Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

As a long-time Indiana Jones fan, any sort of Indy-related news gets me “whipped up” with excitement. Sure Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was no Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Harrison Ford’s action man with “whip-smart” brains always manages to deliver a rollicking good time.

LucasArts promises to give us more of the Indy we love, with a new adventure game called Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. It’s set in 1939, right before the outbreak of WWII.

As Indy, you’re on the hunt for the Staff of Kings, aka the staff of Moses. You have to track it down before your suitably Aryan-sounding nemesis Magnus Völler finds it. You travel around the world seeking your prize - from Chinatown to Panama - on vehicles as varied as biplanes and elephants, and use your whip and gun to stop anyone who gets in your way.

Not only do you fight with your whip, but you can use it to manipulate objects or use it to help you get out of tricky situations. I’m envisaging swinging around, Tarzan-like, like he does in the films, but I’m sure there will be other uses as well. Oh - and best of all, if you’re playing the game on the Wii, you can hold your wiimote as a whip and crack away to your heart’s content. (Cue Devo soundtrack.)

In addition to the standard adventure gaming side of things, there are several other gameplay options available. You can play a completely separate quest in co-op mode, and work through the story together with a friend. Or (and this sounds so awesome), you can unlock a four player versus mode, which will let you take on your friends in either a biplane dogfighting or tank war game.

In addition, it’s rumoured that the Wii title will also include an unlockable version of the point & click adventure Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis.

The game is due to be released around June; make sure you get your copy whip-smart!