Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
Encyclopedia
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine is a multi-platform action-adventure
video game by LucasArts
released in late 1999. The first 3D
installment in the series, its gameplay focuses on solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and various platforming sections
. The story told is set after World War II
and puts the eponymous protagonist, the adventurer Indiana Jones
, against the Soviet Union
. In a race for a mythological Babylon
ian power source, he joins forces with the Central Intelligence Agency
and collects four pieces of the Infernal Machine, a biblical device that allegedly opens a portal to another dimension.
The title was designed, written, and directed by Hal Barwood
who considered the Indiana Jones franchise a perfect fit for the action-adventure genre. Initially developed for the Windows 95 and 98
operating systems, the game later received an enhanced Nintendo 64
port jointly developed with Factor 5
, as well as a 2D
version for the Game Boy Color
created by HotGen
. Infernal Machine received generally favorable reviews, having been praised for its detailed storyline and sophisticated level designs, though widely criticized for its unwieldy control scheme.
is required. Furthermore, several human, animal and supernatural enemies are encountered during the course of the game, which the player can fight off with numerous firearms, the aforementioned whip, and a machete
. In addition to these obstacles, the game largely focuses on solving puzzles and discovering treasures. Some levels include vehicle-themed portions such as rafting
, jeep
treks, and mine cart chases. The main objective of the game is to collect four machine parts in order to complete the titular Infernal Machine.
returning to his digging career after the turbulent World War II
conflicts he was involved in. Sophia Hapgood, an old friend of Indiana and now a member of the Central Intelligence Agency
, visits him at his dig site in the Canyonlands
, and informs him that the Russians
are excavating the ruins of Babylon
. Led by Dr. Gennadi Volodnikov, a physicist interested in alternate dimensions, the Soviets' supposed objective is to find a weapon more powerful than the atom bomb, giving them a deciding advantage in the Cold War
.
Sophia hires Indiana to investigate what exactly the Russians are searching for, and he travels to their dig site in Iraq
. There, he joins up with Sophia's boss Simon Turner and finds out that Volodnikov is looking for the Babylonian god Marduk
who lives on another plane called the Aetherium. Deep in the ruins of the Etemenanki
, Indiana translates some ancient tablets with cuneiform writing explaining the true story behind the Tower of Babel
: 2600 years ago, King Nebuchadnezzar II was inspired by Marduk to build a great engine, but the frightened Babylonians tore the tower housing it down, leading four of the god's disciples to escape with some parts of this "Infernal Machine".
Indiana embarks on a journey to find these machine parts before the Soviets do, and eventually retrieves all four of them from a monastery in the mountains
of Kazakhstan
, an active volcano in the Philippines
, an Olmec
valley in Mexico
, and a tomb in the deserts of the Sudan
. He is then confronted by Volodnikov and Turner who both demand him to hand over the parts as they think they would not be safe with the other side. Untrusting of his fellow Americans, but opting for the lesser evil, he gives the parts to Sophia and Turner. Volodnikov says that it was probably better this way, as Marduk would have his revenge on those who desecrated the machine.
Alarmed, Indiana travels back to the Room of the Tablets in Babylon, and finds a now-opened gate leading even further into the ruins, to the core of the Infernal Machine. He catches up with Sophia and Turner, the latter of which intends to convince the other dimension to cooperate with the USA, and uses the machine parts to activate the engine. He then pushes the unwilling Sophia into a mystical cage as a means of sending her to the Aetherium as an ambassador. Indiana sees no other way but to kill him to reclaim all parts and rescue her. However, the activated machine goes awry, and Indiana and Sophia are sucked into a portal that leads to the other dimension. There, he defeats the malevolent Marduk and frees Sophia from her cage. Having escaped back to Babylon, the team is greeted by Volodnikov, who is curious to find out if they encountered God
on the other side, which Indiana denies. In the ensuing conversation, the Soviet doctor turns out to be a lot less extremist than assumed, and the three wander off into the sunrise in search of a good bottle of vodka
. A bonus level sees Indiana return to the Peruvian temple from the opening of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark
, and has him find another golden idol in a secret room.
always thought of Indiana Jones as an action hero. Based on this notion, he decided for the game to be an action-adventure
, as he was particularly fond of the genre and its use of 3D worlds
. Barwood also considered the Nazis to be overused as villains in the series and so instead set the title in the Cold War era with Russians as the antagonists. Originally, UFOs were planned to be used as a plot device
, though George Lucas
vetoed the idea, still reserving it for a then undeveloped fourth movie. In lieu thereof, Barwood became interested in ancient technology like the Antikythera mechanism
, conceived the Infernal Machine as the MacGuffin
, and placed it in the biblical Tower of Babel
, which is believed to be identical with the Etemenanki
, a temple dedicated to the god Marduk
.
