Earlier this month, the lovely folks at Bethesda invited me along to a recreation of Marshall College, except this one was in London. I got to step into the shoes of the worlds most famous archaeologist and finally get some game time for this Indiana Jones and the Great Circle hands-on preview.
I’ve got to give the Bethesda team some serious credit for taking the time to really make us feel like we’re in the world of Indiana Jones. They transformed a neo-gothic mansion built in 1895 into a pretty convincing facsimile of Indy’s ‘Marshall College’ – as seen in films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade.
Stepping into Adventure
After a short presentation (featuring a new updated featurette that I hope you folks get to see sooner rather than later) from Machine Games developer and Creative Director Axel Torvenius, we were sat, lecture hall style – to get stuck in.
The preview focused on 3 different locations from the game – one, a journey to the Vatican to meet with a contact there, as well as the larger area of Gizeh, Egypt.
But where better to start our adventure, than in Marshall College itself?
Seeds of Mystery
It’s a classic Indy-stomping ground, complete with lecture halls, wood panelling and of course, Indy’s office. This is Marshall College, Connecticut in 1937, complete with decadent architecture and Indy’s long time friend and confidante, Marcus Brody.
The mood is set early on – during a ferocious storm, Indy is awoken at this desk by the sounds of a break-in. Presuming it to be nothing but some trouble makers, he is accosted by a large gentleman and knocked unconscious.
When he’s awoken, the museum exhibits and display cabinets have been ransacked. Working with Marcus, we piece together what belongs where and whether anything is missing. Rest assured, there most certainly is something missing. Whip and revolver packed, fedora in hand…so begins another Indiana Jones adventure.
Any concerns you may have had over Machine Games‘ choice to make Indiana Jones and The Great Circle a first-person adventure game will evaporate within moments of getting hands on the controls and being able to explore the world the talented team have built.
There’s so much detail packed into the various environments and locales, that exploring is sheer delight. Easter eggs aplenty for fans of the franchise, from the lone green apple on Indy’s desk in the classroom, to a note from Marion in your untouched journal, fresh for the adventure ahead.
Dear Journal
The journal is Indy’s way of documenting the adventure – collecting clues, notes, and photos that will guide him on the journey ahead. It starts blank, and as you progress will become filled with handwritten notes and images as you discover more information – an archive of your journey so far.
While this is a thoroughly single player linear adventure game, there’s a wide gamut of side-quests, mysteries and other objectives to investigate beyond the golden path of the main story. I was legitimately surprised at how expansive and activity filled some of these areas can be, and even more so that the game started to throw side quests and other archaeological mysteries for me to solve.
You can also use the journal to revisit other already completed locales, so while the adventure itself is linear, completionists will be able to go back and wrap up any unfinished activities and revisit previous locations.
Indy is also equipped with a camera, which is useful for any reconnaissance of an area, but importantly for discovering clues to guide us on our main adventure.
Indy can pick things up and examine them, an internal monologue from Troy Baker (doing a pretty great Harrison Ford impression), imparting various details about the historic artifacts strewn around or items and locations of interest throughout the environment. The world feels incredibly tactile – with subtle flavours of an almost immersive sim-like level of detail in the approach taken.
Find a map for any area you’re in, and Indy will hold it in his hands, displaying your location and any objectives on it in real time. You can loot the locations for artifacts, or for medical supplies – applying bandages to heal any wounds you have, or eating food you find to recover health.
Throughout your time in Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, you’ll be able to earn adventure points by finding items, artifacts, taking photos of points of interest and completing objectives. You can spend these on a variety of skills and perks, focused on Survival, Fitness, Packing, Brawling and Combat.
These are unlocked by finding various ‘Adventure books’ throughout the game, all focused on different perks in these areas. “Punchout 1” for example, will refill Indy’s stamina meter when he successfully knocks an enemy out cold. “Lucky Hat 1” will let Indy pick up his hat again after being defeated for a second chance in a fight.
Subtlety is a Virtue
The approach taken towards combat in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one area where I think the game is going to be pretty divisive. If you thought you were going to make like Nathan Drake and just gear up with a machine gun and mow down hordes of bad guys in this, you’re going to be left disappointed. But if you can be patient, tenacious and make use of the world around you, there is a playground of delights to be enjoyed
There is a huge focus on stealth, and importantly playing to the strengths of Indy’s on-screen persona. Yes, you have your whip, and your trusty six-shot revolver too – but pulling a gun to engage the enemy is not typically the best course of action in most scenarios.
