Legendary archaeologist and renowned part-time professor Indiana Jones is back in his first foray into video games in over a decade. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a game full of adventure, wit, charm, and more than a few surprises, including the best villain the series has had since…well, ever?
Developed by MachineGames in partnership with Lucasfilm Games, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a genuine delight, putting you directly in Indy’s shoes on one of his greatest adventures – and it’s firmly and decidedly better than the last two movies. I’d even go as far as to say that this is the best game MachineGames has ever made, capturing the heart and spirit of classic adventure games with some serious confidence.
Making a discovery – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
This isn’t about archaeology – it’s a race against evil.
First up, let’s talk about the narrative. Being a single-player game, I’m especially wary of ruining anything when it comes to the story, so outside of some of the locations you’ll visit throughout your globe-trotting adventure, you can rest easy – there are no spoilers for the game’s story here.
The game is set in 1937, approximately one year after the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. After a little refresher (And a handy tutorial!) into the world developers MachineGames have painstakingly crafted, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle takes you to some incredible places.
We’re gonna need a bigger boat – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
As the world’s most famous Archaeologist, you’ll travel from the decadent halls of Marshall College, the splendour and history of the Vatican, the deserts of Gizeh and the foreboding jungles of Sukothai – in addition to a few other places.
There’s a thing I love (and hate) about the Indiana Jones movies, and that is the way they hint at something we as the audience know is either impossible or perhaps completely supernatural as we head toward the finale. The entire time I’m thinking – “They’re not going to actually show or do this, are they?”
Of course, they are.
As a kid who grew up on the original trilogy, I never questioned the silliness of some of the events that took place – a face-melting-ghost-spewing box from God, a man that can pull a still-beating heart out of another man’s chest, or the Holy Grail itself, guarded by a Knight from the Crusades that should have been long-dead after 700 years.
None of these events were thought of as ‘bad’ or ‘nonsensical’. Yet, in the modern era, Indy surviving a nuclear explosion by climbing into a fridge, the reveal of inter-dimensional beings, and indeed, time travel itself are somehow considered a step too far.
In short, the narrative for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle goes places, and my inner child was nothing short of delighted. The team that built this game shows great care and reverence for the series and has weaved a yarn worthy of the franchise. Only this time, I am Indiana Jones, and the grumpy grown-up side of me can just keep quiet and carry on worrying about his mortgage payments.
How did that get there? – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
It belongs in a museum!
The gameplay on offer in Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is surprisingly open, despite having to deliver a larger, detailed single-player narrative. The story begins with a break-in and a theft and takes Indy from the halls of Marshall College to meeting an old friend at the Vatican for information.
Initially, your impression of the game may be that it’s focused completely on stealth, with decently sized levels to sneak around in. That all changes once you’ve made it to the Vatican City itself. It’s here where the game opens up and gives us larger, more ‘Hitman’ sized environments to explore. Our friend, Father Antonio, lends us a disguise, allowing us to take on the guise of a humble Priest from Boston.
Hidden in plain sight – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
While in disguise, Indy is now able to move around more freely, and the whole game becomes an open-ended Indiana Jones playground. Playing dress-up, Indy only has to avoid enemy ‘Captains’, who will suss you out pretty quickly if you hang around, indicated via an in-game circle that starts to fill up above their heads if they notice you. Stick around too long, and they’ll raise the alarm, and in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, being surrounded is not desirable.
As I’ve said previously, 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 MachineGames with enormous satisfaction. The AI isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and on moderate difficulty isn’t a huge challenge to get around either via stealth or in combat. Masochists can up the enemy AI for a far greater challenge if they wish, and I’m sure we’ll see plenty of impressive Indy combat on harder difficulties once the game is out in the wild.
Hitting Nazi’s always feels good – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
A serious sense of scale – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
These people are trying to kill us!
The level design on display is excellent, from complex open sections to the more intricately designed tombs. You can carefully survey an area, decide on the best point of ingress, and sneak your way past enemy patrols to get to your objective, or you can painstakingly take them out, one by one. Sometimes things just go wrong, but the approach you take is entirely up to you.
