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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s opening lands like a sack of soggy spuds. An uninspired, more or less shot-for-shot recreation of the Raiders of the Lost Ark’s boulder scene, it’s a poor omen for what’s to come. Trudge past that forced, trite prologue, and what emerges is the best treasure hunting sim this side of – for lack of a better comparison – Uncharted. But it’s not Uncharted. There are dollops of Akane’s immersive sim-ery, lashings of semi-open world Hitman-style shenanigans, and more than a hint of the opaque but gratifying puzzling of slow-burners like the superb The Forgotten City and The Witness. It’s an odd juxtaposition of games, granted. But MachineGames coalesces these lovely and generous idiosyncrasies, retools them and tamps them together, to create what is one of the most enjoyable and unanticipated games to grace our medium this year. It doesn’t just work, it works a treat and then some.
You play as the titular Indy who, after a mummified cat is stolen, sets off in search of the thief. An initial visit to the Vatican has the mystery bridge over to conniving Nazis, a hulking Nephilim, a plucky journalist searching for her missing sister, and the incredible, untapped power of a set of perfectly aligned historical sites known as the Great Circle. All this will take you on an adventure across the globe full of white-knuckle action, hopping between linear, on-rails flashes of story and semi-open world levels to unravel mysteries, solve puzzles, and whip fascists in the teeth.
Licensed games are a balancing act. There’s always the temptation to stick to the tried and tested. If that happens, games become a tedious fetishized best-of, parading polygonal recuts of the franchise’s cult moments. These are often a poor facsimile as evidenced by the Great Circle’s lackluster opener. Better than the flow of licensed slop that defined the 00s, but still. It isn’t a concern here as MachineGames pays its dues while still venturing out beyond that safe but ever so boring comfort zone. The studio has penned a fresh, engrossing tale that’s pure Indy but novel enough to satisfy those whose childhood was sequenced to endless rewatches of the Temple of Doom’s literal heart-wrenching, and also with enough draw to pull in those unversed in the ways of the terse archeologist.
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Captured by VideoGamer
Captured by VideoGamer
Captured by VideoGamer
Captured by VideoGamer
Captured by VideoGamer
It’s a thrilling tale that tastefully negotiates the supernatural – a Nazi warship perched precariously on a Himalayan peak for one! – that’s always underpinned Indy’s adventures while weaving in some cold-light-of-day historical spice, namely the ideological powder keg and fascism-induced volatility of the 1930s. The characters we meet are convincing, the twists and turns believable, there’s never a dull moment, and Indy’s quips are just as endearing even without Ford’s snarky huffs. Thank Troy Baker in the lead role for some heavy lifting to sound almost indistinguishable from the original Indy. Alessandra Mastronardi as Gina, Indy’s impromptu sidekick, is fantastic. As is Marios Gavrilis as the pugnacious Nazi villain Voss.
There are puzzles everywhere. An ancient tomb? Bam! A puzzle that has you rotating churning ancient Egyptian mechanisms caked in eon-old dust. A compound teeming with Nazi conscripts? A locked chest with a delicious little cipher to unravel. A secret underground Vatican warehouse stacked with artifacts and treasures? You’re not reaching it before besting a chamber hovering above a menacing pool of fire. Around every corner is a mystery to test your deduction skills. But there isn’t any filler in sight. Every single puzzle feels intentionally designed, confidently straddling that fine line between challenge and fun. That deserves an admirative nod in MachineGames direction for not treating players like cretins. But for those of us, me included, that turn as thick as gravy in the face of a tough environmental puzzle, there’s an easy mode. You’ll get more clues and a guiding hand. But, you can just as easily switch it off. And you should, if only to marvel at the thoughtful design underpinning most, if not all, of the Great Circle.
It genuinely feels like an adventure rather than the linear killing spree that similar games invariably devolve into. Yes, you can whip, punch, gun down, or otherwise harm Nazis in inventive ways, but it’s more often than not entirely optional. There are so many other stealth-focused options – disguises, distractions, alternative paths – that the guns and bouts of fisticuffs, as silly and enjoyable as they are, are typically a last resort. The level design plays into this with stacks of shortcuts, and unexpected loop-backs that imply someone over a MachineGames is a bit of a FromSoft fan.
There’s also a heavy lean into verticality that’s reminiscent of Dishonored, opening up even more possibilities for navigating these profoundly cohesive and surprising levels in dozens of different ways. There are no mission failure messages nor any hard, immovable guardrails to soil your fun. It’s all so generous and unconstricted, giving you a real sense of agency and encouraging playful problem solving. A big part of this is MachineGames not framing these levels as simply venues for killing enemies. You’ll come across tons of side quests, mysteries, and collectibles. Again, these aren’t filler, but rich tangents you’ll find yourself wanting to put the story on hold for a few hours to explore. But when you do hop back to the story, you’re in for brilliant, action-heavy set pieces full of wily humour and flickers of Indy’s signature reluctant sincerity. It’s a remarkable feat for a project that had all the pre-release hallmarks of a shoddy, slapdash licensing game. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is anything but that.
Whether it’s the association with Bethesda or a byproduct of such an ambitious game, the Great Circle isn’t immune to the odd bug or oddity. Vaulting through an open window occasionally causes a tremolo stutter as Indy collides with a low roof. NPCs will sleep with their uncanny valley eyes open. Gina will get stuck in maddening one-line dialogue loops when you’re trying to concentrate on a tough puzzle. Interaction prompts sometimes require obtuse camera positioning. All minor, and in a sense they add a bit of charm to what is on the whole a graphically fetching and polished game. The hues of the landscapes and buildings, the richly detailed props, the economical and perfectly timed use of that unmistakable leitmotif, and the intimacy of the camera shots – they all feel like vintage Lucas and Spielberg Indy.
It’s fair to say that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the best and most welcome surprises of the year. It’s an adventure through and through in the purest sense – exactly what a game based on one of the most famed adventurers of them all should be.
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): First Person, Shooter
