Whether you’ve been an Indy fan all your life or are a first-time gamer, Machine Games’ version of the series is a joy to play.
From Nazi murders to skinned-knuckle brawls, The Great Circle is one of the most faithful, brilliantly immersive sagas this genre has to offer. The hub world architecture is a refreshing departure from other action games.
The Story
The most deceptive global treasure hunt since Indiana Jones went off into the sunset (literally). It is 1937, and dark spies are searching the world for a lost force anchored to the Great Circle. Only one man can halt them – the greatest archaeologist on earth.
It’s a first-person action adventure, though the game sometimes reaches out to third-person for context (such as exploring and interacting with objects). Indy’s iconic whip still sits at the heart of her arsenal, and you can use it to climb walls or distract enemies while avoiding lethal traps or murderous riddles. It’s an intensely exciting game as Indy searches around the world for the next stone he needs to find to complete the Great Circle.
From grand Italian palazzos and crinkly catacombs to a bustling Shanghai, the beaches of Giza and flood-torn temples in Sukhothai, the game presents spectacular backdrops. The Great Circle is also MachineGames’ best Indy game to date, fusing stealth intrusion and action-adventure with visually striking environments that feel more like those in the movies.
Troy Baker’s Harrison Ford like Indy is a major selling point, and hearing his whip crackle as he fights cynical intruders adds to the immersion. The Great Circle is a worthy Indiana Jones film and everyone will be glad that it comes in between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade.
The Setting
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a globe-trotting adventure that keeps viewers on the edge of their seat. Its story is full of immersive environments and thematic depth and keeps up the action and classic mysteries that fans embraced for decades.
The story revolves around a mysterious cluster of prehistoric objects called the Great Circle. Indy and his companions roam the globe to decode this enigmatic string of religious sites that appear to fill an ideal circle. In the midst of tracking down his villain Emmerich Voss, Jones is struggling with his own legacy and reputation.
As he travels around the Great Circle, Indy finds himself in various visually impressive locations, from the extravagant catacombs of the Vatican City to the pyramids of Egypt and the fortresses of Sukhothai. Each scene is presented with stunning effects and ethereal music to satisfy the eyes and ears.
Indy’s quest has the benefit of strong secondary characters to provide depth to the story. Sofia Medina is an expert historian and cryptographer who unlocks ancient literature for secrets, and Marcus Liu brings street-smarts and a pragmatic mindset to the group. Their complex relationships are emotionally charged, adding realism to the story and conflict with the Order of the Black Sun.
The Characters
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle sees our favorite archaeologist tackle a global mystery in an adventure perfectly suited to the franchise. This game doesn’t get bogged down in references to the movies but definitely takes advantage of the world MachineGames have created. Punching Nazis and exploring ancient cities: what more could you ask for from an Indiana Jones video game?
The game’s narrative begins with an unknown giant, reportedly twice Indy’s size, robbing Marshall College of an ancient object. This sets in motion a series of events, culminating in Indy and Gina travelling to various places around the globe in search of a “great circle” of prehistoric remains. The game promises a fresh new mystery, villainous new villains (including the mysterious Emmerich Voss), and sweet new characters such as the Italian journalist Gina Lombardi.
The game’s Locus is played by Tony Todd, a successful and respected professional actor. Locus attempts to steal the first Great Circle stone in Shanghai, in a MachineGames development video. He forbids Jones and Gina from telling the secrets of the Great Circle, but they heed his threats and make their way to Sukhothai in Siam. There, they collaborate with local resistance activists in search of the next rock.
The Gameplay
The Great Circle is an action adventure set around the world, with Jones taking us to epic locations across history. It alternates deterministic, narratively focused zones with open, exploratory spaces in which battle is fought or avoided entirely through stealth and the character’s own whip as a tool for escaping danger.
The experience is a incredibly rewarding combination of stealth and action. Indy could lurk like a ghost around Nazi bases or, for that matter, fight his way through gun-toting opponents with the same kind of frenetic, chaotic blustering that characterised the original movies. It’s a cool twist that highlights the rough-and-ready protagonist.
Those scenes of violence are followed up by a number of small explosions that speak to the spirit of the franchise. The game has a John Williams-style orchestral sting at key points of the narrative, and the speech is peppered with funny asides and quips that almost sound like they just came right out of Harrison Ford’s mouth.
As with Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy’s whip serves as an important platforming and climbing tool. The tutorial for the game also features a faithful reconstruction of the first scene from that movie, complete with memorable shots and a boulder hunt. It’s a great demonstration of the game’s core mechanics in the context of its preset pacing, and it isn’t like so many other games nowadays that feature long, dreary tutorial modes.
