I had to smile when I found myself facing the bald man. He was big, strong and in the manner of my character: the one and only Indiana Jones.
It felt like a classic moment from beloved movies: How does our hero archaeologist cope with a man nearly twice his size? Of course, I could pull out my pistol and shoot him, like Indy did in his gun vs. sword fight scene. Or I could pull out my trusty whip. If only I remembered what key to press…
As the giant man approached, I think I did what Indy would have done: I improvised and grabbed whatever was around me, whether it was a wine bottle, a shovel, or a stick. Then I smashed the items against the giant body of my enemy, which eventually caused him to fall to the ground, knocked out. Then the triumphal music was played. That’s when I realized that Swedish developer MachineGames had captured some Indiana Jones magic with its next game.
Big shoes to fill
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kahn)
I have long been a fan of Indy, having watched The last crusade dozens of times as a child. So naturally, I had high expectations when MachineGames let me play a preview of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, one of the biggest video game titles to arrive in December. It also marks a rare time when the franchise will get a modern AAA video game treatment.
MachineGames is probably best known for Wolfenstein: The New Order, which I enjoyed. Like Indy, the Wolfenstein series is often about beating Nazis. But slaughtering enemy soldiers with machine guns is one thing; developing an adventure-style game about archeology with less gunplay is another. It made me wonder if MachineGames could successfully translate the feel of the iconic films into a first-person game.
The answer became clear when I started The Great Circle, a game set after the first Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Everything you’ve come to expect from the franchise — the rousing music, the font on the title card, Harrison Ford’s voice courtesy of voice actor Troy Baker — was on display. In fact, the presentation was so good it made me wish the game was an unreleased Indiana Jones sequel secretly made in the 1980s.
(Credit: MachineGames)
The game begins at Marshall College, where Indy teaches as a professor. A mysterious Latin-speaking priest has entered the college museum, which catches our hero’s attention, prompting him to investigate. During my playthrough, I noticed that MachineGames had done an impressive job of recreating Marshall College, a place that has only been seen briefly in the movies. In the Great Circle, players can explore the place as Indy tries to figure out why the mysterious priest stole an ancient artifact from the college.
The area contained bookshelves, life-like museum exhibits, and even India’s office; MachineGames clearly spent many hours trying to create an authentic setting true to the world of Indiana Jones. The first stage of the game also has a lot of accurate knowledge. Fans will be heartbroken to see Marcus Brody, Indy’s colleague, helping our hero navigate the mystery. You’ll also hear mentions of Indy’s old flame Marion Ravenwood, another favorite from the franchise.
Duking It Out
Marcus Brody (Credit: MachineGames)
But while the game does an admirable job of maintaining the feel of Indiana Jones, it also tries to offer you something new. In this case, the story sends Indy to Vatican City as he tries to find the mysterious priest. Then I found myself as our titular hero, wearing his fedora and leather jacket and armed with his trusty whip. My goal: to infiltrate the Vatican to speak with a local priest and old friend of Indy’s. The only problem is that the city contains hostile soldiers loyal to the leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini, an ally of Adolf Hitler.
It gave me my first taste of actual Great Circle gameplay. I wasn’t swinging around with weapons to take on multiple Nazi soldiers like a conventional Wolfenstein shooter. Instead, I was sneaking around, trying to find creative ways to incapacitate enemies without shooting at all. Or what Indy would basically do.
The action was essentially a stealth game; I could pick up objects close to me, like a wine bottle, and throw them to create distracting sounds, driving enemy soldiers away. Or I can pick up the same bottle and slam it over an enemy’s head, knocking them out. Combat was especially satisfying when I found a violin or mandolin and used it to punch an enemy in the face.
The action can also escalate into an old-school brawl. Just like real life, you can’t keep hitting an enemy with a mandolin; it will break after one use. In other cases, enemies shrugged off the first blow, ready to strike back. Then I leaned on India’s fists. Just like the movies, you can punch your enemies and hear the satisfying thud. But you can’t always push buttons; Indy will eventually run out of stamina. Meanwhile, your enemies will try to block your shots, so you’ll have to time your shots carefully and dodge them all at the same time.
(Credit: MachineGames)
Why not shoot the enemies? Well, you can, giving you the flexibility to play however you want. In addition to his whip, Indy has access to a pistol and even other weapons as you come across them during a game. But if you decide to use them, expect to be swarmed by other enemies attracted by the sound. I learned this the hard way when the game moved to Egypt and I shot a Nazi soldier only to have five more come at me out of nowhere.
The action is also interspersed with occasional puzzles. For example, in Egypt – where you can roam and explore freely – I had to enter and escape an area full of scorpions by lighting some torches and throwing them on the ground. To solve another puzzle, I had to swing my whip across a pit several times to help me reach a hidden object.
As you progress through the game, you also earn experience points, which can be used to upgrade Indy with new abilities. My favorite was the one called the “lucky hat,” which allows Indy to survive a fatal blow. This happened more than once during my playthrough: I fell to the ground, seemingly dead. But instead, the game gave me a chance to revive myself; all I had to do was search the ground for my trusty Fedora hat. As soon as I did, the game zoomed out and showed Indy putting his hat back on with his classic smile, ready to adventure once more.
Am I doing this right?
(Credit: MachineGames)
The resulting game is about as faithful as I could hope to be as an Indy fan. Despite being a first-person game, the Great Circle will often zoom in and show cutscenes, allowing you to watch Indy and see his signature reactions and behaviors just like in the movies.
But while the experience was fun and positive, was it great? Not enough. For one, war can be hit or miss; sometimes, the Nazi soldiers tried to fight me with their fists, even though they were carrying guns. At other times, the fisticuffs felt choppy and hard to follow on the screen, causing me to mash buttons.
Another issue is that although MachineGames went to great lengths to depict epic settings, including a bazaar in Giza, don’t expect too much from the NPCs, who are merely background extras. Animation glitches also caused some characters to distort in strange ways, breaking the whole immersion. I also couldn’t help but feel frustrated when I wasn’t always sure how to progress through the adventure, making me wonder if I was playing the game right. But as Indy, I didn’t give up and eventually found ways to solve a puzzle or outrun a Nazi patrol to reach the objective, unlocking a new stage of the game to my delight.
(Credit: MachineGames)
I played in the Great Circle alone for over two hours. So I’m still in the dark about how the story will unfold and if it will live up to the climactic endings and awesomeness of the previous Indy movies. But despite some disappointments, so far, I liked what I saw; I just hope that MachineGames can tone down some of the combat and deliver enough thrills and exciting gameplay throughout the experience, which promises to take place in exotic locations across the globe.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will launch on December 9 for PC and Xbox before arriving for PlayStation 5, likely in the spring. Stay tuned for our review.
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About Michael Kahn
Senior reporter
