique brand of archaeology to locations in San Franciso, the deserts of Sudan, Nepal, Istanbul and Panama. Each of these great locations sees Indy caught up in some classic cinematic set-pieces including a shoot-out on a San Francisco tram car, tank battles, elephant rides and many more. Plus of course there's a constant supply of pantomime Nazis to deal with. Not everyone you encounter is an enemy, though. Familiar faces, including Charles Kingston - Indy's mentor - also crop up along the way.

Whipping up a storm

As well as the standard control set-up found in the PS2 version, it's the Wii's motion-sensing controls that bring a little extra to the Indy party. As we all know Indy is pretty tasty with his fists and now, thanks to the Wii Remote and Nunchuk set-up, you can fight just like the man-in-the-hat himself. Both hands can be used to perform jabs and uppercuts, hold objects to be used as weapons, or grab enemies and throw them.

When circumstances require it, Indy is also happy to use weapons. His trusty revolver is used sparingly, but is nevertheless fun to wave about. More entertaining is Indy's whip. Flick the Wii Remote and you can use the whip to disarm enemies before wading in for a fist fight, and elsewhere you can use it to swing across hazardous drops or to clamber up to previously out of reach areas.

Hidden treasures

The most impressive thing about Staff of Kings, however, is not the story, the characters, the locations or the Wii controls. It's the effort that's been made to reward success. Over the course of the game you'll be able to unlock movie clips, puzzles, additional co-operative games featuring Indy and his Dad, combat arenas in which you can take on hordes of Nazis and you can even partake in multi-player tank battles. It's an impressive list and it's made all the more impressive by the inclusion of a complete version of LucasArts' classic 1992 point-and-click adventure Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. That alone is almost worth the asking price. So what are you waiting for? Get your hat on.

GAME's Verdict

• Exotic and epic story
• Whip-cracking fun
• The classic Indy theme tune
• Loads of unlockables

• Graphics are not quite cutting edge
• Flight controls are dodgy

Review by: Simon 'the hat' Kirrane
Version Tested: Nintendo Wii
Review Published: 11.06.09