I bought this game from a bargain bin in 2006, having never heard of the original. And the disc was in one of those unmarked Game Stop used-game cases, so I genuinely had no idea it was a sequel to anything. Loved every minute of it! Has sort of a Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines vibe to it. Hub areas are small but open, the gameplay variability is quite nice, and the story is enjoyably campy. Honestly, if you haven't played this or the original, I'd go as far as to recommend starting with this one. It'll even out the learning curve a little bit.
Being an avid fan of Star Trek AND turn-of-the-century-era FPS games, I feel like this game was made specifically for me. How did I only find out about it a few days ago? While the first level is a bit of a slog, you'll soon find yourself sneaking around a Klingon bird of prey, fighting space pirates on an original-series-era Federation starship (with all the right props and sound effects), and infiltrating a Borg cube, among other things. The story is fun, with a surprising amount of character development. Voices are provided by the Voyager cast, while the main character (if you play as a male) is voiced by the actor who voiced Kyle Katarn in Jedi Outcast. While the combat is never particularly challenging, the arsenal is satisfying and varied. Perhaps my favorite thing about it is the continuity. Levels are not simply bridged by expository cutscenes (not that there aren't any of those). Rather, after you finish a mission, you are free to roam around the ship and interact with your crewmates until you are assigned your next mission. It really is just kind of a day in life of a Voyager crewman. Just a solid, engrossing experience all around. My only complaint is that it's too short. Takes about 7-8 hours to beat the campaign. Short but sweet. Can't wait to play the sequel.
...but it was reeeeeally good before it broke on me. I was seriously digging it. But then I hit a game breaking bug at around 10 hours, and just didn't have it in me to restart. Against my better judgement, I am going to give it another go one day. It really is awesome, when it works. And people claim to have finished it, so I'll roll the dice again. If you do get it, save often, and into many different files. Like, make a backup save at the start of each new quest. (And just...hang on to electrical components and AI modules. Don't get rid of them. Trust me. You're welcome.)
The Infernal Machine was a master class in level design. Its levels were fun because they were challenging. They were challenging because they were puzzles. This game's levels are challenging too, but they're challenging because the controls and mechanics are awful. When you beat a level, you don't get the satisfaction of having figured something out for yourself. You just get the satisfaction of not having to restart for the 30th time. There's a difference.
My first firefight in this game went about as smoothly as I imagine one would go in real life. The second I started firing my gun, the recoil pointed it almost straight up. So I ran around in a flurry trying to get my bearings, wildly firing into the air until my gun jammed. When I finally managed to compose myself, pretty much everyone in the room was dead, having killed each other. I picked the corpses clean and got out of there. This game is sooooooo good.
This game is great! Must have really went under the radar when it came out.
I recently replayed Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine for the first time since 2000, mostly out of curiosity to see how poorly it had aged. Much to my surprise, I wound up enjoying it just as much as I did when I was a teenager. Emboldened by that discovery, I figured maybe the same could be said of the early Tomb Raider games. The Infernal Machine was cloned straight from their DNA, after all. Boy was I wrong. These games are almost unplayable. (And I am not a stickler for smooth mechanics. If I had to pick a top three, they would be Pathologic, Omikron, and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the earth. If you've played any of those, you'd know I'm practically Mother Theresa when it comes to seeing past clunky controls.)
I first played this back in 2000 when I was 17 or 18. It didn't look particularly revolutionary, even seemed downright childish. But I was a big Indy fan at the time and figured I'd give it a whirl. Despite its clunky controls and cartoonish graphics, it was surprisingly engrossing, with emaculate level design, a wide-ranging variety of environments, excellent puzzles, and a fun story. It wound up being one of my favorite games from that time period. My jaw dropped when I saw it on GOG. I figured it was probably unplayable by today's standards, but I was curious enough to see for myself. Wound up playing through the whole game in like two sittings. It's still so good! Comparatively, I recently played Tomb Raider 2, which I also remember loving as a teenager. I figured if the Infernal Machine somehow held up so well, maybe same-era Tomb Raider would too. And yet I found the latter to be truly unplayable. I couldn't even make it through the first level before giving up in frustration. Not sure what set the two games apart, as they're nearly identical twins, aesthetically and mechanically. Perhaps its just the IP? The nostalgia? I don't know. All I know is this game's just got "it". There's something magical holding it together. It works, and it works well. Just as good of an installment as any of the films. So glad to have it back.
Aware of its legacy, I bought this mostly out of curiosity. It did not disappoint. Only further fuels my unpopular opinion that John Romero is nothing without Tom Hall.
For some reason I remember this game being unplayable, but that's probably because I only tried the N64 version as a teen (which had the most godawful controller of all time, let's be honest with ourselves). So maybe my expectations were just low going into it this time around, and maybe I'm just nostalgic for original-trilogy-era Star Wars, but I'm having a blast! Ground-based gunfights, space battles, jet packs, swoop bikes, Hoth, Boba Fett, IG-88, all the best John Williams music cues, and those classic LucasArts level designs. What else can you ask for in a Star Wars game? It would be nice to be able to reassign key controls and adjust mouse sensitivity, but that's my only gripe. Minor issue.
