Infernal Machine is an action-adventure and, as such, features 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.[10] A recurring element of Infernal Machine are 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. Some levels 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.
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 Indiana 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 Soviets' supposed objective is to find a weapon more powerful than the atom bomb, giving them a deciding advantage in the Cold War.
Sophia hires Indiana to investigate what exactly the Russians are searching for, and he travels to their 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, Indiana 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".
A third-person action-adventure, the camera of Infernal Machine is constantly placed behind the playable character. The heads-up display in the bottom left corner is limited to a health indicator.
Indiana embarks on a journey to find these machine parts before the Soviets do, and eventually retrieves all four of them from a monastery in the mountains of Kazakhstan, an active volcano in the Philippines, an Olmec valley in Mexico, and a tomb in the deserts of the Sudan. He is then confronted by Volodnikov and Turner who both demand him to hand over the parts as they think they would not be safe with the other side. Untrusting of his fellow Americans, but opting for the lesser evil, he gives the parts to Sophia and Turner. Volodnikov says that it was probably better this way, as Marduk would have his revenge on those who desecrated the machine.
Alarmed, Indiana travels back to the Room of the Tablets in Babylon, and finds a now-opened gate leading even further into the ruins, to the core of the Infernal Machine. He catches up with Sophia and Turner, the latter of which intends to convince the other dimension to cooperate with the USA, and uses the machine parts to activate the engine. He then pushes the unwilling Sophia into a mystical cage as a means of sending her to the Aetherium as an ambassador. Indiana sees no other way but to kill him to reclaim all parts and rescue her. However, the activated machine goes awry, and Indiana and Sophia are sucked into a portal that leads to the other dimension. There, he defeats the malevolent Marduk and frees Sophia from her cage. Having escaped back to Babylon, the team is greeted by Volodnikov, who is curious to find out if they encountered God on the other side, which Indiana denies. In the ensuing conversation, the Soviet doctor turns out to be a lot less extremist than assumed, and the three wander off into the sunrise in search of a good bottle of vodka. A bonus level sees Indiana return to the Peruvian temple from the opening of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, and has him find another golden idol in a secret room.
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