The man with the hat is back in a big budget cinematic epic from the makers of Wolfenstein, that’s a whole lot better than the last two movies.
In 1982, Raiders Of The Last Ark, for the Atari VCS, became the first ever video game officially based on a movie. It wasn’t very good (it was an extremely abstruse puzzle-based game, not dissimilar to Atari classic Adventure), and came out only a few weeks before the industry-destroying E.T., but it claimed its place in history and made Dr Henry Jones, Jr. the first ever movie character to also become a video game protagonist.
As one of the quintessential 80s action heroes he certainly makes more sense as one than E.T., with his archaeological adventures inspiring the hugely successful Tomb Raider and Uncharted franchises. Not to mention every minecart chase a video game has ever had (and maybe the whips in Castlevania? We’ve never been clear on the logic behind them as the ultimate vampire killer).
None of the official games have been very good in terms of action but the two 90s graphic adventures, especially Indiana Jones And The Fate of Atlantis, are classics of their genre and for the longest time were imagined to be the best possible video game interpretation of the character… until now.
Despite inspiring two such important franchises, the action of the Indiana Jones films is actually quite difficult to translate into video game form. Fate Of Atlantis worked so well because it focused on the story and puzzle-solving but sequences like the truck chase in Raiders or the tank segment in The Last Crusade are almost impossible to adapt exactly.
The Great Circle makes things even more difficult for itself by being a first person game, for which we’ve still not heard any adequate explanation – other than that’s what Swedish developer MachineGames has always done. We’ve been great fans of their work since most of the team were at Starbreeze Studios, making games such as The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay and The Darkness, before moving on to the Wolfenstein franchise once they were bought by Bethesda.
As great as those games are, they do all have the same foundation: first person shooters which take place in semi-open world environments, with a strong focus on storytelling. We loved the Wolfenstein games in particular, with their whip sharp scripts, but while you are once again fighting Nazis in The Great Circle, the balance of mechanics is very different.
There is gunplay in the game but it’s the least prominent gameplay element, with first person fisticuffs being Indy’s preferred means of defence. Even using the whip to stagger enemies, or drag them towards you, it’s not a very nuanced combat system but the classic Lucasfilm sound effects do a lot to make it seem more exciting than it might otherwise appear.
It depends how you choose to play but in reality, the most effective way to take out most enemies is by sneaking up behind them and knocking them out with whatever tool or other object happens to be nearby. These can be used in straight combat as well but there’s a strong stealth element to the game and while you can ignore it in some cases it’s more involved than many similar games, with the ability to hide bodies and enemies that are surprisingly adept at sneaking up on you.
If these building blocks sound a little too overfamiliar what helps the overall experience is the high degree of freedom you’re given in how you approach things. Even from fairly early on you always have multiple story missions and side quests on the go at once, many of which can be tackled in any order or ignored entirely. The levels are also much more of a sandbox than you might expect, with echoes of both Hitman and Dark Souls, as you unlock previously unsuspected shortcuts or find entirely different routes through the level, allowing for additional ways to take down or avoid enemies.
As well as normal stealth you can also wear disguises, allowing you to search for the mountains of secrets hidden in each level, most of which count towards unlocking new skills and abilities – which themselves are discovered via separate collectables. While working through the story, areas are blocked off behind you but eventually you gain the ability to fast travel back to previous locations, to look for anything you might have missed.
Despite a lot of pre-release talk about the puzzles being unusually difficult they’re really not. They are if you’re expecting anything more than doing what the game tells you, or just pressing a switch, but it’s really only a few of the side quests that offer up anything you might genuinely get stuck on. It’d be wrong to call them all trivial but they’re more mood pieces and palette cleansers than serious obstacles.
The fact that there’s any focus at all on puzzles is a surprise, and likely MachineGames attempting to distinguish the game from the more recent incarnations of Tomb Raider and Uncharted. That alone is probably the best explanation for why they stuck with first person but although at times it does seem slightly awkward, especially when the game suddenly flicks back to third person when climbing, it doesn’t limit the nature of the set pieces as much as we feared.
The Madagascar car chase in Uncharted 4 is still probably the most Indiana Jones thing to ever happen in a video game but while we’d still like to have seen more chases and vehicle sections – since they’re what most of the action is based around in the movies – there’s still some great moments in The Great Circle, from a boat chase in Thailand to jumping across the wings of fighter jets above Shanghai.
Visually, the game is beyond criticism. At a time when big budget single-player games are becoming rare this is a tour de force, in terms of the backdrops, the facial animation, and the technical performance. The silhouette of Indy, whenever you pass in front of a light source, is reason alone to justify the first person perspective but the game is filled with stunning vistas and endless, complicated details that suggest the project must’ve cost an absolute fortune to develop.
The only mild disappointment is the story, which boils down to Graham Hancock style claptrap. At least the crystal skull and Antikythera mechanism are real things, but the game’s plot doesn’t even have that faint element of verisimilitude. The female lead also lacks a little pep. She’s fine but she’s no Marion or Elena Fisher, even though there’s plenty of time to build her up given the game’s numerous, and often very long, cut scenes.
The main villain is more memorable but as a Nazi he inevitably comes across as rather one dimensional. None of this is the fault of the voice actors though, who all do their very best, including Troy Baker and his excellent Harrison Ford impression.
Despite flaws in the script, the game makes a concerted effort to create new characters and locations. There are a lot of memberberry moments, where elements from the films are recreated (including the entire opening of Raiders) or heavily alluded to but since the franchise has never had this sort of treatment in a video game before it’s nowhere near as obnoxious as in most Star Wars games.
Up until now, Alien Isolation has been considered the most authentic recreation of a movie’s visuals and atmosphere, but The Great Circle gives it a good run for its money. Within the context of a first person action adventure this feels like the perfect Indiana Jones game.
More importantly, for anyone indifferent to the franchise – especially after the last two films – this is an excellent first person action adventure, of the sort that seems on the verge of becoming economically unviable. Perhaps it already is but that’s all the more reason to take advantage of one of the most enjoyable blockbusters of the generation.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle review summary
In Short: A big budget recreation of the Indiana Jones cinematic experience, that is both a loving homage to the movies and a complex, ambitious action adventure in its own right.
Pros: Fun combat and imaginative set pieces, with just the right amount of nostalgia. Sandbox style level design allows multiple solutions to most problems and there’s tons of secrets and optional content. Highly authentic movie atmosphere.
Cons: The first person view is still a debatable choice, especially in how it makes vehicle sections harder to frame. The underlying premise of the plot is unappealing and some characters feel a little understated.
Score: 9/10
Formats: Xbox Series X/S (reviewed), PlayStation 5, and PC
Price: £69.99*
Publisher: Bethesda
Developer: MachineGames
Release Date: 9th December 2024 (first half 2025 on PS5)
Age Rating: 16
*Available day one on Game Pass
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