Death defying archaeologist, Indiana Jones, returns to combat evil in LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. Much like its predecessor, players explore different scenes from the films, solving puzzles, smashing bad guys into LEGO bricks and watching humorous cut scenes, except LucasArts' peppered the experience with new content and various options/improvements to make it more than a rehash. The result is a fun and charming game appropriate for all ages.

We wish our college professors were this cool.

The Adventure Continues allows you to experience condensed retellings of all four Indiana Jones films, complete with soundtracks: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade and new to this game, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Up to two players explore various scenes from the movies, hunting for treasure, fighting enemies, piecing bricks together to make vehicles/contraptions and collecting a ton of loot. You'll wander around the Well of Souls from Raiders, search for a hidden alien in a huge warehouse (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and avoid henchmen in Shanghai (Temple of Doom) while switching between characters on the fly. One second, you'll control Indiana Jones, tying up enemies with his trusty whip, and the next, you can step into the shoes of his kid, Mutt Williams, and take off on his motorcycle; the huge list also includes Marcus Brody, Short Round, Marion Ravenwood, Willie Scott, Rene Belloq, Irina Spalko and Dr. Henry Jones Sr. And if you prefer to play with a friend, he or she can jump in and out of your game. You can even separate from each other and take advantage of a split screen mode, a new feature to the LEGO games.

Although the scenery changes, the game follows a simple progression system filled with the same types of challenges. Several times, we encountered missions where we needed to destroy a set number of evildoers in vehicles to proceed, or position both characters on two switches to open a door. While not bad by any means, we've grown a bit tired of re-playing what seems like the same game for the past few years (LEGO Star Wars plays almost exactly the same).

At the same time, there's no denying LEGO Indy's charm. Its developer, Traveller's Tales, once again did an excellent job adding new scenes, redoing old ones from the previous game and crafting at times hilarious cut scenes featuring characters that speak more with their actions than words.

The game's level editor lets you create new adventures and stitch them together to create a whole separate game.

In addition, there are enough cool features to warrant, at the very least, a rental. In addition to the split screen mode, you can also enjoy new character animations (Indy, for example, can toss enemies over his shoulder), the inclusion of phobias (Indy cannot walk past snakes, while his dad hates rats) and the ability to build your own levels using various set pieces, objects and LEGO bricks. Not only does this allow for infinite possibilities, but also brand new games, since you can stitch those created levels (or existing ones) and share them with friends. Unfortunately, the game lacks Xbox Live/PlayStation Network support, so you cannot upload these levels online, or play with others across the globe.

It's also important to remember that the developers took liberties with the violent scenes from the films, so you won't see anyone's face melt or heart get torn from their chest. Instead, Traveller's Tales replaced the gory stuff with amusing scenarios (opening the Lost Ark, for example, causes everyone to dance uncontrollably).

Sure, the gameplay grew stale sooner than we expected, but it's hard resisting Lego Indiana Jones 2, especially once that familiar theme music kicks in. Just don't expect it to hold your attention for long.

[Editor's Note: LucasArts plans to add online play to Lego Indy 2 in the near future, via downloadable update.]