Hal Barwood is the designer and writer behind the acclaimed LucasArts game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. He recently gave an interview where he expressed his opinion that Nazis should not be featured in the upcoming Indiana Jones game from MachineGames and Bethesda Softworks. It’s an interesting take, but it makes a lot of sense.
Barwood, interviewed as part of a series on the development of his classic title, discussed the evolution of the Indiana Jones franchise and his own creative choices within it. He said that acknowledging the character’s historical context and past adventures usually involve Nazi antagonists. However, he voiced his personal belief that this trope has become overused and creatively limiting.
“They went back. They just couldn’t think of something that didn’t involve the Nazis and the franchise was lying heavy on their shoulders. And so, they just thought they should go and do what had already been done. That’s a creative lapse, which I’m sorry to have been aware of. I wish it hadn’t happened…”
Hal Barwood
This makes sense because we often see Indy facing a bunch of Nazis in almost every game. It does seem a bit overused and silly when you think about it. While acknowledging the franchise’s established themes and past successes, his perspective highlights the potential for creative stagnation and the importance of exploring new narrative avenues. At this point, can’t Indy have any more enemies?
Barwood worked on a game that came out a while ago, but since it was a point-and-click adventure, he had to rely on his storyline. To him, the story is likely the most important aspect, and he would know if overreliance on one story element was happening.
