Indiana Jones’ latest adventure a fan pleaser  

Indiana Jones’ latest adventure a fan pleaser  

Releasing in early December, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is the first videogame to feature the archeologist adventurer in decades. Taking players through an all-new storyline, the game is one that is likely to delight fans of the franchise. 

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle starts off with a recreation of the famous opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, where players are tasked with stealing a priceless artefact from an ancient temple before being taken out by one of many booby traps. The scene is impressively rendered but has been recreated so many times as to have become a cliched way to open a game. 

Thankfully, after this introduction, players are introduced to a new storyline that is one of the best uses of the Indianna Jones license for the past few decades. The story sees Indiana Jones’ life interrupted by a break in at the university, where a rare artifact is stolen. A clue left behind by the perpetrator sees the famous archeologist leave for another adventure (with some funny dialogue addressing the fact that he often does this). The story takes players into the heart of Vatican City, through Egypt, across Thailand and into Peru. Over time, players find themselves at the heart of a deeper plot with all the usual tropes from the films.  

To describe The Great Circle’s gameplay is to invoke some of Bethesda’s other games. In many ways, it reminds Insights of the Dishonoured series, albeit without some of the fantasy elements. Players have choices they can make as to how to approach situations, but the game encourages a stealthy approach against large groups of enemies. Players will find themselves using a series of disguises to sneak past guards. When stealth fails and players end up in fights is when the game really gets interesting, and the game allows players scope to choose their approach, with multiple paths working to get the job done. 

The Great Circle also provides the player with a number of makeshift weapons to use to knock out Nazis. Throughout the game, players use Indy’s whip as a tool to traverse environmental obstacles, as well as a weapon. The game also includes puzzles that are challenging at first, but ultimately logical in their resolution.  

While usually intuitive, the gameplay has some flaws, including times when its inventory system becomes a little difficult to navigate, with the worst offender being when the player needs to choose a weapon or object during a fight.  

Like many of Indiana Jones’ storylines, The Great Circle’s storyline delves into religious territory, but the use of biblical images and stories is largely surface level.  
 
Graphically, the game is impressive with its backgrounds and action sequences. Everything runs smoothly, even when playing on the less powerful X-Box Series S, but there were a few occasions when I encountered a game crashing bug. This is likely to be patched out shortly, however, and was not often enough to seriously mar things. The game’s sound design helps create the authentic Indy experience, with a combination of classic and new music. The game’s voice cast, including Troy Baker as Jones, all deliver well in their performances, while the characters’ likenesses closely resemble their film counterparts 

The early critical response to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has been polarised, with players sharply divided. Kotaku called the title A Great Adventure, while Gizmodo suggested that every moment spent playing the game “feels like torture”. I am happy to be in the camp in favour of the game, having enjoyed the best Indiana Jones story this century. 

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is now available on XBox Series S/X, Playstation 5, and PC. It is included in Game Pass. 

Jonathan Foye is a freelance journalist and academic 

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