Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was first announced in 2021 as a collaborative dream project between Lucasfilm Games and Bethesda Softworks. MachineGames (Wolfenstein) stepped in as the developer with story direction by Executive Producer Todd Howard and Troy Baker as the voice and motion capture actor for our beloved hero.
Despite all these promising details, I remained skeptical and wondered if this project could be as good as Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Old Blood. After spending the last several days playing through the campaign, I can confidently say that The Great Circle is a phenomenal action-adventure game that perfectly captures the essence of an Indiana Jones movie in every way imaginable. Here are more thoughts on the game and why it might be worth checking out.
Where Adventure Meets Mystery
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle takes place chronologically between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Set in 1937, Jones is working as an Archaeology Professor at Marshall College when an ominous giant (played by late great actor Tony Todd) breaks in and steals a historical artifact from the college collection.
Upon further investigation, our hero learns that this incident is tied to a group led by an obsessed madman named Emmerich Voss. Their main objective is to search the world for an ancient power tied to the Great Circle. To stop them and uncover the truth, Indy must form new alliances and embark on an epic adventure across Rome, Thailand, Egypt, Shanghai, and the Himalayas.
Written by Tommy Tordsson and Directed by Jerk Gustafsson, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is spectacular. Not only does the story fit perfectly as connective tissue to the movies but I would argue that it surpasses Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in every way possible. MachineGames has done an outstanding job studying the source material and diehard fans of this franchise will notice this immediately after pressing the start button.
Another aspect that makes this game feel like it’s a natural part of the Indiana Jones series lies within the outstanding performances by the cast. While I expected Harrison Ford to be a part of this project when it was first announced, I was surprised to see Troy Baker take on the role and crush it. If you know all of the voicework that Troy has contributed to this industry thus far then you know he is the right man for the job and doesn’t disappoint.
An Impeccaple Presentation
From a visual standpoint, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is incredible. The game runs at 60FPS and has 4K and Dolby Atmos support. The musical score includes all of the iconic tunes from the movies. Thanks to the iD Tech engine, MachineGames has crafted an insanely detailed world with rich characters, crisp animations, and seamless transitions between gameplay and cinematics. This is also why the download file size on the Xbox Series X version was 131.69GB (45GB extra which came from the added texture pack). The game feels like you’re playing an Indy movie in real time.
While playing the early access version of this game on my Xbox Series X, I fully expected that there might be some bugs or performance issues. Much to my surprise, I didn’t encounter any problems whatsoever. Everything feels very polished and refined so much that it’s clear a lot of time was spent getting things right. This is once again a testament to MachineGames honoring the franchise legacy and pouring their hearts and souls into creating something fans will love.
Uncharted Waters
Ever since Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was revealed, the ongoing debate has been whether or not this game could work as a first-person perspective experience. MachineGames has already proven that they are experts at making satisfying first-person shooters. However, many expected this action-adventure game to be third-person like the Uncharted and Tomb Raider games.
After spending a lot of time playing through the campaign, I understand the philosophy behind their decision and why this game was designed to make you feel like you’re Indiana Jones. There are also instances where Indy has to climb or swing across an area and the camera switches to third-person temporarily until he has reached his destination.
The fact these moments are in the game makes me wonder if MachineGames would ever release a future update patch to make the third-person view an option for the full game. They most likely won’t because it would change the core creative approach behind the game. The three pillars that thrive on the first-person viewpoint are combat, puzzles, and exploration.
A Unique Gameplay Experience
Speaking about combat, this is one area I was very skeptical about them pulling off because Indy isn’t a badass shooter like B.J. Blazkowicz. To my surprise, they took time to think carefully about how he would defend himself in realistic situations. Indy can use highlighted objects around him as weapons and his reliable whip to disarm enemies or outright knock them out.
When you find a gun, you can use it to shoot or knock out an enemy too. Some fights require that you use hand-to-hand combat which takes a little getting used to. Overall, the game encourages you to use stealth at times to avoid unnecessary encounters.
In addition to combat, many puzzles can be solved throughout your adventure. The majority of the puzzles in the game are fairly clever and some are easier to figure out than others. There is an option to use helper clues when you boot up the game for the first time. I recommend leaving this option alone as the puzzles are fun and you’ll feel more accomplished once you figure them out.
The last and most important pillar of the overall gameplay experience lies within world exploration. As I mentioned above, you’re seeing everything through Indy’s eyes meaning you’ll feel more connected to characters and locations. Using your map and journal is intuitive and makes finding and analyzing points of interest and objects easier. The world feels pretty open as far as the places you can explore and there are plenty of optional side quests to do if you want to take a break from the main story-related objectives. There are also plenty of documents, tools, and collectibles to find including the magazines from the Wolfenstein games which help you level up certain attributes and abilities for Indy.
All of the pillars I detailed above are why the gameplay feels unique. There are also plenty of secrets that I didn’t mention because I want you to be surprised. I promise you won’t be disappointed If you’re a completionist and love exploring a massive world filled with life, action, and historical lore.
Final Verdict
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has far exceeded my expectations and is in many ways an unexpected treasure to close out 2024. While the first-person perspective gameplay might not be for everyone, MachineGames has undoubtedly nailed the source material and created something special. If you’re an Indiana Jones series fan, this title is worth checking out.
This review was written based on a digital review copy of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle for Xbox Series X provided by Bethesda Softworks.
