Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The Tingler doesn't recommend the PS2. I haven't played any version, but I just watched the PSP ending and most of the rest of this game. Shark!

To the best of my ability I've arranged the dialogue and text files extracted by Prime Blue from the Wii version. (The PSP version was heavily rewritten, with that 1922 prologue, and seems to have more incidental dialogue.)
http://moedred.livejournal.com/13200.html
 

Violet

Moderator Emeritus
I finally have my hands on the Wii version and have played it. Now I can officially tell you out of the PS2, DS and Wii versions, the Wii version is definitely better in every way from the graphics to the unlockables (finally I've started to play FoA!!!) to the really cool little multiplayer co-op which is both fun and a bit frustrating (but I find the cut scene art interesting). The fact that I can imitate a whip crack, is such a nice little novelty. Sure, still not great in story, which I wish could be complemented with a certain novelisation (damn you, LucasArts and Lucasfilm!).

The PS2 is the easiest of the lot, but graphics suck and so do the unlockables. DS version is harder to play, and the mini game is really stupid unless you like guiding balls around a labyrinth (which I don't!).

But yes.... I finally have gotten to see what the fuss is all about.... and no, I'm not talking about SoK. :p
 

Prime Blue

New member
Moedred said:
To the best of my ability I've arranged the dialogue and text files extracted by Prime Blue from the Wii version. (The PSP version was heavily rewritten, with that 1922 prologue, and seems to have more incidental dialogue.)
That text dump was from the PS2 version, so the dialogue from the co-op missions with old Jones are missing. I'll get to that and the PSP version soon.

In the meantime, I've uploaded the co-op cutscenes.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Great video, Prime Blue! I'm the type who prefers watching video games over others' shoulders and it really cuts to the chase. I'm finally able to differentiate between the game versions. Can't wait to see what you extract next!
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Moedred said:
Great video, Prime Blue!
I'll second that! Thank you very much, Prime Blue.:hat: Two friends of mine at A2M worked on the game but I have no way to play it. Like Moedred, I want to know the story so your video is a real treat!

The voices are excellent and I think I prefer this voice actor's imitation of Indy (can't remember his name) over Doug Lee's. As Exulted Unicorn mentioned, the "Crusade" reference was cool.:cool:
 

Indy Brazil

New member
Thanks a lot, Prime Blue! I only have the PS2 version, so I was very curious about the co-op cut scenes.

I tried to do something similar in this style...

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cRb0jOgVQb8&hl=pt_BR&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cRb0jOgVQb8&hl=pt_BR&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

Hope you like!
 

AnythingGoes

New member
A Little Belated Review

I've been following this thread for a while and I just felt that I ought to put my two cents in.
I have SoK for the Wii and found it to be rather a mixed bag.
The guy who voices Indy is pretty good {I find Doug Lee to be better but I'm pretty old school anyway:p }
Magnus would've been an alright villain but the game didn't allow much room for character development.
Maggie is a decent leading lady though there isn't much originality about her. She's in a government service {MI6} like Sophia, she's a spunky fire brand like Marion and she's a {fake} journalist like Kate from the YIJC.
The Wii motion control was fairly well thought out {I can't compare it to ET as I've never played it} except in certain 'special' scenes such as the Canyon Dogfight, The Saving Suzie Sequence, the Co-Op Tank Chase and the most infuriating Piano S*** {It had me stuck for bloody TWO WEEKS!!!:mad: }.
I was alright with the whole no swastikas thing but I couldn't stand it when Indy said 'Germans! Why Are They Here!' My girlfriend {Half German} walks in as I'm playing through the Panama Temple {The part on the stairs just as Indy's about to enter gun-play mode}. She goes, "Watcha doin'?" and Indy replied, 'Germans! Why does it always have to be Germans?' in that tired tone of voice.
Let's just say that she was a little mad {I made it up to her by letting her be Indy in the co-op mode.}
Turning away from my personal life...
The 'burst gun-play' was decent but it rattled me that Indy just couldn't shoot whenever he wanted like in IM and ET.
Indy appears naked without his satchel...I assume that everything he finds throughout the games goes in his pants...such as the Jade Sphere {That would've scared the Natives!}
And finally, as Doc Whiskey pointed out earlier...Indy fights Sudao, dodges swinging pendulums, collapsing ceilings, bugs, the basketball game from hell, a fire breathing bridge {Not to mention all of the stone walls that sealed the path for him as he progressed!} And Maggie steps forward unscated...I assume it's part of your training in MI6!:rolleyes:
Well thanks for listening to my mad ramblings!:whip:
 
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The Tingler

New member
Storyline and Indy-wise, it's astonishing how much the PSP version improves on the experience. Germans are called Nazis, Indy has his satchel, he constantly bickers with Maggie, the red lines on a map travelling scenes appear, and the Staff of Kings is properly called The Staff of Moses.

