Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Review (PC) – Whip It Real Good

Ah, Xbox. Here we are then. It’s been quite a difficult few years for Phil Spencer’s green machines, and yet the excitement and expectation was still sky-rocketing for MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and The Great Circle. This is a game that has to be brilliant. Xbox need it to be brilliant otherwise there’s every chance it could lose Xbox altogether. Ok, the stakes may not be that high but there’s certainly demand amongst fans that this one delivers (let’s not talk about the fact it’s coming to PS5 in April next year eh?).

It seemed a fairly safe bet. Machine Games, who have built their solid reputation off the back of the excellent Wolfenstein series certainly know how much fun it is to punch a Nazi clear in the face and have built their entire career doing so. It seemed like a perfect pairing of IP and developer, with a sprinkling of Uncharted and the whip cracking talents of one Troy Baker at the helm, and that Todd Howard overseeing every crevice of production. And yet, The Great Circle is nothing like I’d imagined.

Instead of an Uncharted clone, The Great Circle plays more like a Dishonored experience. It feels stealthy. Slow. Methodical. It’s bigger on the inside than the sum of its parts, luring you in with an adventurous heart and ensuring you stay with its intelligent mind. Whilst there are set pieces Nathan Drake would be certainly proud of, The Great Circle takes its sweet time unveiling its secrets, like the very best Indy stories do.

We catch up with Indiana in 1937 (somewhere between Raiders and The Last Crusade), curating artifacts in a museum, before finding himself on the trail of some badduns after a particularly large man breaks in and steals an ancient relic. Not one to let that slide, Indy follows the clues and leads him to the Vatican, of all places, and boy howdy does an adventure begin. 

Vatican City is a wondrous way to kick off this globe-trotting adventure. It’s an enormous playground where, primarily dressed as a priest, Indy infiltrates the Nazi-occupied grounds to discover secrets and characters that will eventually play a major role in the hours to come. The sandbox of the Vatican allows all of Indy’s traits to be on display, and is a deliciously smart way to teach the ropes of what’s to come. This may not be hugely surprising but the fascists (who have no names and are, rather beautifully, simply referred to as Fascist 1, 2 etc..) aren’t the biggest fan of Indy poking around, so you’ll quickly learn the ropes of the combat (if you find a uniform you can also infiltrate and underground boxing match in the Vatican to make some extra cash).

The combat is, well, perhaps the weakest aspect of The Great Circle. Whilst we all had a weird feeling about playing the game in first person upon the reveal, it certainly feels strange when you’re in a fist fight with Nazi’s. Indy’s pretty tough so the fights are pretty even, and there are parrying and break options, but it doesn’t feel particularly fluid and each time I won a fight I felt like it was luck rather than skill. Parrying is paramount if you want to win, so hold down that LB button like your life depends on it because, well, it sort of does. Throughout each level you’ll find various items to hit Nazi’s in the face with like spades and hammers, and your trusty whip can disarm enemies and even pull them towards you for a knockout blow. Away from the more straightforward fisticuffs, there’s a neat amount of creativity in how you can down your enemies.

Still, there’s not a huge amount of combat to be had in the Vatican if you’re playing it in stealth. There will be areas Indy isn’t allowed to go to so you’ll be Dishonor-ing your way through museums and underground layers to get your way around. Fortunately, Indy’s priest uniform allows him access to most areas, but those places you aren’t allowed are particularly fun to navigate. 

And there’s no rush. You’re free to explore at your own pace and take on a myriad of side quests to up your ‘Adventure Points’ – used to unlock skill upgrades and whatnot -, and there’s a bunch in the Vatican which enhance the story and the world within. You’ll be helping out nuns, buying your all-important camera, evading fascists and learning more of the underground plots that play into the bigger story of The Great Circle. The game calls it ‘fieldwork’, and that’s exactly what it is. Each side quest enhances your main quest, and it was always a treat to stumble upon a new one and explore more of this brilliant opening sandbox.

And it’s not an offence on the rest of the game to proclaim the Vatican City is by far the most interesting and enjoyable area to explore throughout The Great Circle. Whilst the following Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza, which looks astonishing though the level keeps you fairly underground throughout (doing hardcore Indiana Jones shit, which is also great fun), the Vatican is a playspace you won’t want to leave until you’ve uncovered everything it has to offer. There’s a ton to collect, a cat to return to their owner (yup), a bunch of people to meet and a heck of a lot of Nazi’s to punch in the face. It’s difficult to get mad at that,

And what of Troy Baker? Whilst the game has licence to use Harrison Ford’s rather handsome face from way back when, motion capture and voice duties were handed to Baker, who brings an excellent portrayal as Indy to a whole new generation. Whilst it’s probably fairly easy to shout ‘Troy? Again?’ from the rooftops, he’s hired time and time again because he’s simply bloody good at what he does. Here, whilst he has the benefit of already sounding a little like Harrison Ford already, you can hear his take is crisp and concise, even if his voice creeps in every now and then. It’s not just his voice, mind. His mannerisms are pin-point accurate, capturing Ford’s subtle smile when he works something out or his eyebrows being raised in a critical situation. It’s a performance that should lament Troy as one of our best, if Joel Miller didn’t do that already.

And everything just feels like an Indiana Jones story. Machine Games have absolutely nailed the tone and wonder of the original trilogy, focusing on an Indy who is still fascinated and full of wonder about the secrets of the world and it’s a real treat to discover them alongside him in this adventure. Whilst I’ve mentioned that the game does move perhaps slower than you might expect when you first turn it on, when it kicks into gear at around the halfway mark there’s no letting up. It’s a relentless race to the finish and it is one of the most engaging and exciting aspects of gaming I’ve had this year. 

Spielberg would be proud. 

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is available now on Xbox Series S|X and PC (review platform) via Steam.

Developer: MachineGames
Publisher: Bethesda / Xbox Game Studios

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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