Indiana Jones and The Great Circle equals Action! Adventure! Exotic locations! Treasure! More Nazis than you can punch in the face! And random history lessons galore! Styled after the pulp adventure serials of the 1950s – episodic shows that were shown in cinemas usually involving cliffhanger endings each week – Indiana Jones is probably the most well-known and well-loved pulp action hero of all time in a genre full of swaggering titans. A suave archaeologist by day, treasure hunter and Nazi fighter by night, the adventures of Indiana Jones are nothing short of cinematic legend.
The success of the first movie spawned two excellent sequels and a slew of videogame and comic book tie-ins over the years. While two more movies were made, they’re best left unmentioned while the rest of us sink our teeth into the original trilogy whenever we want. It’s true to say that they just don’t make them like that anymore!
While the comic books were rather fun, the videogame adaptations have had various levels of success and quality associated with them but always proved that Indiana Jones World was perfect for the videogame medium. For fans of the franchise and pulp adventure movies, there’s just never enough of these exotic, globe-trotting adventures.
In comes Bethesda Softworks and MachineGames to rectify that with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a rip-roaring adventure set during Indy’s early years. Set between the events of Raiders of The Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle sees our hero doing what he does best: saving the world from Nazi occultism while unearthing elder mysteries.
When a seemingly innocuous Cat Mummy is stolen from Marshall College, Indy is dropped into an adventure that will take him around the world to find the truth behind the Great Circle – a term given to wonders of the ancient world that seem to be built on a perfect circle around the Earth. What mysteries were hidden behind the building of these ancient sites and what mystical power does the SS hope do gain from it? Just another day for our whip-swinging, fedora-toting hero!
I have to admit, that when Indiana Jones and The Great Circle first trailer hit, I wasn’t convinced of the first-person choice for it. But it wasn’t long before I began to understand the reason behind it. While it’s all video-gamey after all, playing as Indian Jones in first person really does a fantastic job of putting you into his shoes. The level of detail put into the world, the feeling that it’s you swinging that whip, throwing out punches or sneaking your way through forbidden areas just feels right in a way that I never expected it to.
What became significantly clear was that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle was a labour of love from developers who truly understood the source material, the world our heroes and villains inhabit and the best way to bring it into an interactive space.
Gameplay centres around large, open area designs with locations that are full of secrets and side paths, side quests and collectables. Exploration is the name of the game here with a heavy focus on stealth gameplay along the lines of the first Dishonored title. One minute you’ll be searching for medicine to aid sick workers on the Giza plateau and the next you’ll be descending into the depths of a funerary complex that’s just been unearthed. There’s always something to do between the main quest line even if some of the area objectives become repetitive across the various locations.
As you would expect, there are plenty of tombs, ruins and catacombs to explore with a focus on puzzles to solve. Some are small but crafty while others aim at replicating the movie sequences of death-defying platforming and quick-witted brain teasers.
There are notes to discover that further flesh out the world and period, artefacts to collect that belong in a museum and locations to photographically document. Everything you do gives you Adventure Points which you use to upgrade Indiana’s skills. Those skills are scattered across the world in the form of skill books which you first have to find and then spend points on to unlock. They range from strengthening your basic punches to gaining a second chance in fights when knocked out.
Now while Indy is a pretty capable scrapper, he’s no Rambo and can only take so much damage, which makes the stealthy gameplay the way you want to go. The stealthier side does take a bit of getting used to, especially stealth takedowns, but it is incredibly satisfying once you get the hang of it.
Environments are littered with objects to use as weapons, each with its own durability for bashing people over the head. You can throw down if you prefer or get into a fire-fight using Indy’s revolver or pick-up weapons but they’re not the recommended way to go about doing things. The first-person melee combat translates the movie’s fistfights perfectly into tense combat encounters of waiting for openings while blocking and parrying and is surprisingly cathartic.
Gunning enemies down is usually a last-resort way of doing things and plays out as any other FPS game. It is, for me at any rate, also the least refined of the game’s combat mechanics and feels pretty basic. Ammo is in short supply for your revolver and enemy weapons can’t be reloaded, only dropped in favour of another laying around or used as a club as a last resort. And with Indy only capable of taking about three or four shots, it’s the least satisfying way of going about things.
You can customise the game’s combat and puzzle difficulties independent of each other but I found the default setting provides a near-perfect balance across the board. If anything, the puzzles were a little too easy on the default setting.
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is also a visually gorgeous game. Environment design is top notch and beautifully set dressed, with gorgeous looking natural environments and great use of ray traced lighting and ambient occlusion. The character models are really stunning, especially for the main cast.
From Indiana’s grizzled cheeks to the subsurface scattering on flesh in natural light, the team at MachineGames have captured the look and feel of the world, characters and period setting perfectly. Best of all, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle runs flawlessly with near instantaneous load times. A sad rarity in 2024 with new releases.
And then there’s the game’s audio and performances. From the iconic theme music to the wonderful punching sounds that erupt in combat, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle audio and music are top-notch. Even better are the game’s acting performances. It’s difficult to pin down a stand out here because each of the voice actors have brought their A-game to the proceedings. One thing I will say is that Troy Baker nails Indiana Jones perfectly with a nuanced performance that can’t be labelled impersonation.
MachineGames have done a near-impossible job of making you feel like the world’s greatest archaeologist. More than that, they’ve made a game that makes the Indiana Jones franchise the best it’s been in decades in any format. Indiana Jones and The Great Circle isn’t just one of 2024’s best games, but one of the best adventure games you’re going to play. MachineGames has set a new bar here and all I can say is, please sir, can we have some more?
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Trailer
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The code was provided by the publisher
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