Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review - Love letter to fans of film trilogy

Indiana Jones is a relic of the past. Today, it is a sentimental memory for the 40+ generation, who grew up with the original film trilogy in the 80s. The most popular and charismatic archaeologist has now joined the ranks of the exhibits he was chasing after. The latest effort to bring Indiana Jones back on the big screen demonstrated that filmmakers cannot resurrect the original series' spirit and that the aging archaeologist with a whip no longer captivates younger pop culture fans.

So, how does Indiana's return to the gaming world look like, where Lara Croft and Nathan Drake have been dominating the archaeology genre for years, and fewer and fewer people remember titles like Fate of Atlantis or Infernal Machine? Quite well, to my surprise. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from MachineGames studio is a true love letter to fans of the original film trilogy. It's a bit like the fourth Indy movie - and I don't mean Crystal Skull, just the film fans have always wanted – without any major frills or exaggerations, with a young, agile Harrison Ford racing around the world with his girl to find an ancient object of great power.

The Great Circle is described by its developers as an adventure-action game, with a strong emphasis on the "adventure" aspect, because when it comes to exploring fascinating locations and solving environmental puzzles, this is where the game truly stands out. Besides, it introduces something new and surprising almost until the very end. There are also less successful things, some moments I would cut out or change, and most of all, it's a pity that the gameplay isn't in TPP. My fears were confirmed and the first-person perspective wasn't the best choice in this case. Despite this, after seeing the end credits, I felt a bit like I had just watched a good Indiana Jones movie.

Nostalgic fan service

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle grabs the hearts of fans of the famous archaeologist from the very first minutes with the most nostalgic, surprising prologue we could ever dream of. Further on it's even more interesting. The plot taking place a year after the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark takes us from the Vatican, through Giza, to Thailand and two other locations, not counting of course the Marshall College building, where we will meet Marcus Brody. The story of the mysterious stones from the titular Great Circle is strongly inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. We are embarking on another adventure, in which Dr. Jones competes with the Nazis for valuable artifacts. His main opponent is the psychopathic Voss, who bears a resemblance to Arnold Toht from the first film. Gina, Indy's new companion, is very good written. She is as expressive and memorable as Marion and Willie.

The game is filled with fan service, including the iconic musical theme, visual representations of the character's journey on the map, Troy Baker's impressive voiceover resembling Ford's voice, Indy's fear of snakes, as well as easter eggs and references that fans will definitely notice. The atmosphere of the movies generally spills out from the screen. Only two or three scenes fall short, including, unfortunately, the final boss fight, which seems too exaggerated and forced, and the humor in them doesn't work at all.

This should be a TPP game...

While these few moments can be easily forgotten, the first-person perspective stays with us almost all the time, and in my opinion, it wasn't a good decision. Wolfenstein's devs from MachineGames are FPP specialists and you can feel that they gave it their all here - both using the whip and fistfighting work quite well for an FPP, but there's no denying that the game would be much better in TPP. The very mechanics of movement, inherited from Doom Eternal, involve quick camera maneuvering with a strange swaying effect. The developers probably wanted to add a bit of a natural walking feeling, but what came out was something that simulates alcohol consumption in other games. The platform elements are also poor - with those furthest jumps in FPP, you can see that we land too close and should fall, but the camera script reads success and somehow it works out.

The worst part is that the game keeps teasing us with the TPP view. In the inventively designed main menu, we always see Indy in the place where we last finished the game. Resuming it briefly displays the protagonist in TPP, only to switch to FPP, and all the magic goes away. Furthermore, all moments of overcoming obstacles with the help of a whip and climbing switch the camera to TPP mode, which introduces unnecessary visual chaos. It would be much better to have a TPP mode at all times and the option to zoom in to FPP, for instance, to examine the details of an object during puzzles.

Do not talk about gunplay, talk about fight club!

You can also feel the legacy of the Doom Eternal engine when we want to shoot. Don't bother about aiming using the devices, as we only have a small approximation of the image. The game's trailer suggested that we'd be given a lot of freedom in choosing our gameplay style - either sneaking around quietly or attacking openly with a gun, but the game does everything it can to discourage us from shooting. Enemies are resistant even to multiple headshots. All rifles and machine guns have a limited supply of bullets and are automatically thrown away when the camera switches to TPP. Besides, in larger bases, shots alert entire groups of enemies, against whom Indy has no chance in open combat.

So in fact, we can use the shooting mode occasionally, mainly in those more cramped places. Infiltrating Nazi bases or restricted areas involves hand-to-hand combat and sneaking around. This first one is done quite well. Indy is good at fist fights, he can block punches, push opponents away and dodge attacks. Even better are the objects lying everywhere - clubs, shovels, bottles, rakes. Striking with them has spectacular animations and is more effective than using fists. The devs even hid a location in the game where you can find something like a fight club!