The Wii game is better, but if Amaze had done a free-flowing game (instead of the 'scenes') like all the other versions the PSP would win hands-down.
 

UIMJ

New member
Prime Blue said:
In the meantime, I've uploaded the co-op cutscenes.

Dude, thanks for doing this! I wish we could get a download of it because it sort of makes for a great motion comic as a supplement to our Indy DVD's. I'd love to have these cutscenes edited together as a video file on my PS3 harddrive...
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Prime Blue came through again with a text dump from the PSP version. Until someone extracts the Wii data, I think it's the next best thing to reading MacGregor's unreleased novel. It's a refreshing elaboration of the stripped-down PS2 dialogue. It might even contain the majority of the original Lucasarts script. The voice direction alone is worth a few laughs. I'm previewing these documents for the main site, PDFs in Courier 12 like proper screenplays.

Infernal Machine PC script

Emperor's Tomb PC script

Staff of Kings PS2 script
Staff of Kings PSP script
 

indytim

Member
I finally got around to playing the Wii version of this game last weekend (during which time I both started and finished it) and have to say that I found it to be truly awful. I would actually go as far to say that it was one of the worst experiences I've actually ever had playing a game (and I've been a video gamer since the late 1970s).

Buried beneath the frustating controls and dated graphics was the idea of a good adventure game but the technical limitations of the game's creators were unable to let it shine through. It could be argued that the limitations of the Wii's hardware is to blame but if you've ever played Resident Evil 4 you'll know that the machine is capable of running games of superior quality to rival those on both the XBox and PS3.

I cheered upon completing Staff of Kings, not in adoration of the game but because I knew I'd never have to play it again. There is a certain irony that a movie franchise that spawned the Tomb Raider and Uncharted games constantly fails where they succeed on the home consoles.

If and when a new Indy video game is produced I think LucasArts really needs to draft in a company who has a history of quality titles beneath its belt. Maybe even Bioware (who are currently working with LucasArts on The Old Republic) could do the honours. Transposing the basic structure of the Mass Effect games (action, exploration and conversing with other characters) to create an Indy game would actually work quite well.

Come on, LucasArts! Get your act together and give us Indy fans the game we deserve!
 

Thugee

New member
Bought this game when it came out for PS2 (since I can't stand the Wii and don't have a PSP.) and I was severly disappointed that this was nowhere near as good or fun as Emperor's Tomb. If you've never played an Indy game before or haven't played Infernal Machine or Emperor's Tomb, then it would be a good game. But I thought it was a little too linear (can't choose weapons when you want to as an example.) and the fighting controls I thought absoultely sucked.:mad: And no real unlockable content either. The only thing I thought was okay was the chase through the Red Sea at the end. Very disappointed when I beat it and I haven't played it again since.
 
Moedred said:
Prime Blue came through again with a text dump from the PSP version. Until someone extracts the Wii data, I think it's the next best thing to reading MacGregor's unreleased novel. It's a refreshing elaboration of the stripped-down PS2 dialogue. It might even contain the majority of the original Lucasarts script. The voice direction alone is worth a few laughs. I'm previewing these documents for the main site, PDFs in Courier 12 like proper screenplays.

Infernal Machine PC script

Emperor's Tomb PC script

Staff of Kings PS2 script
Staff of Kings PSP script

Emperor's Tomb link doesn't work....
 

Phlip

New member
Just started playing this (on PS2) and so far it is truly awful. It's very clear it had a rushed/bad development process. The controls are awful, the graphics are jagged as hell (more than most PS2 games, especially considering this came out in 2009), the framerate drops easily, and it has a horrible feeling of unfinished to it. It's a huge step back from Emperor's Tomb, and certainly Infernal Machine, which was ace.

A game iteration of the best action adventure film franchise that doesn't even have a jump button, but an auto-jump/climb feature is unforgivable. Yes, I know there were lots of hand-to-hand fights in the films, but way too much emphasis is placed on it in Staff of Kings, and it's awful at it, too.
 

Gear

New member
I agree with you, Phlip. I've started the game twice now and haven't played farther than the Nazi attack on Napal. I suppose it doesn't have enough overall to keep me invested in it. They added some nice features of game play, but it would've been a lot cooler if they'd expanded on what was laid down in previous Indy games. For example, I found it annoying that you had such little option when fighting the enemy; it's either hand-to-hand combat or a shoot out, unlike Emperor's Tomb where you essentially had total control over how you engaged the enemy.

Some of the scenes are fun, like China Town--including the street car (although, I was disappointed that that incident didn't include the fist fight as depicted in the concept art) and the elephant rampage.
 
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