Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

I'm one of those who has been posting everywhere that I can post about this.
If any of you have been following the posts in the Lucasarts forums or at mixnmojo,
I'm sladerlmc77 - I've been stirring up a fair amount of trouble.

For those of you who are cautioning us about judging the game based on the graphics,
let me offer the following:

This has NOTHING to do with graphics. It has to do with a systemic pattern of abuse
towards their customer base.

This began roughly 10 years ago. Lucasarts began taking our support and the money
that they make from you and I for granted.

They cancelled a Sam and Max sequel which fans had been looking forward to for years,
when the project was nearly finished internally.

They cancelled TWO Full throttle sequels.

They realeased an UNFINISHED game in the form of Knights of the Old Republic II, and refused
to allow the publisher to make available a patch which would've actually finished the game.

They have chewed through presidents in recent years, and fired (or lost) all of their internal talent.

During Jim Wards illustrious tenure, he disparaged their past catalogue and those fans whom had
supported the company through the dark years.

While I didn't care for the man, he DID at least commit the company to internal development and
promised revolutionary changes. One of these was Staff of Kings.

We were told over and over again that the game could NOT be released on PC, which was a load
of horsefeathers.

We were promised a product that could not be delivered by any other company - something
revolutionary, and that would NOT compromise in quality.

Y'know what we're getting? A third-party developed product rubber stamped by a company
which can no longer muster the wherewithal to keep their word, deliver products that shine,
and which tarnish the very brands they're supposed to promote.

I understand that the screenshots are for the Wii. The fact is, they are unacceptable even
FOR the Wii.

The developer (A2M) does not exactly have a stellar reputation for producing quality product.
They churn out schlock for big brands in order to turn a quick profit.

And we're supposed to believe that LA is "excited" about this. What they should be, by ANY
standards, is embarassed.

They have insulted each and every one of us with their very attitude. They will no longer receive
my support, and they shouldn't receive yours...unless you're happy to turn over your hard-earned
cash to a company which treats you with contempt.

I see two (2) options here:

1) Indy fans and the general gaming public cease all purchase of Indy games:

LucasArts decides the Indiana Jones name can not sell enough product anymore. This is the final original Indiana Jones title published by said company until new ownership, or worse, transfer of franchise rights. See you in 2031, when we go to WalMart3000 to pick up our first new Indy title on our hoverboards.

2) We buy the game, weather the storm of quality lacking products if you will, until newer, better and more talented individuals hit the LucasArts scene.

Sure, we have to put up with games of poorer quality than the mythical "Indiana Jones 2007". But instead we could potentially see "Indiana Jones 2013", a game completely worth the wait and the extra $50 on that one Wii title that sucked that one time.

Of course, we could always send a message to the monocle'd fat-cat tycoons at LA... and let's none of us buy Staff of Kings 'til it's a boxing day sale or in the bargain bin.

EvilDevo said:

Exactly. Even if this game is average at best, it's still Indiana Jones. Hearing that theme song playing while you're whipping Nazis as the man in the hat will automatically bring this game up 2 IGN score points in my opinion.

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Having Nazis automaticly bumps it up to a 6 for me.

As in: it starts at 6/10 for the inclusion of nazis? Nice!

Also, IGN is overly harsh on overly hyped games... so add two more points.

(This is going to be the highest rated game in history... too bad Raven reviews aren't a reliable source in the online gaming community.)

Off topic: Wolfenstein for PS360?

yes 6/10 just for including Nazis I just love killing them especially as Indy!

marshce, I agree with your thinking and logic. I felt the same way until I started thinking about it earlier today. With the money that lucasarts has, it's not like this game was being developed by some fledgeling underdog company which has no way of knowing whether or not there would be an audience for their game. Indiana Jones is a license that begs for and deserves a good game. They can afford to shoot the works and make something awesome...Lord knows they've had the time. It would sell. They instead went with the tired business model for licensed games. Just make it good enough, (it doesn't have to be great) and people who liked the movies will fork over their cash.

I know a game doesn't have to be a virtual reality experience to be fun. But for crying out loud, this is Indiana Jones! One of their most beloved characters!! Have they no pride over at Lucasarts? Good presentation shouldn't be an optional thing for this. "It's for psp, though." "Wii games just don't look as good as other next gen consoles." Oh barf. Why should any of us make excuses for an ugly game. I can't speak for the DS crowd, but I've got the other consoles it's coming out on, and I've played games on all three that graphically put this to shame. And yeah, that I am including my outdated PS2 is a diss. The PS2 was a great machine, but it's day has passed. It's now the spare dvd player in my guest bedroom.

Rambling, sorry. Anyway, some have speculated publicly about the gameplay itself based on the lackluster effort these screens seem to imply. I'm not one of them. I am going to buy, er, rent this game and give it it's day in court. I just can't believe what I'm seeing. Especially after what we were led to believe we were going to get.

EvilDevo said:

Exactly. Even if this game is average at best, it's still Indiana Jones. Hearing that theme song playing while you're whipping Nazis as the man in the hat will automatically bring this game up 2 IGN score points in my opinion.

Click to expand...

That's all I need. Once the Raiders March kicks in and I'm playing the game I think I'll be a bit more forgiving. After all, it IS Indy.

Maybe they wanted the game to be an authentic remake of a game made in 1935?