The stealth mechanics aren't very good, though. Both enemies and civilians can ignore lying bodies, and they don't notice or hear anything that isn't a gunshot and occurs more than 4 feet away from them. In case of an alarm, it's enough to just run away and hide, and after a while everyone will forget about us. The sole positive aspect is the mechanic known from Hitman, which is the disguise that allows Indy to move more freely in various locations. On one hand, I understand these simplifications and unconvincing AI behaviors, because it's primarily an adventure game, but they disrupt immersion and give the impression of moving through artificially created dioramas.

Ancient ruins hide the best mysteries

In the game, we will find locations of various sizes - one is even linear, and two are quite large, giving a taste of an open world with many NPCs. They also differ visually - exploring the streets of the Vatican, the villages around the pyramids in Egypt, or the islands in the Thai jungle is a completely different experience. Exploring these large maps is worth it as they contain complex and engaging side quests, often featuring new puzzles and cutscenes. I really like the option of incorporating character development mechanics into exploration. Indy takes pictures of various things along the way and collects adventure points for that. These points can then be used to unlock new skills in special books.

They hide various perks, such as higher limits for carried ammunition and food, increased stamina, or quick resurrection after death, when the knocked-down Indy finds and puts on his hat. So it's worth looking everywhere and looking for books - it's a much more interesting solution than the standard development tree. On the other hand, the game is full of useless collectibles, notes with text that don't contribute to the story, and the same artifacts whose discovery yields nothing or isn't properly explained to us. There are also a few other nuances that we will encounter in the game world.

The game really takes off when Indiana Jones begins exploring various pyramids, caves, and ancient ruins. Firstly, they were designed in an engaging way - visually, they look great, and you can feel claustrophobic or free in them, depending on where you are, of course. The penetrating light creates wonderful effects, or it is so dark that you have to use a torch. Problematic sneaking disappears in the ruins, replaced by truly exemplary environmental puzzles. They are just right - not banal and not so hardcore as to get stuck on them. Careful observation of the location, checking objects, and sometimes using the trial and error method is usually enough. These main puzzles are also interesting - they are based on huge statues or gates that move majestically when we perform the right actions.

A separate category of puzzles involves moving around the location. Indy uses a whip to jump over chasms, pull himself up, and climb. He dives in search of flooded corridors, and the moments that impressed me the most were when you really have to use your head because the game doesn't give us any hints. For example, you have to use something that lies everywhere on the ground to unlock a passage. Puzzles are generally one of the biggest pros of the game, along with the locations. And the exploration itself? It would be perfect if it fully offered TPP mode and didn't have so many useless collectibles.

Gina to the rescue!

Gina Lombardi - our virtual companion, deserves special attention. In my opinion, she joins the ranks of the best companions in games, right next to Ellie from The Last of Us and Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite. Gina is specific and very expressive, she often talks to Indy in cut-scenes and has her own personal reasons to be his companion. Her plot is mature and serious in the context of the whole story, seamlessly weaving and connecting with the main storyline. Gina doesn't serve as decoration or filler in the game. She can be very helpful - sometimes she will do something when we solve puzzles: she will give you an item, hold it, or go somewhere to open something. She does it on her own, not standing around like a peg waiting for us to press some action button.

Chaos in notes

Not everything in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle shines as brightly as the environmental puzzles and the atmosphere. Apart from the mentioned problems with sneaking, poor gunfight, and the impression of artificial dioramas in the open area, the graphics are also not impressive. You can notice that the Doom engine lags behind modern standards, especially when it comes to the appearance of vegetation and the faces of the secondary characters and regular NPCs. The game also has quite high system requirements.

The developers completely failed at designing the screen interface. The map is barely readable, it cannot be zoomed in, and it is displayed simultaneously with the menu tabs. It was likely intended for complete immersion and the sensation of stepping into Indy's shoes, but there could have been an alternative solution to overlaying menu captions on the screen. The archaeologist's journal, in which all notes and photos are collected, looks even worse! Trying to find the latest information there is a daunting task. The layout of the pages is chaotic and unreadable, and displaying something requires a lot of clicking.

I would also criticize the final boss fight, which is weak, caricatured, and definitely the worst of the few that appear earlier. The game would benefit if instead of the final confrontation, some kind of environmental puzzle was added. The desire for the game to be more action-oriented than adventure-focused has prevailed, even though the latter option was meant to dominate.

(Not) only for boomers

Nevertheless, I had a great time playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. However, I am concerned that this game will be perceived differently depending on the age of the recipient. Younger ones, who don't have any nostalgic memories of the film trilogy, will probably compare it to Uncharted or Tomb Raider. Despite featuring epic chase scenes reminiscent of Nathan Drake, MachineGames' game falls a little below expectations. It straddles the line between an action game and an adventure game, with an unfortunate choice of FPP mode instead of TPP. Indy fans, on the other hand, who remember not only the movies but also the old, iconic adventures with this hero, will give it more credit, noticing all those little winks and references. The game becomes much more engaging when we understand that it's best to shoot only when a lone enemy jumps out at us with a long knife. In any case, when I watched the end credits I felt a bit like I did when I was a teenager leaving the cinema after seeing The Last Crusade.