Developed for Windows 95 and 98
, the game uses a modified version of the Sith engine
adapted for a third-person view by lead programmer Paul LeFevre. Eventually, lighting, collision, rendering and tools underwent drastic rewrites to the point that the code was renamed the Jones engine. The levels were principally designed by Steven Chen, and later conceptualized with illustrations by lead artist William Tiller. Multiplayer support was planned at the beginning of the development, but ultimately dropped because it turned out to be too complex to adequately test. Instead, more emphasis was put on the design of the single-player campaign with its puzzles and exploring aspect. The team implemented a hint system to lead players in the right direction. Additionally, the score system from previous Indiana Jones games, the Indy Quotient, makes a return. Apart from John Williams'
"Raiders March", the soundtrack was newly composed by Clint Bajakian
and consists of about 130 original pieces. Dubbed
European language versions of the fully voice-acted game were released by THQ
in Germany, Ubi Soft in France, Electronic Arts
in Spain and CTO in Italy.
An intended PlayStation
version was canceled early after the game's announcement. However, a team of eight Factor 5
employees teamed up with artists, level designers and a programmer from LucasArts to port Infernal Machine to the Nintendo 64
. Development of this version commenced in early March 1999 and was finished in October 2000. Over the course of these 19 months, several improvements were made to the game, such as enhanced real-time lighting, controls, camera and particle systems, as well as added lock-on targeting and assigning items to the three C buttons of the Nintendo 64 controller
. Furthermore, the N64 version has some new musical pieces composed by Chris Hülsbeck
, and employs sequenced music
as opposed to the prerecorded audio
from the PC original. The port was only released in North America and was exclusive to the Blockbuster chain of stores and the LucasArts Company Store. Electronic Arts planned to release it in Europe, but the title then saw a change of publisher to THQ. Originally scheduled for March 2001, the PAL version became subject to continuous monthly delays and was eventually canceled in September. A 2D
version of Infernal Machine with top-down perspective gameplay was developed for the Game Boy Color
by HotGen
.
, the game was noted for setting itself apart from the aforementioned series due to being based on the Indiana Jones franchise, and relying more heavily on puzzle-solving. IGN
commended the game for its intricate and intriguing storyline. Eurogamer
shared the opinion and stated the plot to be "excellently woven", enhancing the feel of "being part of a big blockbuster movie". Computer and Video Games
, Eurogamer, and IGN also praised Infernal Machine for its levels, calling them "excellently designed" and including "some of the most brilliant layouts [...] seen in a game of this type". While IGN thought the variety of puzzles provided was sufficient and applauded the inclusion of a hint system, GameSpot
found many of the puzzles in the game to focus too heavily on platforming and went on to state that they become "quite repetitive - even predictable" after the first few levels. The most criticized aspect of the PC game across the majority of reviews, however, are the controls. Eurogamer described them as "infuriating at times", mostly due to their faulty collision detection when performing certain actions. GameSpot thought the control system was too jerky, unresponsive, and unnecessarily slow because of delays between the moves.
