For those who are not familiar with the way Lego Indiana Jones is supposed to be played, the computer controlled characters might prove very useful in the first stages, sometimes even showing you the way to overcome certain obstacles. When dealing with enemies your teammates are less effective as they are unable to inflict serious damage but instead they only manage to stun the opponents and you will have to finish them off.

Indy's main weapon is the famous whip, useful in grabbing levers, guns or other items that are out of reach as well as swinging across gaps but its impact in combat is limited. Very frequently you'll have to rely heavily on your fists as the handguns collected from the bad guys can only fire a few runs before expiring, but there is always the option of hitting them with a Lego chair, bottle or even a pizza. Anyway, combat comes second to solving puzzles in this game and while only few of them have the potential of becoming frustrating, most are pretty easy to solve and good enough to spice things up.

The destructible environment is the main attraction of this game as virtually everything is made up from Lego pieces and can be reduced to rubble. Occasionally you will have to focus your attention on building ladders, bridges and many other gadgets out of Lego to progress to the next stage, but these are rather obvious steps to follow and are not a serious challenge anyway. Phobias represent an interesting element introduced in Lego Indiana Jones and most characters will become paralyzed with fear once they come near rats, snakes, spider and other nasty critters.

Co-op is what really makes this game fabulous and while the AI controlled teammates are doing a great job, it's always more entertaining to solve the mysteries with a friend. There is only one risk when playing with a real teammate as the camera performs poorly at certain stages and your actions may trigger the death of your companion by forcing him off the screen. It's not something that happens very often but when it does it is extremely frustrating and I'm quite shocked that nothing has been done to fix this issue.

Some people might complain that the storyline is too short and this game can be completed with ease in just a couple of hours and that it totally lacks complexity. While this is not completely false, the truth is that Lego Indiana Jones brilliantly succeeds in creating a casual, relaxing game to enjoy with friends on a weekend afternoon. Its lasting appeal is insured by the smart way it encourages you to re-visit each level in Free Play mode; while it is impossible to collect every item the first time you enter a site, once you've unlocked every character these objects become accessible and will fit nicely in your collection at Barnet College.