HISTORICAL NOTE: The oldest known real machine, a fused and corroded set of gears, was found by sponge divers in 1900 off the coast of Greece. It dates from a shipwreck in 78 B.C. Some scholars think it could be a mechanical planetarium described by Archimedes, but no one knows for sure.
1947. World War II is over. Dr. Henry Indiana Jones, Jr., exhausted by conflict, is trying to resume his digging career in the American Southwest, far from the excitement of his treasure-hunting past.
In truth, however, peace and quiet are boring companions. Fortunately for IndyÆs adventurous soul, the world is still a dangerous place. The Soviet Union has slammed an Iron Curtain down across Europe, provoking the Cold War that will occupy East and West for half a century. Communist agents are everywhere, searching for a weapon to tip the balance of power in their favor.
And they may have found something useful in the desert ruins of Babylon. ThatÆs where King Nebuchadnezzar II built the legendary Tower of Babel 2600 years ago. The Bible portrays it as a failed attempt to reach heaven, inspired by pride, but Gennadi Volodnikov, an unorthodox Russian scholar, thinks the Tower housed a machine to reach across the dimensions of space and time, inspired by the winged god Marduk. When gears began to clatter, alarmed Babylonians toppled the Tower, scattering four of MardukÆs disciples and parts of the machine to the far corners of the globe. Join Indy as he races the Soviets to recover those parts and stop them from repairing Marduk's "Infernal Machine."
MOVEMENT
With Indy in your control, you can whip, leap, run, swim and crawl through the game.
╖ Walk/Run: Use the ARROW keys and the other movement keys to guide Indy through traps and around obstacles. Use SHIFT to make Indy run. Indy can run right off a cliff, so in dangerous territory, Indy should walk.
╖ Jump: Three kinds of jumps will help Indy get to those hard-to-reach locations. (See Jumping for details.)
╖ Activate: Indy needs to interact with all sorts of objects like treasures, doors and switches. Use the CTRL key to pick up, use or push and pull items.
╖ Whip: IndyÆs whip can be used in a variety of ways: as a weapon, as a climbing rope or even as a line to swing from, in addition to removing the weapons from the hands of enemies. You can also use the whip to pick up certain items and activate certain switches. Hold down the fire key when using the whip for fighting an enemy.
NOTE: You can customize the controllers to make IndyÆs moves the most comfortable for your playing style in the Control Options menu.
Combination Moves
Occasionally Indy may need to use combinations of moves to reach difficult locations. For instance, sometimes Indy has to be at a higher level in a given location, but you canÆt see any way to climb there. A good technique is to pull out the whip and look for objects that will anchor a whip climb.
Looking
The look around feature is particularly useful when thinking about jumping down from a cliff.
Jumping
ItÆs useful to distinguish between regular jumps and forward jumps. The regular jump (ALT key) is used to reach something directly above Indy. The forward jump (ALT+UP ARROW keys) and the forward running jump (SHIFT+UP ARROW+ ALT keys) are used to cover distance, especially when there is a crevasse or a pit to be jumped. Usually, when trying for height, either the forward jump or the regular jump will do. But sometimes, the object is large enough that Indy will just bounce off if he tries a forward jump, so he must walk closer and use a regular jump if he wants to climb on top of the little platform holding the lantern.
You enable hints and adjust difficulty in the Gameplay Options menu.
Map/Hints
The level map is accessed by the M key and shows all areas previously explored in the level as an overlay on the screen. Areas in yellow are at the same level, areas in blue are below and red areas are above. When hints are enabled, the next area Indy should explore appears as an X on the map.
Difficulty
Difficulty affects how easy your enemies are to kill and the timing of certain puzzles.
Treasures
Hidden throughout each level are 10 treasures: gold and silver ingots, gems, and valuable idols. Once you pick them up, treasures appear in your Inventory in the treasure box. Acquired treasures are worth money at the Trading Post.
Trading Post
The Trading Post appears between levels and has items for sale, including ammunition and items that restore IndyÆs health. There also is a secret map, which, when bought, provides access to the bonus level. Since the map is very expensive and the health restore items and ammunition can be acquired in the levels without buying them, you may want to save up a reserve of trade goods to buy this special item.