Things went very, very wrong – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
Combat is a mostly hand-to-hand affair, with Indy able to dodge, block, parry, jab, and full-on swing at foes with a charged-up punch, which of course depletes more stamina than a simple jab. He can also use his whip to pull enemies towards him or knock guns and melee weapons out of their hands, with soldiers yelping and reacting in surprise to the crack of the whip.
In true ‘immersive-sim’ like fashion, Indy can also utilize the environment in clever ways, with objects like spades, hammers, wine bottles, and even a toilet brush available to use as rudimentary melee weapons. These can also be thrown, which is a source of endless amusement – watching a hammer comically bonk on a Nazi’s head was endlessly entertaining.
Punches were delivered with that classic ‘whack’ sound we know from the movies, and while you can choose to get into fistfights regularly, it’s not the focus of the game. There’s not a lot of variety from the first punch thrown to the last, and once you’ve had a few fistfights, you’ve really seen all the first-person combat system has to offer. I would say you can get a real feel for the combat by finding your way into off-duty officer boxing rings, which is worth doing if you can find an enemy uniform to sneak your way in.
Time for a spot of yoga – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
What’s even better than all of this though, is pushing Nazis and fascists off cliffs and ledges. The scream, the ragdoll. The Indy one-liner quip. Pure gold.
Guns are available of course, with Indy’s trusty revolver always on hand if you’re wearing the iconic adventurer’s clothing, as well as enemy weapons like machine guns and rifles in the environment. There are times when you might really want to use one, but be aware – it is extremely dangerous to do so and should be more an act of desperation rather than seeking to actively run-and-gun. It’ll alert every enemy nearby, and ammo is incredibly limited, though your carrying capacity can be leveled up, like many of Indy’s abilities.
Some light reading – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
You’ve got to get out of the Library!
Levelling up is as simple as finding or buying a book with a new improved ability, and having enough ‘Adventure points’ with which to activate it. These books are strewn throughout the open environments like Gizeh, The Vatican, and Sukothai, enabling Indy to deal more damage, carry more supplies, and even increase and merge the available health bars for increased survivability.
Adventure points are earned through completing the main story, side quests, and taking pictures of the world around you, from hidden tombs to famous buildings. They can also be earned by completing other optional fieldwork, and one of the genuine surprises is just how much side content is on offer here.
There’s my hat! – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
There are a large number of bespoke ‘field-work’ quests on which we can embark, and the gameplay for them can be quite varied, be it from assisting in a jailbreak to discovering unique tombs and artifacts throughout the levels. There are also puzzles galore from cracking Nazi safe codes, to hidden passages and other mysteries to solve.
I did have an issue where a mainline quest completely broke on me, with a character just refusing to acknowledge my existence, which was a bit frustrating. The game does have a rollback save system, in case you get into a bad checkpoint or something wonky like that occurs.
If you’re concerned about pacing, be aware this content is purely optional, but it is remarkably enjoyable, having Indy solving mysteries, unlocking safes using codes, stealing money and gold and even hunting for a missing cat. It’s at times a barmy concoction, but it somehow all works regardless.
Yuck, rat poop. – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
One could choose to just follow the main story path and would likely wrap the game up in around 12-15 hours on the moderate difficulty setting. My save hit 23 hours by the time the credits rolled, and I’d only fully completed one of the larger open levels in terms of all the optional side content.
With Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, the pace is what you want it to be, and the good news is, you can revisit previous levels at any time – even after you’ve finished the main story. And hey, there might just be one last puzzle to solve, provided you’ve found every ancient relic out there…
Simply gorgeous – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
Sight-seeing
As previously mentioned, this is a globe-trotting adventure in true Indiana Jones style, and there are more than a few surprises delivered along the way. The sheer scale of proceedings was impressive, with the varied environments on display nothing short of jaw-dropping.
The Xbox Series X supports a high-resolution texture pack, and with it installed, the game is gorgeous, running at a nice 60 frames per second. There are some minor bumps when loading in areas during gameplay, and on occasion, the pop-in seen when exploring some of the larger levels can be a tad jarring, with entire trees, enemies, and more detail appearing quite suddenly. This was particularly apparent in the jungles and rivers of Sukothai, where entire treelines would pop into existence as we made our way across the waterways.