What is really pathetic is that the graphics are worse than ET, which was made 6 years ago, lol

Just another classic example of Lucas and his companies ****ting the bed once again.

No other company in America can screw things up like this one can, lol

I'm thinking this game might be for the Atari 2600.

This is truly pathetic!!!

Someone sadi a few posts ago that we should judge the game based on its story. Well...we all know Lucas can come up with a great story...Errrrrr,,,crystal skull and the disgrace that was.

I would compare this game to 'The Godfather: Blackhand Edition' for the Wii. Check the link out. The graphics look very similar to SoK's. I own the Godfather game and all I can say is that screenshots dont do this game justice. You can watch some gamplay of the Godfather and compare it to the screen shots. There is no comparison. Hopefully someone on this site has this game to back me up. So check the link out...and tell me what you guys think.

Screen shots: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/thegodfather/images.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gsimage&tag=images;img;3



Gamplay Video: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/thegodfather/videos.html?tag=tabs;videos

Bunch o' whiners.

I'm waiting until more information comes out.

Lots of "the glass is half empty" people on here, huh?

mindy muffles said:

Someone said a few posts ago that we should judge the game based on its story. Well...we all know Lucas can come up with a great story...Errrrrr,,,crystal skull and the disgrace that was.

Click to expand...

I can just hear the attack I'll receive when I tell you I absolutely loved Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

By the way, The Force Unleashed just won the WGA Award for outstanding achievement in Writing for Videogames.

marshce said:

I can just hear the attack I'll receive when I tell you I absolutely loved Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

By the way, The Force Unleashed just won the WGA Award for outstanding achievement in Writing for Videogames.

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Really? I'm not suprised, I thought that game was fantastic! Too bad it will be the last internally developed game by lucasarts

On topic: I agree with a lot of the comments made about staff of kings here, everyones made a valid point. While I can ramble and rable about the production and the screenshots etc the best I can do as a fan is just wait for it to come out and make jolly sure it's a good game

Besides, as long as the box looks good I'd be happy for it to be in my collection I mean, this is Indiana Jones! It's not as if I won't buy it if it's rubbish lol!

Indyfan4ever said:

I would compare this game to 'The Godfather: Blackhand Edition' for the Wii. Check the link out. The graphics look very similar to SoK's. I own the Godfather game and all I can say is that screenshots dont do this game justice. You can watch some gamplay of the Godfather and compare it to the screen shots. There is no comparison. Hopefully someone on this site has this game to back me up. So check the link out...and tell me what you guys think.

Screen shots: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/thegodfather/images.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gsimage&tag=images;img;3

Gameplay Video: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/thegodfather/videos.html?tag=tabs;videos

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Excellent, you're quite right.

Let's also not forget that while Emperor's Tomb on PS2 arguably looks better than Staff of Kings in screenshots, when we get to the actual game ET on PS2 was almost unplayable.

Besides, as long as the box looks good I'd be happy for it to be in my collection

Click to expand...

I'll admit that's got me worried too, with Drew Struzan's retirement. I hope we don't get a boring CGI cover.

So Nintendo Power goes on sale on the 17th.

When should subscribers get there's? End of this week probably huh?

Anyone here a subscriber?

I was remembering last night that before the Quantum of Solace game came out last year the screenshots for the Wii version looked like N64 graphics and were overall underwhelming. However, now that I've played the game extensively I can say it looks MUCH better than the screenshots indicated and it runs pretty smoothly.

I'm not too concerned about it. As long as the game feels like a classic Indy adventure I'll be satisfied.

In all honesty, even though a lot of people think the graphics are bad and what not, we haven't talked about what the screenshots actually behold.

It seems we get a sweet shanghi street car level which looks cool. The bridge is very ToD which could turn out to be a lot of fun. I like how Indy's shirt is all ripped. The whole game seems to have a great ToD vibe going for it. Which, IMO, ToD would be the best film to game translation. It also seems great the you actually get to wield the Macguffin as a weapon. Plus multiplayer with a separate storyline seems cool also.

Sure the graphics aren't all that and a bag of chips (I'm bringing that phrase back!) but it looks like a pretty solid Indy adventure and might be a pretty stellar game.

DocWhiskey said:

In all honesty, even though a lot of people think the graphics are bad and what not, we haven't talked about what the screenshots actually behold.

It seems we get a sweet shanghi street car level which looks cool. The bridge is very ToD which could turn out to be a lot of fun. I like how Indy's shirt is all ripped. The whole game seems to have a great ToD vibe going for it. Which, IMO, ToD would be the best film to game translation. It also seems great the you actually get to wield the Macguffin as a weapon. Plus multiplayer with a separate storyline seems cool also.

Sure the graphics aren't all that and a bag of chips (I'm bringing that phrase back!) but it looks like a pretty solid Indy adventure and might be a pretty stellar game.

Click to expand...

Great post, Doc! Thanks for getting this thread back on the rails.

Honestly, how many people are not going to buy this game because the graphics arent all that and a bag of chips???(For you DocWhiskey).

I will play this game as I have all the others, hoping for the best, and picking it apart...for better AND for worse!

The Fate of Atlantis is supposedly a hidden extra but I probably won't play that because of the graphics!

Please! I can't wait to finish it...never had the chance!