Along with Transformers, Garbage Pail Kids and Culture Club, 80s children are always going to have a soft spot in their hearts for Dr Henry 'Indiana' Jones. He is, without doubt, da man. Han Solo might have launched Harrison Ford onto the A-List, but it was surely Indy that cemented his position at the top: a hero with brains as well as brawn, who always gets a bit of cheeky lovin' as well as the exotic prize. And he hilariously shoots people who show their sword skills off.

Yes, it's fair to say that the trap-laden temples that failed to catch out Indy caught the imagination of a generation of cinema-goers. Not to mention game designers: the Tomb Raider series (blatantly inspired by Dr Jones) forced games into the public eye and was a relatively early success for the 3D visuals we now take for granted.

But now, the man himself has stepped to the fore, to take the gaming prize from the currently diminished Lara. Well, The Emperor's Tomb is set before the trilogy of films, so he should be agile enough. Indy might well be the original tomb-raiding character, but it was Lara who got there first in the video game world. So, as you'd expect, Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb borrows fairly heavily from the Tomb Raider series. Oh, it's all getting so inbred, isn't it?

Confusing, incestuous inspiration aside, Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb contains all the ingredients you need from a classic Indy adventure. For a start, the sense of exploration and wonder that the films encapsulated is captured marvellously. The game starts out in the suitably named Palace of Forgotten Kings in Ceylon - just the sort of mysterious ruin you associate with the bestubbled hero - before moving onto locations all over the globe, from Prague and Istanbul to Hong Kong and China. And best of all, the journey from location to location is accompanied by a red line being drawn across a map, just like in the movies.

Vitally, each of the locations drips with the atmosphere you'd expect, thanks to solid (if not amazing) visuals throughout. The draw distance stretches so far that the great heights Indy scales can induce nauseous vertigo at times - check out the view from the top of the castle in Prague for proof. It all helps lend the game an even bigger, epic feel. What's more, the environments in Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb offer an extremely satisfying blend of exploration and puzzling. Because the locales tend to be so large in scale, they're fun to negotiate, and there are plenty of thrilling leaps across precipices to keep stunt fans excited. They play host to some great puzzle aspects too. These are not necessarily all about finding a switch to a door; some require a little more lateral thought, making progress rather satisfying.

Still, there's more to Indiana Jones than just travelling; he also beats people up, and does it with a lot more style than most. Amazingly, Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb manages to pull this off too (Tomb Raider's combat was always its weakest feature). Indy's trademark weapon, the bullwhip, has been integrated into the game fantastically, and offers a variety of interesting uses. It's a wonder more people don't carry them, frankly - if a real whip is even half as handy as the one in this game, I'm heading down to World of Leather the second I've finished this review.

But besides the whip, there's a great variety of other weapons with which to dispatch the hordes of cronies. Many different kinds of pistol and rifle make an appearance, and if it's straightforward pummelling that you hanker for then you can use everyday objects too: table legs, bottles of wine and shovels are all game, and smashing them over the head of an enemy is brilliant fun. Then there's the large number of unarmed moves...

Fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer will be on familiar territory when it comes to the fights, because the same developer and engine are responsible for Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb. But it's even better here, and some of the battles look choreographed in advance, thanks to the great Hollywood physics. Whip a gun out of an opponent's hands, grab him, smash his head on a wall and boot him down some stairs: now tell me you're not enjoying yourself. You can't, can you?

As with the split between level negotiation and puzzles, the balance of fighting to exploring is superb. Because fights don't go on for a monotonously long time, you never get bored of them. And because the levels are so well designed, you don't tire of exploring them either.

That's something that's true of the game in general, in fact. There are ten chapters, each of which is divided into several pretty large sub-chapters. It's a big game. The game saves your progress automatically between each sub-chapter, and if you die it's to the beginning of that section you'll go. Generally speaking, that means you don't have to redo a particularly large amount of the level should you get Indy killed in action, and it also makes it very easy to sit down to do a sub-chapter or two and end up completing a whole chapter in one sitting. For those of you familiar with Tomb Raiders past, the saving method in this game strikes a nice balance between the tension-killing quicksave method of Tomb Raider 2 and the overly stingy saves of Tomb Raider 3. All good.

Indeed, it's a whole lot harder to spot the bad in Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb than it is the good; but there is the odd thing that, on occasion, threatens to make this a bit more Temple Of Doom than The Last Crusade. Regardless of the generally pleasing save system, it can be irritating to fall and die right near the end of a long sub-chapter. But it's rarely a huge problem.

One thing that might be a problem for some, though, is the way that the game tends to lead the player by the hand a little at times. When Indy's near a part of the level that requires a certain item to progress, an icon flashes up in the top right-hand corner of the screen to tell you exactly which item is needed. For example, stand near some vines and the machete icon will pop up, informing you that you can hack your way through; or you could be standing by a gargoyle or equally convenient protrusion, in which case the whip will pop up to show that you can swing across.

For some players, this will be a welcome device that prevents you from wasting time trying things that won't work. For others, it could feel as though the game makes the route forward a little too obvious, alerting you to things you'd have rather spotted yourself. Overall though, it ensures that things keep moving forward at a brisk pace and there's a minimum of fruitless running around in circles.

The only other slight irritant is that Indy is a bit of a delicate flower when it comes to taking damage from falling, The old energy bar takes a hit even when falling from a very short distance - although admittedly only a very tiny amount of energy from such heights. But it does mean you could theoretically kill the dashing archaeologist by having him fall a little more than a metre, were you to be careless when on low health. And that could be annoying.

But that's really it with complaints. The fact is, Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb does everything you want an Indy game to do, and captures the exuberant spirit of a Jones flick brilliantly. He's a balls-out hardman next to the more po-faced, softly-softly approach of Sam Fisher, and the game's fun spirit makes this a great choice for those seeking some escapist adventure, rather than the grim terrorism we all hear enough about on the news. Yes, Indy is irrefutably still da man.

1. Brilliant use of the Indy licence
2. Perfect balance between scrapping and exploring
3. Great use of whip
4. Barnstorming rucks

1. Leads you by the hand a bit too much

Power
Some great vistas, but there is the odd bit of slowdown. Not enough to particularly annoy, mind.

Style
The Indiana ethos has been superbly realised. You can even pick your hat up after a fight!

Immersion
Thanks to the friendly save system and well-paced levels, you won't want to stop playing...

Lifespan
...and ten very large chapters mean you'll be at it for some time, especially since they're varied.

Summary
One of the most entertaining single-player adventures on Xbox, Indy's tomb raiding easily surpasses Lara's adventures.