Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
Encyclopedia
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphical adventure game
, originally released in 1989 (to coincide with the release of the film of the same name
), published by Lucasfilm Games (now LucasArts
). It was the third game to use the SCUMM
engine.
. As the game begins, Indiana Jones has returned to his college, after reclaiming the Cross of Coronado
. He is approached by businessman Walter Donovan, who tells him about the Holy Grail
, and of the disappearance of Indy's father.
Indy then travels to some of the places seen in the movie, such as Venice
and the catacombs
, after meeting fellow archeologist Elsa Schneider. In the process he finds his father held captive in the Brunwald Castle, after passing through the mazelike corridors, fighting and avoiding guards. Then Elsa's double role is revealed when she steals the Grail Diary from Indy. After escaping, father and son pass through Berlin to reclaim the Diary and have a brief meeting with Hitler. Then they reach an airport, from where they intend to seek the Valley of the Crescent Moon, by Zeppelin
or biplane
. There are many action scenes, involving fists, and the biplane sequence above Europe
, pursued by Nazi planes.
Several key elements of the movie—such as the Brotherhood of the Grail, Indy's friend Sallah
, and the Venice water chase and the desert battle scenes (except for small hidden references)—were not included in the game.
's adventure games, however when the game was restarted or restored, the total IQ of your previous game was retained. The only way to reach the maximum IQ of 800 was by finding alternative solutions to puzzles, such as fighting a guard instead of avoiding him. This countered one common criticism of adventures games, whereby since there is only one way to finish the game, they have no replay value. Some of the alternative fights, such as the one with the Zeppelin
attendant, were very difficult to pass, so the maximum IQ was very difficult to acquire.
The game was released in May 1989 simultaneously with the movie. It was available for DOS
, Amiga
, Atari ST
, and Mac OS
. A CD-ROM version was later released for the FM-Towns, with 256-color graphics, as well as a VGA PC version. The player has to enter copy protection codes similar to those of Maniac Mansion
and Zak McKracken at the start of the game. If the wrong codes are entered three times, the game goes into "demo" mode. When Indy is asked by Walter Donovan to translate the tablet, he makes a hilarious mistranslation, causing Donovan to throw him outside, ending the game. The 256-color versions of the game do not have the copy protection codes.
A replica of Henry Jones' Grail diary was included with earlier versions of the game. While very different from the film's version, it provided a collection of background information of Indy's youth and Henry's life. Later versions of the game came with a shortened version of the Grail diary. The diary gave Indy's mother's name as Mary, which was contradicted by subsequent canon.
Last Crusade was also the first Lucasfilm game to include the verbs Look and Talk. In several situations, the latter would begin a primitive dialogue system in which the player could choose one of several lines to say. The system was fully evolved in The Secret of Monkey Island
and remained in all later LucasArts adventures, with the exception of Loom.
Many of the scenes unique to the game were conceived by George Lucas
and Steven Spielberg
during the creation of the movie.
gave the PC version a score of 91 %, praising the graphics, sound and playability and calling it "a brilliant film tie-in and a superlative game in its own right".
In an issue of Game Informer, in its retro review section they awarded the game a nine out of ten.
The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon
#152 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World
gave the game a positive review, noting its cinematic qualities and well-designed puzzles.
, was released in 1992 for DOS, Amiga, and Macintosh.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
, originally released in 1989 (to coincide with the release of the film of the same name
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
), published by Lucasfilm Games (now 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...
). It was the third game to use the SCUMM
SCUMM
Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion is a scripting language developed at LucasArts to ease development of the graphical adventure game Maniac Mansion....
engine.
Plot
The plot closely follows, and expands upon, the film of Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
. As the game begins, Indiana Jones has returned to his college, after reclaiming the Cross of Coronado
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542...
. He is approached by businessman Walter Donovan, who tells him about the Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
, and of the disappearance of Indy's father.
Indy then travels to some of the places seen in the movie, such as Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and the catacombs
Catacombs
Catacombs, human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place can be described as a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman empire...
