Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
Platform: Nintendo 64
Media: Cartridge
Genre: Action > Adventure
Release Year: 2000
Developer: LucasArts
Publisher: LucasArts
Players: Single-player
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Plot

The story of the game is set in 1947 and depicts archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones returning to his digging career after the turbulent World War II conflicts he was involved in. Sophia Hapgood, an old friend of Indy 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 operation's supposed objective is to find a weapon more powerful than the atom bomb, giving the Soviets a deciding advantage in the Cold War.

She hires Indy to investigate what exactly they are searching for, and he travels to the Russian 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, Indy 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".

Gameplay

Infernal Machine is an action-adventure and, as such, 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 the title are the platforming sections, for which a combination of running, jumping, climbing, and the use of the protagonist's trademark bullwhip 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 in the levels, the latter of which sometimes 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.