Indian Jones and the Great Circle: A breathtaking and contemporary iteration of a beloved franchise

To take a well-loved film franchise that has been a hallmark of its genre and to turn it into a video game that is neither a complete copy of the movie nor does it ignore the underlying ethos of the beloved characters is a Herculean task. However, we feel the recently released title Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has managed to accomplish it.

Indiana Jones is not a new concept by any measure. Countless reproductions in both film and video game format have appeared over the years and some of those have left an indelible mark in the history of action/adventure/thriller genres. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one such production, featuring action-packed stealth, devil-may-care melee combat combined with treasure-hunting and puzzle-solving.

We would say that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle excels in almost all categories of its gameplay. The puzzles might feel a tad bit simplistic and trite at times, but the overall presentation, world-building, and adventure-filled storyline is second to none. This title will surely go down as one of the most remarkable representations of Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Narrative and Storyline

Set in the year 1937, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle takes place after the circus of events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The title starts with an interactive recollection of the famed golden idol extraction from that time. Soon afterwards, however, Professor Indiana Jones is once again thrust into a world of uncanny when his peaceful midterm preparations are disrupted by a giant man trying to steal a mummified cat from Marshall College's antiquities wing.

After this incident, Jones embarks on a tour of "The Great Circle," a ring of archaeologically significant locations around the world that supposedly house ancient artifacts of untold capabilities. But that would be too easy, because none other than the Nazis are also after them, locked in a race against time with Jones, hell-bent on acquiring the power to win over WWII.

The narrative of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, consisting mostly of long-cut scenes that Indy fans are familiar with, is to be applauded. It is been able to capture that classic Indiana Jones "vibe" that characterizes this franchise, brought forth by witty dialogues, quips, satirical comments, and overused puns.

This Indiana Jones "vibe" is a mix of confidence, luck and humour. Indy is able to successfully navigate impossibly difficult terrain as if he were a trained rock climber, but also capitalize on the overzealous confidence of his challengers to escape what would definitely prove to be completely suicidal fights. At the same time, his intelligence is second to none: one look at a stone carved with abstruse hieroglyphics and he can decipher it faster than English.

Characters That Shine in The Great Circle

Troy Baker's performance as Indiana Jones is stunning: a cross between Jeff Goldblum and Harrison Ford. The music is exceptional and surprisingly, does not rely on the classic Indiana Jones theme tune but on original tracks to spice up the action and set a cinematic atmosphere.

Of course, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would be amiss without a would-be love interest against Indy. That role is fulfilled by Gina, a reporter investigating her sister's disappearance. Another interesting character is Emmerich Voss, a Nazi archaeologist famous for his hatred for American culture, brought out in frequent theatrical diatribes, and love of cranial shapes.

The great thing about Indian Jones and the Great Circle is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. The narrative refuses to be bogged down by details and frequently resorts to some assuredly magical mysticism to move the story forward. But take us at our word, you will be having too much fun to care.

Gameplay of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

The gameplay of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is divided between three maps: city, desert, and marsh (the names are ours). Each of these can be explored quite freely in between missions and the plethora of interludes and cutscenes are wedged into the gameplay at every possible turn of events.

The missions are mostly fetch quests. You would be told about an item that resides in a decidedly overguarded place but is so interesting that Indy can't be drawn to it. But gaining access is, of course, always tricky and is usually in the form of some hidden doorway.

This title differs from others in its genre in that it allows for massive exploration. Only when you can spend half an hour desperately searching for a way into some archaic vault do you grasp the scale of the environment. Locales like multi-story buildings, subterranean caverns, rooftops, barracks and more are so entwined within the storyline that they constitute half the fun. The downside here is that it is very easy to lose track of time and end up wasting a lot of it trying to locate a single exit or entry.

A humongous number of side quests, mysteries and "fieldwork" exist alongside the main plot. However, these are at times less than compelling in regards to their plot justification compared to the main storyline. All these side stories are updated in Indy's seemingly endless journal. Also, as a way to explore the lore and context of Indiana Jones, the developers have included "photo" opportunities that unlock tidbits and fun facts about the franchise time and again.

This freedom to move around the surroundings is kept in check by fascist Nazi soldiers milling around almost everywhere. A disguise becomes necessary in such cases if you are not already able to crawl or sneak around. However, even if spotted by these inept soldiers, evading them is a piece of cake and revenge is easy by, say, pushing their fellow soldiers off a ledge from behind.

Things take a more interesting turn when instead of a group of Nazi soldiers, you encounter a lone one. Then, it is first-person melee combat time. The scent of the developers' previous work in Chronicles of Riddick titles is evident here. A dramatic punch from the soldier comes at Indiana Jones, but it is successfully blocked and is countered by a series of rapidly thrown jabs. This mutual exchange goes on until one or the party goes down.

Indy's whip comes in handy in such melee combats, as do a wide variety of nearby objects. However, even with this, after some time, such fistfights become tiresome. Of course, the fight can be stopped short by pulling out a pistol, but the ensuing racket inevitably draws in more soldiers.

Shooting is not usually how Indiana Jones and the Great Circle do things, preferring to keep fights more raw via melee combat. However, there are some combats that genuinely trigger terror, fights where Indy is up against a lot more than an irate Nazi soldier.

Another characteristic gameplay mechanic of this title is extended sections where all one has to do is put all their wits into figuring out how to get to the next, with no combat or stealth involved. However, don't make the mistake of clubbing this mechanic with that of Uncharted, because while these two titles do belong to the same genre, it is the nitty-gritty details that set them apart.

Of course, we are not saying that Indiana Jones doesn't get up to some run-of-the-mill puzzle-solving in the title, something you'd find in just about any action-adventure game. But we will say that none of them get ancient stone ruin puzzles quite like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. No matter how many times you've seen it, these giant structures somehow always inspire awe.

Now, this game has come under some criticism for being hardware-heavy on systems. For example, it needs GPUs to be able to perform some amount of real-time ray-tracing acceleration. While we do support the claim that this title's graphical requirements are on the higher end, we think that any relatively well-off system will be able to run this game without any major issues. By well-off, we are talking Intel i7 or equivalent and higher and Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti or equivalent and higher.

Verdict

Overall, Indian Jones and the Great Circle is an amazing game and we promise that you will experience it as a breath of fresh air and not, as expected by many, another reproduction of a franchise whose heyday came to an end long ago.