, after meeting fellow archeologist Elsa Schneider. In the process he finds his father held captive in the Brunwald Castle, after passing through the mazelike corridors, fighting and avoiding guards. Then Elsa's double role is revealed when she steals the Grail Diary from Indy. After escaping, father and son pass through Berlin to reclaim the Diary and have a brief meeting with Hitler. Then they reach an airport, from where they intend to seek the Valley of the Crescent Moon, by Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
or biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
. There are many action scenes, involving fists, and the biplane sequence above Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, pursued by Nazi planes.
Several key elements of the movie—such as the Brotherhood of the Grail, Indy's friend Sallah
Sallah
Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir, better known as Sallah , is a fictional character played by John Rhys-Davies in two of the four Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...
, and the Venice water chase and the desert battle scenes (except for small hidden references)—were not included in the game.
Technical details
Last Crusade was one of the most innovative of the LucasArts adventures. It expanded on LucasArts' traditional adventure game structure by including a flexible point system - the IQ score, or "Indy Quotient" - and by allowing the game to be completed in several different ways. The point system was similar to that of SierraSierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
's adventure games, however when the game was restarted or restored, the total IQ of your previous game was retained. The only way to reach the maximum IQ of 800 was by finding alternative solutions to puzzles, such as fighting a guard instead of avoiding him. This countered one common criticism of adventures games, whereby since there is only one way to finish the game, they have no replay value. Some of the alternative fights, such as the one with the Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
attendant, were very difficult to pass, so the maximum IQ was very difficult to acquire.
The game was released in May 1989 simultaneously with the movie. It was available for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, and Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
. A CD-ROM version was later released for the FM-Towns, with 256-color graphics, as well as a VGA PC version. The player has to enter copy protection codes similar to those of Maniac Mansion
Maniac Mansion
Maniac Mansion is a 1987 graphic adventure game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It was Lucasfilm's first published video game, and it was initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II. A comedy horror parody of B movies, it follows teenager Dave Miller as he ventures...
and Zak McKracken at the start of the game. If the wrong codes are entered three times, the game goes into "demo" mode. When Indy is asked by Walter Donovan to translate the tablet, he makes a hilarious mistranslation, causing Donovan to throw him outside, ending the game. The 256-color versions of the game do not have the copy protection codes.
A replica of Henry Jones' Grail diary was included with earlier versions of the game. While very different from the film's version, it provided a collection of background information of Indy's youth and Henry's life. Later versions of the game came with a shortened version of the Grail diary. The diary gave Indy's mother's name as Mary, which was contradicted by subsequent canon.
Last Crusade was also the first Lucasfilm game to include the verbs Look and Talk. In several situations, the latter would begin a primitive dialogue system in which the player could choose one of several lines to say. The system was fully evolved in The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island is a graphic adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by the same company after its name was changed to LucasArts. The game spawned a number of sequels, collectively known as the Monkey Island series...
and remained in all later LucasArts adventures, with the exception of Loom.
Many of the scenes unique to the game were conceived by 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...
and Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
during the creation of the movie.
Reception
UK magazine C&VGComputer and Video Games (magazine)
Computer and Video Games is a video game magazine and website published in the United Kingdom.- History :...
gave the PC version a score of 91 %, praising the graphics, sound and playability and calling it "a brilliant film tie-in and a superlative game in its own right".
In an issue of Game Informer, in its retro review section they awarded the game a nine out of ten.
The game was reviewed in 1989 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#152 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
gave the game a positive review, noting its cinematic qualities and well-designed puzzles.
Sequels
A second Indiana Jones graphic adventure, Indiana Jones and the Fate of AtlantisIndiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure game by LucasArts originally released in 1992. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhanced "talkie" edition with full voice acting and digitized sound effects...
, was released in 1992 for DOS, Amiga, and Macintosh.
External links
- Game Guide for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Complete walkthrough and guide for the game
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (DOS version) at MobyGames