And that’s Professor to you.
It’s here. We finally found it. The Indiana Jones video game adventure we’ve all been waiting for published by Machine Games. If you don’t know, this isn’t the developers first foray into Nazi enemy territory. Machine Games is most famous for the long running Wolfenstein series. So, when it was announced they were working on a new take on Indiana Jones it seemingly seemed like a match made in Heaven. Is it though? Let’s whip this review into shape.
Raiders of the Lost Character Arcs
Spoilers ahead about the introduction to the game! If you truly want to go in with zero knowledge about the story of the game, swing over to the gameplay section.
The Great Circle welcomes players to a tutorial that is a frame by frame recreation of the opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Arc. This was an excellent choice by Machine Games as it introduces players to the first and third person view swaps common throughout the game. It also brings back fantastic memories for Indiana Jones fans and provides effective context to the character for newcomers. It’s an iconic introduction in film history that everyone should enjoy, and playing through it in first person only adds to the immersion. They even got the absolutely drenched back sweat right in the first few frames.
The tutorial is also well timed as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle takes place just after Raiders of the Lost Ark. Meaning it would serve players well to watch Raiders just to get a feel for what a great Indiana Jones story is, but definitely not required viewing. There are some references to characters in Indy’s past, but nothing that make it feel completely compulsory.
Without diving into Spoilers, it follows the same structure fans of the action hero have come to expect, but with a twist! In order to go to so many different places, players get to take Indy on a globe trotting adventure to find mysterious sites from Peru, Italy, The Himalayas, and more that when connected together on a map form a perfect circle. It’s just realistic enough to be believable and that’s what makes Indiana Jones so great in the first place. The immersion is excellent right off the top and if you’re looking for excellent writing and storytelling the circle here is quite great indeed.
Archeologist Action
Machine Games is famous for the gunplay present in Wolfenstein. If you’re looking for your next first person shooter where you wield many weapons and get into intense gunplay battles, this surprisingly ain’t it. The core gameplay of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is exploration. Indy is an archeologist first, and a fighter second. That being said, an archeologist finds things for a living, so most of the combat revolves around finding anything in your path to take on your foe. Combat is intuitive, and can be fisticuffs or simply grabbing a shovel, bottle, or candle holder as your weapon of choice. It gets a little silly sometimes, and that’s okay. Fans of Indiana Jones will recognize the campy feel of throwing a bottle at your opponent or using a shovel to dig up your opponents skull.
The gunplay certainly leaves something to be desired. Players are given Indiana Jones’ pistol in their small armoury, but truly this is unapologetically not a shooter. I found myself barely using the guns as fighting with Indy’s hard hitting fists and random resources of the land was way more fun. Ammo is also scarce, so it’s very clear early on to conserve bullets for very difficult encounters. Combat isn’t as fluid as some may like, but I found exploration primary and combat definitely secondary in the experience. Uncovering the treasures, and investigating locations was exciting enough to overshadow the occasionally rough edges of the combat mechanics.
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is not an open world title. It’s a linear adventure featuring open zones. Exploration is definitely rewarded as finding cash helps with buying upgrades for Indy. The upgrades come in the forms of books and literature throughout the adventure. This was an excellent way to keep immersion in the world of the game. Clearly, knowledge is power here. Some of the upgrades like Lucky Hat (getting one extra boost if health from finding your hat if Indy is knocked out) are really useful and worth the money. Others feel a bit tacked on to gamify Indiana Jones. At the end of the dig, they aren’t essential and totally depend on your play style. I chose to focus on the story so I played on easy mode throughout. I didn’t find head back at all from not upgrading and I also didn’t feel like I was missing core gameplay. For experienced players, these upgrades are definitely worth earning as simply trying the more challenging difficulty levels made it clear these upgrades are worth the Indy’s pennies.
The cutscenes and acting are gorgeous and don’t really change much from gameplay based and viewing. In fact, when you pause or restart the game, the camera pans out and it gives the game an even more cinematic feel. Everything in the gameplay feels intentional and human. The supporting cast are well written, charmingly campy, and feel necessary to the adventure.
Passed Presentation of the Past
The locations of Indiana Jones have always been visually stunning. The same can be said for The Great Circle. There is exquisite detail in every corner and exploration is a must in each open zone. Exploring such lush details in 60fps is also thankfully pretty darn consistent. Microsoft Studios needed a win here and the prize is going to Machine Games for making a technically beautiful Indiana Jones game. Camera angles are feature film quality and the entire production including design and soundtrack captures what it feels like to be the master archeologist in Dr. Jones.
Speaking of what it feels like… there is no HUD in this title. Rather, you simply take out a physical map that is animated with your marker on it. Players can choose to have the game show exactly where to go, or take the explorers route and get lost in the open zones. Either way, it’s a neat feature and only adds to the already immersive experience.
Overall
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is exactly what players expect a AAA title should be coming out from Machine Games. Microsoft has a treasure of its own in Indy’s latest adventure and the best part is that it’s on Gamepass and Cloud for everyone to easily access. So out on your fedora, grab your whip and get that map out. You’re in for a globetrotting treat.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Summary
Indiana Jones is an exceptionally well made love letter to a cult classic action hero. The story is exciting, exploring the open zones is rewarding, and at the end of the day, it feels like an Indiana Jones movie through and through. Some elements of the gamification of an Archeologist Action Hero can feel a tad like second thoughts, but Machine Games has ultimately delivered the a high quality Indiana Jones experience fans have been waiting for since The Last Crusade.
