MachineGames’s take on an Indiana Jones game sure is fascinating. We’ve seen the game’s cinematic played out like a clip from a movie. We’ve also seen glimpses of gameplay where you control the well-read and well-travelled archeologist in the first person.
One can argue that the greatest action-adventure games, like Tomb Raider and Uncharted, can trace its influences from the movie franchise’s globe-trotting, treasure-hunting adventures. But Indiana Jones And The Great Circle ironically isn’t the game where it all comes full circle- a AAA action-adventure romp in the veins of a Tomb Raider or an Uncharted. No. Professor Jones here is doing more adventuring than Lara Croft or Nathan Drake in their games.
I’ve seen gameplay footage behind close doors ahead of gamescom 2024. Some of which includes the new gameplay trailer as shown at Opening Night Live.
And the more I see of this Indy game, the more excited I’ve been. It’s trying to be more of adventure game by incorporating many different gameplay mechanics. And it’s such a refreshing sight.
More Stealth And Adventure Than Action
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle will see you completing elaborate and tactile puzzles. But some may require extra legwork.
In one scene in Egypt, Indy deduced from a note lying around on a table in front of a locked tomb door that it requires a golden amulet, one that is currently in possession by the Nazi army. That will require Indy to be disguised as a guard, infiltrate the enemy camp, and find said amulet. One commanding officer angrily requests something that you should get, and will get angsty if you don’t play along while in disguise. And this isn’t a one-off scene, you do get other disguises. And in an interview with the MachineGames, it’s confirmed that you can even hide the bodies.
Hold on, is this Hitman?
There are also open-ended areas like a bazaar where you can roam around take on side missions or find hidden secrets. One scene showed Indy accessing a locked room via an outside window.
Hold on, is this game an immersive sim?
I don’t know if the amulet bit- as in, grabbing a particular item to progress- will be a recurring thing to do in The Great Circle. So it’s not gone as far as to entirely replicate the point-and-click Indiana Jones adventure game by LucasArts. But it did made me think about that gem for a bit.
The footage I’ve seen doesn’t stress too much about combat. It’s there, and you do have to fight enemies in hand-to-hand combat most of the time, with the whip and revolver used occasionally. Sure, you can grab an enemy’s gun and have them eat their own lead, but violence is not the only option. Playing stealthy includes the usual “grab-a-bottle-to-lure-a-mook-out” affair.
A More Intimate Perspective
A lot of the gameplay I’ve seen involves Indy rummaging through intimate spaces and grabbing objects on tables, all of which makes more natural with the first-person perspective. The intimacy of this perspective hits different when you’re solving puzzles and looking for clues in a room. The tombs and cliffsides doesn’t need to be overly huge just so that a third-person camera can breathe easy.
More and more of what I see makes me understand why the devs want this to play out mostly in the first-person. Like how the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 had to justify it being a first-person game as fan reception were mixed in the pre-release, I think The Great Circle will do enough to sell you that this immersive viewpoint is being utilised fully.
You still see Indy’s mug in the third person during some traversal animations (probably to avoid motion sickness, understandable) and cutscenes.
Closing Thoughts
As someone who is not a big Indiana Jones fan (more of a Johnny Thunder guy to be honest), I wasn’t really too hot on Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. If it’s just another one of those action-adventure games, which I have no doubt would still be great considering MachineGames’ relatively pristine track record.
But with the new revelations I’ve seen, it’s doing more than I expected, and doing so with absolute competency. And I feel much more sold on this globe-trotting adventure set in the 1930s. I’m glad that the allure of adventure is still something worth making a video game of. And hopefully it’ll turn out to be a fun ride.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle launches on December 9 for Xbox Series X|S and PC, and coming to PS5 in Spring 2025.