The graphics, while low on polygons, were received well for its detailed textures and the diverse locations presented. Eurogamer called Infernal Machine "one of the best looking third person adventures", and applauded the in-engine cutscenes, claiming them to be "bordering on film quality at times". GameSpot said the graphics were "not exactly cutting edge", but "generally quite good" due to the "fairly smooth and convincing" animations. IGN praised the environments for having "a lot more personality than the Tomb Raider series". Eurogamer called some of the locations "simply stunning", and GameSpot found the levels to be "aesthetically well designed because of convincing architecture and wall decorations". Furthermore, the soundtrack was stated by IGN to be "one of the best features of the game", based on its adding to the dramatic impact along the way. They applauded the voice recording for being "crisp and clean", though were disappointed with the sparsity of musical tracks and environmental sound effects. Allgame
was impressed with the weapon effects and the foreign-language voice overs for the Soviet soldiers, while Computer and Video Games considered the lack of Harrison Ford
as Indiana Jones' voice disappointing, though understandable given his high salary. Eurogamer found the comments of the playable character to become annoying after a while, but were impressed with the ambient sounds and music, claiming the latter to be "ace stuff", "further enhancing the motion picture feeling of the game".
Despite its enhancements, the Nintendo 64 version fared about as well with critics as the PC original, yielding 70.99 percent at GameRankings and a Metacritic
score of 75 out of 100 points. The control scheme of the port was well-received by IGN for the addition of C button item management and Z-targeting, both inspired by Ocarina of Time. Though they still considered the controls "slow" and "a little clunky", they commended them for being "more intuitive, tighter, speedier, and all around more balanced" than those of the PC version. GameSpot did not share these sentiments and stated the adaption of the keyboard
controls to the console controller
to be "rather clunky and unintuitive". IGN was impressed with the texture work and lighting, and found the title to be "one of the prettiest" on the Nintendo 64, even more so by employing the Expansion Pak to achieve high-resolution graphics. However, the graphics received criticism for its "wooden" character animations, occasional frame rate drops, and bugs such as pop-ups
and faulty texture placement. IGN remarked that the sound was superior to the PC version's, while GameSpot thought it was about on par with the port's above-average graphics. Additionally, GameSpot criticized the Nintendo 64 version for the many bugs and lockups, a problem uncommon for console releases.
HotGen's Game Boy Color version received an average score of 73.80 percent at GameRankings. It was panned by GameSpot for its backtracking, missing puzzle hints, and lack of plot development, but lauded for its clean animations and sound effects. Allgame was disappointed with the instruction manual being mandatory to understand the game's mostly non-existent plot, and criticized the decision to make the player restart a level upon dying, as well as the password system, calling it "annoying".
)
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game by LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
released in late 1999. The first 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
installment in the series, its gameplay focuses on solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and various platforming sections
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. The story told is set after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and puts the eponymous protagonist, the adventurer Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
, against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. In a race for a mythological Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ian power source, he joins forces with the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and collects four pieces of the Infernal Machine, a biblical device that allegedly opens a portal to another dimension.
The title was designed, written, and directed by Hal Barwood
Hal Barwood
Hal Barwood is an American game designer and game producer best known for his work on games based on the Indiana Jones license.Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, he studied art at Brown University and later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, where he met and...
who considered the Indiana Jones franchise a perfect fit for the action-adventure genre. Initially developed for the Windows 95 and 98
Windows 9x
Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
operating systems, the game later received an enhanced Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
port jointly developed with Factor 5
Factor 5
Factor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was originally co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name....
, as well as a 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
version for the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
created by HotGen
HotGen
HotGen, Ltd. is a toy and video game developer based in London. They work for Jakks Pacific and help develop handheld TV games.-Games developed:* 2000 - Star Wars Episode I: Obi-Wan's Adventures - Game Boy Color - published by THQ...
. Infernal Machine received generally favorable reviews, having been praised for its detailed storyline and sophisticated level designs, though widely criticized for its unwieldy control scheme.
Gameplay
Infernal Machine is an action-adventure and, as such, features a hybrid of various gameplay mechanics. The player sees Indiana Jones from a third-person perspective and controls him through 17 levels of a fully polygonal 3D world. A recurring element of Infernal Machine are platforming sections, for which a combination of running, jumping, climbing, and the use of the protagonist's trademark bullwhipBullwhip
A bullwhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather, which was originally used as a tool for working with livestock.Bullwhips are pastoral tools, traditionally used to control livestock in open country...
is required. Furthermore, several human, animal and supernatural enemies are encountered during the course of the game, which the player can fight off with numerous firearms, the aforementioned whip, and a machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
. In addition to these obstacles, the game largely focuses on solving puzzles and discovering treasures. Some levels include vehicle-themed portions such as rafting
Rafting
Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...
