With a character and franchise as recognisable as Indiana Jones, it’s surprising that we really haven’t seen many video game iterations in recent years.
There have been some interesting ones, for sure – I specifically remember putting some serious time into Emperor’s Tomb in years past, for example – so when Great Circle was announced, I was excited to see what MachineGames could do with the franchise. After all, they know Nazi-punching through and through.
While not everyone has been on board with the idea of a first-person Indy game, spend any time with it and you’ll quickly see that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t just a really good Indiana Jones game. It will surprise people with what it actually does with the series to create a stunning and deeply explorable action-adventure that really nails what made the movies so captivating in the first place.
Each level is its own mini-open world, with plenty of areas to explore and side quests to uncover, which thankfully don’t feel like fetch-quest-ridden padding. Instead, the side-quests all serve to deepen the main plot or enrich the setting around you, so it truly feels alive.
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The game’s opening location is Vatican City in Rome, somewhere everyone has their own ideas of secrets hidden within. Currently being controlled by Mussolini and his Blackshirts, there’s plenty of sneaking around you’ll have to do and problems to fix as you dig deeper into the core mystery at play.
I’ll avoid greater plot details – because honestly the story is so well-written, with genuinely interesting characters that you’ll want to experience it with fresh eyes – but things kick off a year after the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which a ‘giant’ steals an ancient cat mummy that Indy is fairly attached to and leaves him a few bruises for good measure, as well as a clue linking him to the Vatican itself.
Punching fascists in the face while unlocking secrets in the Vatican is all par for the course, as you wander some really stunning environments.
Then there’s the puzzles littered around. Admittedly they’re not all Mensa-test worthy, but with the game refusing to guide your hand and leaving the actual puzzle-solving to you, they really do scratch that adventure itch enough to give you a little smile and rush as you solve them.
While the story is wholly original for the game, the start includes a shot-for-shot retelling of Raiders‘ opening scenes, which not only serves to get you into the mood (and show off how uncanny Troy Baker’s voicework is as a young Harrison Ford), but also really displays how much care they’ve have put into the game.
Great Circle is obviously a passion project from a group of people who love the movie and really understand on a granular level what makes it, and the character of Indy himself, so special.
The writing strikes a really nice balance between its serious moments and the more slapstick comedic ones, with Indy’s unwanted sidekick keeping him on his toes and the unexpected reactions of NPCs as you slink around areas in disguise – something you’ll need to do if you want to thoroughly explore certain sections of each map.
Exploration and research are the key things you’ll spend most of your time doing in Great Circle, whether that’s uncovering clues, following hidden trails, or locating keys or disguises to get into secret crypts and long-forgotten tombs under the noses of whichever group is hunting you at the time. What makes this work so well is how much is left to the player to push things forward.
You may find letters suggesting something is worth investigating, but it’s your call if you want to read them in more detail and work out the next steps. Some are a little more signposted than others, but in my time with the game, I found it incredibly hard to resist digging into them that bit longer.
While you can avoid all the side content and blaze through the main story, new discoveries reward you with adventure points, which you can use to upgrade Indy’s skills. Using books you’ll find along the way, each will offer something unique – from the ability to carry more fruit to increased hand-to-hand combat damage.
Fairly early on, you’ll unlock a camera. You can use it to play shutterbug, but it’s also great for bulking out your points if you pay attention and take photos of key moments from the world around you, whether it’s two priests struggling to hang a picture or the discovery of a tomb that’s been abandoned for centuries.
While there’s guns in the game and the odd shootout to be had, in combat you’ll spend most of your time using melee weapons or Indy’s best friends: his left and right hook. Ammo is limited, and obviously without any body armour available, you won’t take much damage before a quick game over, so sneaking really is the best plan here.
There’s plenty of makeshift weapons to be found though, which makes things easier – from shovels and pickaxes to violins, frying pans and candle holders. Each will break apart after a few uses, but not before offering up a satisfying crunch in the process.
If you want to go toe to toe with your foe, the fighting mechanics are fairly simple but never get old. Punching Nazis in the face never gets old, let’s be honest.
You’ve got a light and hard punch on each trigger – both of which can be charged up at the cost of some extra stamina – and a block which can also serve as a parry, opening up your enemy for a quick right hook. It takes a short while to really get the hang of it, but when it works and you’ve mastered it, it really works. I definitely went into more fights than needed just for the fun of it.
In some instances, things can descend into more wacky territory as you start punching your way through waves of enemies – which became a somewhat nostalgic throwback to the days of playing GoldenEye as a kid, rather than an issue.
That being said, not all the enemies are fodder for Indy’s fists. Aside from there being heavier enemies who can take more of a beating, some decked out in armour, even the more inexperienced guards can adapt to your moves and surprise you with a few knockbacks. Some will even catch weapons that you throw at them and really ruin your fun.
Indy’s whip – coming with authentic ‘crack’ sound effects, of course – is also a useful tool in combat, as you can use it to stun and disarm enemies and even pull them towards you for a quick jab in the jaw. The whip is not just for combat, as you’ll find yourself using it to unlock hatches, swing across gaps, and climb up to those hard-to-reach spaces.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t just a masterful execution of a licensed game. It takes everything that MachineGames has learned from the Wolfenstein series and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay to create a deeply fun cinematic experience that explores Indiana Jones as a character and will really have you hooked as you take up the call to adventure.
Platform reviewed on: Xbox Series X
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is out on December 9 on Xbox Series X/S and PC, plus Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
