Despite its popularity, Indiana Jones is a franchise that has never really been fully capitalized on when it comes to home console. Sure, there have been a handful of games over the years, but the lack of Indy on gaming consoles has always been disappointing to me. With Bethesda and MachineGames stepping up to the plate, many wondered if they would be up to the task. Well, they absolutely hit it out of the park with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Let’s get into it.
Note
Just for the record, I don’t have an Xbox Series X or a super powerful PC. If you’re looking for a review that takes a look at this game from a bleeding edge tech perspective, this isn’t the review for you. Again, I mostly played on the Series S, but also tried out the game via Remote Play on mobile and my PC. Please keep that in mind throughout this review. If you're interested in the Japanese version of the Great Circle Collector's Edition, you can find that here.
Story
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle puts players in control of Indy after the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1937 with a completely new story. As Indy is getting into the swing of things back at Marshall College when an intruder breaks in one night and steals an artifact. Little does Indy know, this will lead him down a rabbit hole that spans across the globe with locations including the Vatican, Egypt, the Himalayans and more. The crux of the mystery revolves around the Great Circle, a number of peculiar sites around the globe that form a perfect circle. Indy will face off against fascists Italian Blackshirts, Nazis and other similar scumbags associated with Indy’s usual adventures. Simply put, the storytelling in The Great Circle could have easily been the plot of a movie or TV shows with the franchise. Kudos to the team for crafting such an amazing story that is worthy of the franchise.
Gameplay
The Great Circle puts players in a first person perspective throughout the majority of the adventure. You will be interacting with the environment in a variety of ways to uncover secrets, make progress in the story and more. Indy’s whip also comes in handy for climbing, swinging over ledges or pulling switches. This can be done with the press of RB. Overall, traversal of the environments feels great. The sense of speed of Indy feels natural, the light platforming elements are easy to get the hang of and the varied locations are fun to explore. Outside of the first person elements, there are times when you will get to see Indy in third person. These are usually context sensitive, such cutscenes, when you are climbing with the whip or solving puzzles. I honestly prefer third person games to first, but I never felt shortchanged while playing this game because of it. On top of these, fast travel and a generous auto-save system are both part of the adventure to help for a smooth experience.
Several tools are at Indy’s disposal throughout his adventure. His journal takes central stage as it essentially doubles as an information hub for missions, maps and more. A camera also plays a big part in the game. Taking pictures of certain landmarks or monuments can grant clues that can point you in the right direction during missions. Later on in the game, a lighter also enters the fray and can literally help light up dark places when torches or other light sources are nowhere to be found. A breathing device is also available to search underwater areas for longer periods of time.
An upgrade system is also in place and can be accessed from the journal. I sometimes forgot about this aspect of the while playing, however there are some very useful enhancements that should be applied. Most of these come in the forms of books that can be purchased or found in levels. Once obtained, you will then need to “purchase” them with Adventure Points that you earn throughout the quest. These points can be earned by snapping pictures of historical locations, finding treasure, or completing missions. The upgrades are usually worth taking a look at as they can grant more stamina, health and other useful abilities.
Even though the main focus of The Great Circle is exploration, just like the movie, there will be times when you will need to fight enemies. Melee combat can be done at any time with the left and right triggers being used for Indy’s fists. LB can be used as block/counter attack, the whip (RB) can be used to disarm some enemies (or scare away dogs), while A can be used to dodge. Attacks cannot be spammed, either, as Indy will run out of stamina if you get a bit too gung-ho. It might be a bit much to take in at first, but the game’s difficulty curve helps ease you into things. The further you get into the game, the more proficient you will need to be at combat. In addition to fists, a ton of items are littered throughout the environment that can be picked up and used to beat your foes relentlessly…or at least until they break.
Although Indy is equipped with a trusty revolver, The Great Circle is far from being a game that focuses completely on gunplay. This aspect of the gameplay still feels good, though, and fans of first person shooters will feel comfortable making use of firearms when the opportunity presents itself. At the same time, and similar to the movies, Indiana Jones has never been about blowing away dozens and dozens of enemies at gunpoint. Using the handful of firearms in the game will often be met with strong resistance, especially the further you get into the game. You are often better served by either trying to use stealth or to fight with melee weapons or Indy’s fists. I will also note, while the using the guns felt pretty good, the enemies did seem to be bullet sponges. Even after direct shots to the face, enemies would usually stumble back and then pull out rifles and fire right back. In a way, this response encourages players to find other ways to take out enemies or avoid them altogether. I understand the sentiment, but was a little bit disappointed.
Visuals, Audio & Presentation
The world, heroes and villains crafted for the Great Circle are brought to life in the most believable way that has ever graced a video game. The environments are stunning and full of details like lush vegetation, convincing NPCs, very realistic looking water and more. Even with that said, playing on the Xbox Series S isn’t without its flaws. While things ran smoothly and looked fine for the majority of my time with the game, there were some weird bugs that I ran into, such as enemy characters scripting through floors and a few other weird occurrences. The good news is that these are few and far between. I don’t have a Series X or a powerful enough PC to get the most out of the game, but if you’re looking for a generally good looking game, playing the game on a Series S is still a viable way to get into this adventure.
Audio is on another level in the Great Circle, especially when it comes to the voice acting. Troy Baker takes on the role or Indiana Jones and delivers an amazing performance. The supporting cast, including Marios Gavrilis (Emmerich Voss), are great. The performance for the head Nazi, Voss, in particular just makes you absolutely hate the guy. The Great Circle is on another level when compared to most other story based games on the market today.
My only complaint with the game in terms of presentation is the map. I think it looks great aesthetically and tells you what it needs to, however, relegating it to an on-screen item that Indy is holding makes it just a bit too small. This is not going to be a problem for everyone and could very well just be a “me” thing. Even with that said, it just would have been nice to have it presented across the entire screen.
Playing via Remote Play
Like some of you out there, playing on the biggest screen in your house might not always be an option, especially if you don’t live by yourself. Personally, that’s what makes a system like the Nintendo Switch perfect for my situation. Even with that said, I did give the Great Circle a try on my phone via the Remote Play feature while at home. Just to note, I have a BackBone controller that I use with an iPhone 15 Pro Max and generally speaking, the results were pretty decent, but, of course, far from the performance of the game running natively. I mentioned the Max specifically, because as of the time of this review, it is the largest screen that Apple has for its phone. With that being said, I found the text and other elements to be mostly legible, but a bit small. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on your connection speed (your eyesight) and a variety of other unforeseen circumstances. I guess what I’m getting at here is that this is still a viable way to play the game if you want to play it off TV while at home. I wasn’t brave (or foolish) enough to check out the game over a mobile connection.
I also tried out Remote Play via my PC as well and the results were a little more stable. Sure, the image in general seemed a little bit flat compared to playing on my Xbox Series S natively, but it looked better than using the feature on my phone and it was nice to have the bigger screen real estate. Again, if you are looking for an alternative way to access the game when you can’t play on your TV, Remote Play on a PC is a bit better than mobile, but still (of course) inferior to playing the game on console.
Conclusion
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a fantastic game that is a perfect example of how the franchise can be expanded upon. The visuals are stunning, gameplay is fun and the story is the classic Indy that brings things back to the classic film era. Playing on Xbox Series S is pretty good and Remote Play options are also a serviceable way to experience the game. Needless to say, the Great Circle is something that needs to be experienced if you’re a fan of adventure games.
But, let’s turn things over to you guys. Did you pick up Indiana Jones and the Great Circle? Have you been enjoying it on GamePass? Sound off with any and all comments down below. We’d love to hear from you.
No comments:
Post a Comment