, jeep
Off-road vehicle
An off-road vehicle is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with deep, open treads, a flexible suspension, or even caterpillar tracks...
treks, and mine cart chases. The main objective of the game is to collect four machine parts in order to complete the titular Infernal Machine.
Plot
The story of the game is set in 1947 and depicts archaeologist and adventurer Indiana JonesIndiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
returning to his digging career after the turbulent World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
conflicts he was involved in. Sophia Hapgood, an old friend of Indiana and now a member of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, visits him at his dig site in the Canyonlands
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is a U.S. National Park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab and preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. The park is divided into four districts:...
, and informs him that the Russians
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
are excavating the ruins of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. Led by Dr. Gennadi Volodnikov, a physicist interested in alternate dimensions, the Soviets' supposed objective is to find a weapon more powerful than the atom bomb, giving them a deciding advantage in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
Sophia hires Indiana to investigate what exactly the Russians are searching for, and he travels to their dig site in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. There, he joins up with Sophia's boss Simon Turner and finds out that Volodnikov is looking for the Babylonian god Marduk
Marduk
Marduk was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to...
who lives on another plane called the Aetherium. Deep in the ruins of the Etemenanki
Etemenanki
Etemenanki was the name of a ziggurat dedicated to Marduk in the city of Babylon of the 6th century BCE Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Originally seven stories in height, little remains of it now except ruins.-Construction:It is unclear exactly when Etemenanki was first built. A review article by Andrew R...
, Indiana translates some ancient tablets with cuneiform writing explaining the true story behind the Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
: 2600 years ago, King Nebuchadnezzar II was inspired by Marduk to build a great engine, but the frightened Babylonians tore the tower housing it down, leading four of the god's disciples to escape with some parts of this "Infernal Machine".
Indiana embarks on a journey to find these machine parts before the Soviets do, and eventually retrieves all four of them from a monastery in the mountains
Tian Shan
The Tian Shan , also spelled Tien Shan, is a large mountain system located in Central Asia. The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Victory Peak , ....
of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, an active volcano in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, an Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
valley in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and a tomb in the deserts of the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. He is then confronted by Volodnikov and Turner who both demand him to hand over the parts as they think they would not be safe with the other side. Untrusting of his fellow Americans, but opting for the lesser evil, he gives the parts to Sophia and Turner. Volodnikov says that it was probably better this way, as Marduk would have his revenge on those who desecrated the machine.
Alarmed, Indiana travels back to the Room of the Tablets in Babylon, and finds a now-opened gate leading even further into the ruins, to the core of the Infernal Machine. He catches up with Sophia and Turner, the latter of which intends to convince the other dimension to cooperate with the USA, and uses the machine parts to activate the engine. He then pushes the unwilling Sophia into a mystical cage as a means of sending her to the Aetherium as an ambassador. Indiana sees no other way but to kill him to reclaim all parts and rescue her. However, the activated machine goes awry, and Indiana and Sophia are sucked into a portal that leads to the other dimension. There, he defeats the malevolent Marduk and frees Sophia from her cage. Having escaped back to Babylon, the team is greeted by Volodnikov, who is curious to find out if they encountered God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
on the other side, which Indiana denies. In the ensuing conversation, the Soviet doctor turns out to be a lot less extremist than assumed, and the three wander off into the sunrise in search of a good bottle of vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
. A bonus level sees Indiana return to the Peruvian temple from the opening of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
, and has him find another golden idol in a secret room.
Development
Infernal Machine project leader, designer and writer Hal BarwoodHal Barwood
Hal Barwood is an American game designer and game producer best known for his work on games based on the Indiana Jones license.Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, he studied art at Brown University and later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, where he met and...
always thought of Indiana Jones as an action hero. Based on this notion, he decided for the game to be an action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
, as he was particularly fond of the genre and its use of 3D worlds
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
. Barwood also considered the Nazis to be overused as villains in the series and so instead set the title in the Cold War era with Russians as the antagonists. Originally, UFOs were planned to be used as a plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
, though George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
vetoed the idea, still reserving it for a then undeveloped fourth movie. In lieu thereof, Barwood became interested in ancient technology like the Antikythera mechanism
Antikythera mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–1901 from the Antikythera wreck. Its significance and complexity were not understood until decades later. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100...
