Much like with Star Trek, The Lord Of The Rings, and The Matrix, there have been way more video games influenced by the Indiana Jones movies than there have been games where you get to be Indiana Jones.
But while Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (Xbox Series X|S, PC) somewhat balances the scales, fans of the adventurous archeologist are forewarned: While this is faithful to Indy’s early films, it’s actually more like Indiana Jones And Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny in that it may not be what fans are expecting, or hoping for, but it is still a fun adventure.
Set in 1937,
in between Raiders Of The Lost Ark (which was set in 1936) and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1938), and two years after Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1935), Indiana Jones And The Great Circle has Professor Jones trying to recover an ancient artifact stolen from the university where he teaches.
What follows is an adventure that’s very much in the spirit of his previous (and, for him, future) escapades.
Now, as far as the gameplay is concerned, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is not, as you might’ve expected or hoped, an Indiana Jones version of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End or Shadow Of The Tomb Raider. And not just because it’s predominantly first-person instead of third. It’s not a first-person Tomb Raider or Uncharted, either.
That’s because, as much as Indy may have inspired and influenced Uncharted‘s Nathan Drake and Tomb Raider‘s Lara Croft, he’s not like them. He’s not nearly as acrobatic, nor does he get into as many scuffles. Though, oddly, in this game, he is just as much of a klepto.
Even when it does…
get a bit Uncharted-esque or Tomb Raider-y — i.e., when you’re solving some elaborate puzzle to unlock a door — they often seem more Resident Evil-ish.
If anything, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is more like Dishonored 2 and Alien: Isolation in that it’s much more of a stealth action / adventure game, one in which you spend more time looking around and trying to figure out how to get where you need to go than you do getting into fights.
This is not to say Indy doesn’t do his fair share of jumping and climbing in Indiana Jones And The Great Circle; just that these parts aren’t as elaborate or require the precise timing you need in a Tomb Raider or Uncharted game.
Similarly, while Indy does get combative in Indiana Jones And The Great Circle, it’s usually just when he can’t avoid them. And even then they’re much more likely to be fist fights than gun battles.
Good thing he’s skilled…
in the way of the brawler. He can block, parry, even dodge. He can even use different household items as melee weapons, including shovels, hammers, and, uh, is that a flyswatter?
Indy can also knock out unsuspecting enemies from behind. Though in an interesting (but character accurate twist), he can’t choke them out. Instead, he needs to use a melee weapon to render them unconscious.
And then, of course, there’s his whip. Which, in Indiana Jones And The Great Circle, as in all his cinematic adventures, he uses to climb up onto ledges, swing across chasms, and to disarm or stun enemies.
Now, Indy does have a pistol.
Though (again, as with the movies), he’s much more likely to punch someone than shoot them. Which may be why you can easily flip your pistol around and use its handle to knock people out.
Not surprisingly, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle pulls mechanics from classic stealth action games. Not only can you throw empty bottles to distract guards, but you’re also encouraged to hide their bodies after you’ve knocked them out.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle even takes bits from such adventure games as Fallout 4, with Indy not only learning about side quests he can complete, but also by finding books that, if he reads them, will improve his abilities. And not just his mental ones.
All of which makes for a very engaging Indiana Jones game. It’s not only faithful to the films — doubly if you play with a “cinematic” camera option that recreates the dimensions of a movie screen — but it’s also driven by a story that could work alongside them, while having action that challenges your reflexes and your intellect equally.
Still, as I said,
some people hoping or expecting Indiana Jones And The Great Circle to be like Tomb Raider but with more whipping, or Uncharted with a more likeable hero, will be disappointed by the lack of well-timed jumps and frantic gunfights.
Well, unless they know what to expect before starting this game.
And it’s not the only thing you should keep in mind before starting. Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is not effortlessly fun. It’s not the kind of game where you lose track of time and find the hour you planned to play has turned into four, and where the hell are my pants? Which is not a criticism, just an observation.
There are also annoying bits of Indiana Jones And The Great Circle that don’t get better even if you know they’re coming.
For one thing, some mechanics have unnecessary extra steps. When using a key to open a door, for instance, you don’t just hit a button like you do in most games. Instead, you have to press left on the D-pad to equip the key, “X” (on an Xbox controller) to insert the key into the keyhole, and then push left on the left thumbstick to open the door.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle…
also has a stamina meter, a mechanic that never made any game more fun, ever. Though, thankfully, Indy is still relatively young; had this been set around the time of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (i.e., 1969), when Indy is 70 years old, it would drain even faster.
Though what’s interesting is that Indiana Jones And The Great Circle has another mechanic that’s usually not fun, but it oddly works well here: destructible weapons. While wear and tear mechanics usually make a game less fun, it makes sense here given that said “weapons” are usually household items — rakes, shovels, etc. — which would break quickly if you used one to smack someone hard enough to knock them out.
Though it also helps that these items are so readily available. And that you frequently find repair kits that can fix them.
It’s also kind of odd,
given how many dark places he’s been to, that Indy doesn’t carry a flashlight, even though they had handheld flashlights in 1937 (They were invented in 1899; I checked.)
Though not nearly as odd as the fact that Indy can eat fruits and vegetables to temporarily upgrade his stamina (and donuts and biscotti to briefly make him healthier), but that some of the fruits he chows down on are, uh, lemons?
Even with these unnecessary errors, though,
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is still an exciting and engaging game that more than lives up to Professor Jones’ cinematic legacy. It may not be what we were expecting, or hoping for, but if you like the Indiana Jones movies enough to buy this game, you’ll find it to be just as much of an adventure.
SCORE: 8.0/10
