The word “cinematic” has become almost derogatory when used in the context of gaming, usually referring to titles that feel like movies in the worst way possible, but every once in a while we find a game that deserves sincere usage of the term.
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is an adventure first-person shooter that puts us in the shoes of Indiana Jones himself, as he goes on a worldwide trip to recover a precious artifact stolen from his college’s museum by a mysterious giant man.
Indy’s journey leads him to uncover a deep conspiracy that involves a group of Nephilim, Mussolini’s Fascist Party, the Vatican, and of course, the recurring enemies of the franchise, Nazis.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Developer: MachineGames
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: December 8, 2024
Players: 1
Price: $69.99
There really is no better way to describe Indiana Jones and the Great Circle than as a playable movie. It’s very easy to forget that you are experiencing a game at points, thanks to the highly detailed character models, gorgeous environments, and realistic graphics, as well as the fantastic voice acting employed by the game’s cast.
The Great Circle‘s plot is campy in tone, featuring a good balance between humorous character interactions and serious moments, although it doesn’t shy away from a few gruesome scenes, as shown by the Raiders of the Lost Ark recreation found in the game’s intro. The game feels a little safer than your average Indiana Jones movie at points, but it does convey the franchise’s tone well.
Something that helps keep players immersed is the fact that the game runs on the id Tech 7 engine, previously seen powering Doom Eternal, which provides the game with its detailed visuals and stable frame rate. There’s nothing worse than being taken out of the experience because of poor performance and visual glitches, which Indiana Jones is thankfully free from.
When it comes to exploration, the game features two big hub areas that players can visit, filled with side quests and a staggering amount of collectibles. These hubs are densely packed and are built with a good amount of verticality, letting the player explore rooftops and climb upon structures to uncover hidden items.
While some collectibles are hidden behind platforming sections or attached to puzzles, most of them are just lying around waiting to be grabbed by Indy, which starts to feel like a chore at a certain point. The collectibles mainly serve to provide the player with Indiana Points™ (not the actual name, unfortunately), which can be used to purchase skills.
Indiana Jones has a respectable 12-hour average runtime, but still attempts to pad itself out with an insane checklist of activities. It’s pretty easy to imagine someone replaying the game because of its story content, not as easy to imagine players putting in the 30 hours or so required to grab all of the comic books, pictures, medicine bottles, artifacts, and other junk scattered around.
Some of the game’s collectibles do have a purpose, though; those being the magazines that teach you new skills. Indy gains a few adventure points every time he nabs a collectible or photographs something interesting, and those points can be cashed in to learn skills that enhance things like combat performance or climbing speed.
These skills range from increasing the damage of your punches to recovering all of your stamina when you knock someone out, and they do add up substantially. The game is more than beatable without these skills, but they help give the player an incentive to explore the game’s areas for points.
Thankfully, not all side activities are related to collectibles, as the game does have quite a few extra quests that range from joining an underground boxing ring in Italy to raiding ancient tombs in Thailand. These side quests feature a surprising amount of content, as well as their own unique stories, so it’s more than worth it to check them out.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has a big focus on melee combat, as you’ll usually tackle enemy encounters with your whip and fists. While the melee combat system isn’t incredibly deep, it still feels very satisfying to take on big groups of enemies, mostly thanks to the feedback you get when punching people in the face.
The game’s stages are littered with melee weapons for the player to use, as they usually serve to knock out unaware enemies or double as throwing items. Most improvised weapons break after a certain amount of hits, but Indy can also count on a few signature pieces of equipment he carries around.
The game features different disguises that the player can wear, and each one of them has a weapon associated with it. Jones’ default outfit, for example, gives him his trusty revolver, which can also be used to bash enemies when out of ammo. The disguise weapons break after a couple of hits but can be fixed with repair kits instead of being discarded like the others.
When it comes to its plot, The Great Circle is mostly defined by its characters, as the story itself is an endless macguffin chase initiated by a stolen cat mummy, which then transitions into the Great Circle stones. The plot mostly acts as a way to guide Indiana towards different exotic locations, which is fine by itself, but at some point it becomes clear that it takes a backseat to the characters.
Gina is a surprisingly likeable sidekick, even if the game puts in the effort to make her annoying when she’s tagging along for puzzles. She is present during most of the game’s exploration sections and will usually outright tell you puzzle solutions immediately. It’s very rare that the player is allowed to do a puzzle by themselves, and when they do, it’s incredibly easy.
Despite these issues, Gina is still a charming addition to the plot, having great chemistry with Indy without disrupting his main character status. She’s just smug enough to be likeable, and despite getting initially annoyed by her antics, Indy slowly warms up to her throughout the game, which is pleasant to see.
The game’s main villain, Voss, has a commanding presence, but as is common in the franchise, alternates between being threatening and comically weird. He’s not necessarily a strong man, instead relying on manipulation and mind games to get what he wants, using whatever tool at his disposal to secure a higher position amongst the Nazi ranks.
The extent of Voss’ manipulation is shown through his relationship with Viktor, a Nazi colonel who initially despises him. Voss at one point manages to convince Viktor that he saved his life, turning him into a loyal soldier whom he orders around like a dog, despite having no real rank and only serving as an archaeologist for the Wehrmacht.
Voss feels both in appearance and personality like a more eccentric but less intense version of Arnold Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is a very tough act to follow. He is one of the best Indiana Jones villains in recent memory, but it’s difficult to find him wholly original.
Overall, The Great Circle does a good job at translating the tone of an Indiana Jones movie into video game form, and the experience is greatly enhanced by its fantastic voice cast, with Troy Baker especially delivering a great performance in the lead role. The story feels a little thin during the game’s first half, but it gains a second wind after the player leaves Egypt.
The first half of the game is front-loaded thanks to its huge hub areas and collectibles, as it feels like either Bethesda or MachineGames didn’t believe that a linear single-player game could carry itself without a checklist of things to keep players entertained. The second half of the game features a much better structure, relying on smaller linear maps with varied set pieces.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a cinematic title that manages to fulfill the “playable movie” premise in a positive way. Fans of the franchise will be right at home with the Raiders of the Lost Ark-inspired plot, and given the game’s positive reception, it might even open the door for a new era of Indiana Jones media.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was reviewed on Microsoft Windows using a game code provided by Bethesda Softworks. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