, conceived the Infernal Machine as the MacGuffin
MacGuffin
A MacGuffin is "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction". The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is...
, and placed it in the biblical Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
, which is believed to be identical with the Etemenanki
Etemenanki
Etemenanki was the name of a ziggurat dedicated to Marduk in the city of Babylon of the 6th century BCE Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Originally seven stories in height, little remains of it now except ruins.-Construction:It is unclear exactly when Etemenanki was first built. A review article by Andrew R...
, a temple dedicated to the god Marduk
Marduk
Marduk was the Babylonian name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to...
.
Developed for Windows 95 and 98
Windows 9x
Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
, the game uses a modified version of the Sith engine
Sith (engine)
The Sith engine is a game engine developed by LucasArts.The game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II is based on this engine, and its expansion, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, is based on a slightly updated version....
adapted for a third-person view by lead programmer Paul LeFevre. Eventually, lighting, collision, rendering and tools underwent drastic rewrites to the point that the code was renamed the Jones engine. The levels were principally designed by Steven Chen, and later conceptualized with illustrations by lead artist William Tiller. Multiplayer support was planned at the beginning of the development, but ultimately dropped because it turned out to be too complex to adequately test. Instead, more emphasis was put on the design of the single-player campaign with its puzzles and exploring aspect. The team implemented a hint system to lead players in the right direction. Additionally, the score system from previous Indiana Jones games, the Indy Quotient, makes a return. Apart from John Williams'
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
"Raiders March", the soundtrack was newly composed by Clint Bajakian
Clint Bajakian
Clint Bajakian is an American video game composer and musician.-Biography:Bajakian was born in Massachusetts, United States. He was linked with music since age of 8. In middle school Bajakian played in marching bands, and also played in range of rock bands...
and consists of about 130 original pieces. Dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
European language versions of the fully voice-acted game were released by THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
in Germany, Ubi Soft in France, Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
in Spain and CTO in Italy.
An intended PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
version was canceled early after the game's announcement. However, a team of eight Factor 5
Factor 5
Factor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was originally co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name....
employees teamed up with artists, level designers and a programmer from LucasArts to port Infernal Machine to the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
. Development of this version commenced in early March 1999 and was finished in October 2000. Over the course of these 19 months, several improvements were made to the game, such as enhanced real-time lighting, controls, camera and particle systems, as well as added lock-on targeting and assigning items to the three C buttons of the Nintendo 64 controller
Nintendo 64 controller
The Nintendo 64 controller is the standard game controller included with the Nintendo 64. Released by Nintendo in late 1996 in Japan and North America, and 1997 in Europe, it features ten buttons, one digital "Control Stick" and a directional pad, all laid out in a "M" shape.-Design:The controller...
. Furthermore, the N64 version has some new musical pieces composed by Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck is a video game music composer from Germany.He has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Star Wars: Rebel Strike for Nintendo GameCube. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana...
, and employs sequenced music
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
as opposed to the prerecorded audio
Streaming audio in video games
In video games, music can be streamed, where the audio is pre-recorded and played back when required. While early video games were restricted to sequenced music, streaming music has become a more viable option as technology has improved.-Arcade games:...
from the PC original. The port was only released in North America and was exclusive to the Blockbuster chain of stores and the LucasArts Company Store. Electronic Arts planned to release it in Europe, but the title then saw a change of publisher to THQ. Originally scheduled for March 2001, the PAL version became subject to continuous monthly delays and was eventually canceled in September. A 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
version of Infernal Machine with top-down perspective gameplay was developed for the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
by HotGen
HotGen
HotGen, Ltd. is a toy and video game developer based in London. They work for Jakks Pacific and help develop handheld TV games.-Games developed:* 2000 - Star Wars Episode I: Obi-Wan's Adventures - Game Boy Color - published by THQ...
.
Reception
The PC version of Infernal Machine received generally favorable reviews with an average score of 73.60 percent at GameRankings. Although some critics found it to be too similar to Tomb RaiderTomb Raider
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter...
