Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review

Led by Tomb Raider and Uncharted, Indiana Jones-inspired action-adventures were all the rage in the late noughties and early 2010s. I always wondered why we never saw Indy lead his own AAA game, though. A third-person linear romp through tombs, catacombs, and ruins laid dormant for a thousand years - one Nathan Drake would be proud of.

When The Great Circle was revealed, I was taken aback. Machine Games, the masterminds behind the modern Wolfenstein games, were developing a first person Indiana Jones game. How would that work with the icon’s limited set of gear and inherent humanity? Anyway, the trailers made me excited for what seemed like a linear adventure set between the events of Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade. Those films were among my absolute favorites growing up, so I was looking forward to filling the gap.

An Open World Surprise

Diving into The Great Circle, the first few hours surprised me too. While it was what I expected in parts, the extent to which it opens up at times is jarring. Between puzzle solving trips through caves and underground labyrinths, you get the chance to fully explore open maps in The Vatican, the pyramids and surrounding area in Gizeh, and the swamps of Sukhothai.

View Full-size

The open areas are impressive.

They’re pretty standard open world affairs. You’ll find restricted areas painted red on the map, collectibles to find, and keys to locate that open doors. At times, you even have to creep into an enemy camp to steal something. The Far Cry vibes are undeniable.

Thankfully, the open areas are well designed. Would I prefer the whole game to be a linear adventure? Of course. But Machine Games have done a good job of making open exploration work in Indy’s world.

A big part of that comes down to the variety of the three main locations. The Vatican is a maze of hallways and courtyards, with locked doors blocking your way every few minutes. As you progress the story, more of it opens up and shortcuts become readily available. Gizeh is about as open as you can get. A few towns and camps are intertwined with Nazi dig sites and vast open desert. It’s much more of an open world in the traditional sense. Sukhothai is different again. A complex set of waterways, traversed in your shallow motorboat, connect ancient tombs and more Nazi camps. How varied they are means you have to explore differently, so continent hopping feels more than just a location re-skin.

Beautiful Trip Around the World

It also helps that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is beautiful. Whether it be the dusty caves, gorgeous architecture of the Vatican, or lush forestry of the game’s first few moments in Peru, everything looks great. The lighting in particular is masterfully done. Beyond a couple of stutters as cutscenes begin and some pop in later in the game, it runs like a dream on the Xbox Series X which we played on.

As I learned the layout of each open area and began to circle back for side quests, the design grew on me. Whether I want to tidy up side quests and collectibles after rolling credits is always a tell for me on how well designed an open world is. After finishing The Great Circle, I headed straight back to The Vatican to uncover the mysteries I missed.

View Full-size

The locations around the world are stunning.

When you’re playing the linear sections, filled with set-pieces and impressive puzzles, it really feels like you’re playing one of the original movies. The open world sections are okay, but The Great Circle shines when Indy is well and truly doing his thing: exploring and puzzle solving.

Smart Puzzle Design

Thankfully, the puzzle design is consistently excellent. While there’s a useful and entirely optional hint system built into Indy’s camera, the challenge balance is always just right. More than once, I had to jot puzzle notes down on a notepad to help me solve it, but never to the point that I was frustrated at trying to find a solution. No matter how stuck I got, I could always see a path to the other side.

Machine Games has absolutely nailed the Indiana Jones vibe too. It’s spot on. Emmerich Voss, the baddie of The Great Circle, is a perfect mix of cheesy and threatening. He gets his nose broken and head bashed in just as much as he dishes it out, always in wonderfully slapstick ways. The lighthearted playfulness remains throughout.

Indy and Gina’s blossoming relationship is a joy to watch enfold and they adventure together, too. Dive into the side quests and you’ll enjoy some cute moments between them that make the central story more effective, all elevated by a pitch-perfect score.

A New Indy

Talking of Indy, Troy Baker does a wonderful job of making his version of the character consistent with what fans love. It may be blasphemous, but he may even be better in the more serious moments, if less charismatic when it’s time for a laugh.

While the characters are all well written and performed to a T, the main plot plays it a little safe. Of course, it has to hit the Indiana Jones touch points, and it does, but it’s little more than a case of someone nicked something off Indy and he wants it back, then hijinks ensue. However, the set-pieces are spectacular and original throughout.

View Full-size

Indy and Gina are a great partnership.

In one particular side quest, late in the game, The Great Circle does something different. Rather than recreating the movies, it takes advantage of the fact that it’s a video game. The perspective and engagement of a first-person video game allow for things you could never see in a movie. The world can change in ways you wouldn’t normally experience, and it still makes sense. I wish Machine Games had harnessed that freedom more often, because it doesn’t feel out of place when they do.

Clunky Combat Is a Letdown

The Great Circle’s biggest downside is also my biggest concern before I’d even picked up my controller. The combat is dreadful. It’s not one of those first person adventure games where the combat is not the focus but still passable like Dying Light. Instead, I would audibly groan anytime I needed to fight someone hand to hand.

I do feel for Machine Games. Anyone who’s played Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, which is one the greatest FPS games of the last few generations, will know that they know how to design first person combat. However, BJ Blazkowicz is a human tank, capable of anything and with a massive arsenal at his disposal. Indy isn’t like that. He has a whip, a pistol, and whatever he can find on the ground, whether that be a Nazi’s shotgun or a flyswatter. The possibilities for action are limited. There’s no laser gun in sight here.

However, that doesn’t explain why hand-to-hand old school brawling feels so sluggish and awkward. Early on in the Vatican, it’s hard to complain. Enemies are weak and they rarely have guns to fight back. More often than not, you can brute force your way through any situation with some careful, albeit somewhat vague, counters. Reach the Nazi camps later in the game, each filled with tens of enemies, and getting in a fight is almost a complete waste of time. The mess of animations that is swinging punches, dodging, fumbling around with melee weapons, and creating a pile of bodies isn’t pretty.

Admittedly, The Great Circle was probably designed with stealth in mind. When slowly creeping past guards and pushing bad guys off ledges works, it’s fun, but the game’s slightly clunky traversal and the less than intelligent AI keep it from being consistent.

View Full-size

You can pile the bodies of Nazis up and cause chaos.

There’s even a skill you can unlock (found via books littering the world) that provides you with a second life after dying, provided you can find Indy’s hat while scrambling around on the ground. After getting up and confidently donning your hat again, the enemies who just bested you have no recollection of you ever existing. You can stand up and whack them in the back of the head or creep away. It’s so jarring and awkward every single time. The inventory that’s managed from the d-pad isn’t user-friendly either. Having to cycle through each of your gadgets to try and get the one you want isn’t as simple as it should be.

Honestly, sticking the combat difficulty on easy and relying on the game’s puzzles for any challenge you’re after is the best way to go.

If you can look past the clunky and out-of-place combat, The Great Circle is a great addition to Indy’s catalogue of adventures. While it shines in the traditionally linear puzzle-solving segments thanks to charismatic characters and wonderful design, the open-world asides make you feel like you’re on your own adventure too.

This review is based on a pre-launch build of the game, with a code provided by the publisher.