One locale I got to explore was trying to enter the Vatican, meeting Indy’s contact within the heavily guarded grounds. Using items like wine bottles (which can be used as weapons in a pinch) I can throw one to distract the guards and sneak past.
Sneaking past is usually always the safer option, and there is a delight in watching the patrols and timing things just right to make it through an area without being spotted. If I do get caught, Indy’s traditional fisticuffs are displayed well here, with Indy being able to parry, throw quick jabs and enjoy a variety of flashy finishing moves.
Players can use Indy’s whip to disarm opponents, trip them up and more, and it feels so cool to do. See an enemy standing invitingly by a ledge next to a very long drop – feel free to yank them into the void, or give them a shove and watch them go flying.
You can also use everyday objects in the environment to knock your enemies out cold, be it a broom or a crowbar to the back of the head. Of course, if you’ve managed to keep the noise down, you can pick up the body and hide it away in shadows to keep it from being discovered.
This is a game for the methodical and patient, where one can pull and push at the systems put in place by the folks at Machine Games with enormous satisfaction.
Adventure Playground
This becomes even more evident when my preview moved to Gizeh, Egypt, home of the pyramids and the great sphinx. After making my way to a local contact with intel on the area, the game opened up to be far more ‘mini-open world’ than I ever expected, and it was a world packed with detail.
Small, bustling towns with various people going about their tasks, a marketplace to buy much needed supplies, including a lighter so I could navigate the dark tombs and passage ways ahead. The area was also packed and patrolled with Nazi soldiers, meaning Indy couldn’t just walk around care-free.
The area was also where I got to enjoy the company of Indy’s main companion on this adventure, Gina. She’s an Italian journalist, who happens to be searching for her missing sister. I’m scant on precise details, but one can assume that Gina and her sister are linked intrinsically to the overarching plot of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
As previously mentioned, stealth is often the best way to get around, so I had to set out and locate a disguise. I understand you’ll don disguises several times throughout the game, in order to blend in with the local population, and importantly – avoid detection by the Reich, or at least the less vigilant ones.
There were side-quests galore to dive into throughout this area, from finding 4 stone tablets for our local contact, which meant exploring heavily guarded tombs and navigating Nazi digsites and wreaking havoc against the guards.
Fans of games like Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay will feel very at home in these expansive playgrounds Machine Games have built for us to explore, and the sheer freedom awarded to the player to solve these challenges in the best way they see fit is really awesome to see.
Puzzles and Platforming
Aside from the general puzzling of simply navigating from location to location without being seen, it wouldn’t be an Indiana Jones adventure without thousand-year old puzzles and traps to contend with.
The tomb under the Great Sphinx was a particular highlight – what began as an initially simple ‘light’ puzzle, tasking me with adjusting bronze mirrors to reflect light and trigger switches, became infinitely more engrossing as we triggered a trap in true keeping with the movies.
When Gina is unable to progress through, Indy is forced to find a way to help them both progress. As well as using the whip in combat, its also incredibly useful to navigate the environment, be it swinging across gaps or climbing walls. Doing this transitions smoothly into 3rd person, and then when you’re back on your feet, back to a first person viewpoint.
Indy and Gina banter brilliantly, though she does tend to slip into the habit of stating the obvious in order to guide the player on what to do next, which I hope gets toned down a little. After solving the first puzzle, we were beset by scorpions, which required fire to keep them at bay, Gina and Indy had to work together to progress and find another way out.
Brains, not Brawn
The important thing I’m trying to underline to you as I talk through my hands on time with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is that the game truly embodies the best qualities of it’s titular character.
Indiana Jones could always handle himself in a fight, sure – but it was his mind that served to be his greatest weapon. It wasn’t about going in guns blazing – that was always a last resort. Machine Games have captured that spirit perfectly, with a focus on puzzles, a stealth driven sandbox and gorgeous, expansive environments. What I’ve played so far is very promising indeed.
Is this another ‘Game of the Year’ contender for Xbox and Bethesda? Solving that particular mystery is easily done. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is looking to be one of the very best games this year and the sequel to the original movies we never quite received – and that feels like an understatement.
I can’t wait to play more.