A Light in the dark – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
When it comes to ancient tombs and deadly traps, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle doesn’t disappoint. There is a wonderfully conveyed sense of awe and genuine discovery to be had navigating ancient locations, solving puzzles, and of course, avoiding getting crushed, spiked, drowned or… worse.
Wandering around in the dark, with nothing but a lighter or a torch held aloft as we navigated a maze-like set of tunnels was incredibly atmospheric, and was certainly aided by some fantastic audio design. Occasionally, you’re joined by an AI character like Gina, who can be of some assistance while you’re investigating.
Again, no spoilers, but there are several sections in these tombs that can only be described as unsettling, if not downright nerve-wracking. Even optional ‘Field-work’ tombs and puzzles are afforded the same due care and attention, giving a level of polish to these sections that really shines.
Wandering around crypts untouched for centuries is all well and good, but it wouldn’t be an Indiana Jones game without chase sequences or epic, cinematic moments. I was curious just how the team would do what I would consider a ‘typical’ Indiana Jones-style set-piece, and I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t think you will be either.
Outside of interactive set-pieces where you are an active participant, the game also has to deliver its narrative, and there’s a lot of story to tell. Important plot beats are delivered via excellent in-engine pre-rendered cutscenes, and others are done in real-time or via exposition during gameplay. They always look great, and are always worth watching.
Hey you guys! – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
Friends – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
The World is but a Stage
I can’t talk about the story of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle without giving a massive shout-out to the performances from everyone all around here. The voice acting and writing are all excellent, with the usual comedic moments in addition to more serious ones being delivered well from the entire voice cast, especially our main characters, including Tony Todd, to whom the game is dedicated in the end credits.
Troy Baker plays Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
Troy Baker does an excellent job as a gruff young Harrison Ford, and at times I forgot it wasn’t Harrison himself in the role. The animation combined with excellent voice acting really makes it feel like a lost Indiana Jones movie, in particular when Indy starts getting excited about some historical discovery.
Alessandra Mastronardi as Gina – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
Alessandra Mastronardi is brilliant as Indy’s sidekick throughout the adventure, looking for her missing sister who is somehow embroiled in the larger plot. She brings a sense of fun to the adventure, in addition to some seriously emotional moments that are delivered incredibly well.
Marios Gavrilis as Emmerich Voss – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
For me though, the real plaudits have to go to Indy’s nemesis for the duration of the game, the fantastically over-the-top and scenery-chewing Nazi archaeologist, Emmerich Voss. Voiced by Marios Gavrilis, every scene with Voss involved is a delight to watch. The extra screen time devoted to him by nature of being a game rather than a film, results in producing what I think is the best Indy villain ever.
Puss Puss Puss – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
Here’s to adventure
There’s so much to unpack and talk about in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle that I could keep going, but to do so would be a disservice to you and the team at MachineGames. This is a game begging to be dived into head first, with all the joys of making that first discovery, solving that first connection in the broader mystery, and experiencing the thrill of a real adventure front and center – the beating heart of its design.
It’s undoubtedly one of the finest examples of an existing movie franchise being translated across to the interactive medium of video games, and as I said earlier, I think it’s the best game MachineGames has ever made. If you’re a big fan of Indiana Jones – the mystery, the intrigue, the adventure? This is a no-brainer.
Moonlight stroll – Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t an average game – it’s something truly special. It’s got its flaws, but it’s an irresistible invitation to wear the fedora of one of my childhood heroes, to crack the whip and fully embrace the thrill of discovery and embark on a genuinely fantastic adventure.
Whether you’re a lifelong fan of the franchise or a newcomer with only games like Uncharted or Tomb Raider under your belt, this game delivers an experience that feels both fresh and heavily steeped in nostalgia.
Indiana Jones is the original tomb-raiding adventurer and MachineGames have, to put it simply – nailed it. They’ve crafted an unforgettable journey that’s worthy of the franchise. Ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime? The mystery of the Great Circle awaits.
Code for this review was provided by the publisher.