, the game was noted for setting itself apart from the aforementioned series due to being based on the Indiana Jones franchise, and relying more heavily on puzzle-solving. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
commended the game for its intricate and intriguing storyline. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
shared the opinion and stated the plot to be "excellently woven", enhancing the feel of "being part of a big blockbuster movie". Computer and Video Games
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
, Eurogamer, and IGN also praised Infernal Machine for its levels, calling them "excellently designed" and including "some of the most brilliant layouts [...] seen in a game of this type". While IGN thought the variety of puzzles provided was sufficient and applauded the inclusion of a hint system, GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
found many of the puzzles in the game to focus too heavily on platforming and went on to state that they become "quite repetitive - even predictable" after the first few levels. The most criticized aspect of the PC game across the majority of reviews, however, are the controls. Eurogamer described them as "infuriating at times", mostly due to their faulty collision detection when performing certain actions. GameSpot thought the control system was too jerky, unresponsive, and unnecessarily slow because of delays between the moves.
The graphics, while low on polygons, were received well for its detailed textures and the diverse locations presented. Eurogamer called Infernal Machine "one of the best looking third person adventures", and applauded the in-engine cutscenes, claiming them to be "bordering on film quality at times". GameSpot said the graphics were "not exactly cutting edge", but "generally quite good" due to the "fairly smooth and convincing" animations. IGN praised the environments for having "a lot more personality than the Tomb Raider series". Eurogamer called some of the locations "simply stunning", and GameSpot found the levels to be "aesthetically well designed because of convincing architecture and wall decorations". Furthermore, the soundtrack was stated by IGN to be "one of the best features of the game", based on its adding to the dramatic impact along the way. They applauded the voice recording for being "crisp and clean", though were disappointed with the sparsity of musical tracks and environmental sound effects. Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
was impressed with the weapon effects and the foreign-language voice overs for the Soviet soldiers, while Computer and Video Games considered the lack of Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
as Indiana Jones' voice disappointing, though understandable given his high salary. Eurogamer found the comments of the playable character to become annoying after a while, but were impressed with the ambient sounds and music, claiming the latter to be "ace stuff", "further enhancing the motion picture feeling of the game".
Despite its enhancements, the Nintendo 64 version fared about as well with critics as the PC original, yielding 70.99 percent at GameRankings and a Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
score of 75 out of 100 points. The control scheme of the port was well-received by IGN for the addition of C button item management and Z-targeting, both inspired by Ocarina of Time. Though they still considered the controls "slow" and "a little clunky", they commended them for being "more intuitive, tighter, speedier, and all around more balanced" than those of the PC version. GameSpot did not share these sentiments and stated the adaption of the keyboard
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
controls to the console controller
Nintendo 64 controller
The Nintendo 64 controller is the standard game controller included with the Nintendo 64. Released by Nintendo in late 1996 in Japan and North America, and 1997 in Europe, it features ten buttons, one digital "Control Stick" and a directional pad, all laid out in a "M" shape.-Design:The controller...
to be "rather clunky and unintuitive". IGN was impressed with the texture work and lighting, and found the title to be "one of the prettiest" on the Nintendo 64, even more so by employing the Expansion Pak to achieve high-resolution graphics. However, the graphics received criticism for its "wooden" character animations, occasional frame rate drops, and bugs such as pop-ups
Draw distance
Draw distance is a computer graphics term, defined as the maximum distance of objects in a three dimensional scene that are drawn by the rendering engine. Polygons that lie behind the draw distance won't be drawn to the screen....
and faulty texture placement. IGN remarked that the sound was superior to the PC version's, while GameSpot thought it was about on par with the port's above-average graphics. Additionally, GameSpot criticized the Nintendo 64 version for the many bugs and lockups, a problem uncommon for console releases.
HotGen's Game Boy Color version received an average score of 73.80 percent at GameRankings. It was panned by GameSpot for its backtracking, missing puzzle hints, and lack of plot development, but lauded for its clean animations and sound effects. Allgame was disappointed with the instruction manual being mandatory to understand the game's mostly non-existent plot, and criticized the decision to make the player restart a level upon dying, as well as the password system, calling it "annoying".
External links
(via Internet ArchiveInternet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
)