Indiana Jones and the Great Circle it has no business being as entertaining as it is. Outside of the superhero genre, there aren’t many high-quality licensed games, and this one has decades of cinematic tradition to live up to. And frankly, it’s a bit of a mess on the Xbox Series S. Some of its cutscenes are stunning, but it’s also plagued with resolution issues, mechanical glitches, and silly animation glitches. In most other games, the combination of these issues would cause me to throw away the driver and uninstall it.
And yet, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is infinitely endearing. The tone of the game is perfect, it offers moments of sincere beauty, and Troy Baker’s impersonation of Harrison Ford is a delight to witness, let alone embody. In fact, all the actors in the game are fabulous, and the writing, audio and direction look like classic Spielberg and Lucas, but this time it’s all in first person and interactive form, courtesy of the studio Wolfenstein MachineGames.
I cannot speak highly enough of the writing The Great Circle. Indy feels like a true extension of the movie character, and his cheeky comments and father-like frustration spill over into hilarious outbursts throughout the game. His companion, Gina, is as witty, mysterious and independent as Dr. himself. Jones, played periodically by actor Alessandra Mastronardi. The main bad boy, a Nazi archaeologist named Emmerich Voss (played by Marios Gavrilis), is extremely unsettling as he manipulates his troops and monologues his captors, every word dripping with a dark sense of entitlement.
The story takes place in 1937 between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark i The Last Crusadeand takes players to Rome, Giza, the Himalayas, Shanghai and the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai in north-central Thailand on a quest to save the world from an ancient and powerful magic.
Of course, it also involves punching a lot of Nazis in the stupid face.
There are moments in The Great Circle where music, setting, lighting and writing all come together to create a memorable vignette, like Indy’s first real conversation with Gina on a Vatican balcony. They banter back and forth as a Nazi blimp docks in a domed turret behind them, the afternoon sun glints on the golden roofs and the music reacts to their strategies and flirtation with little trills. For a second, the game looks indistinguishable from a classic Indiana Jones movie, and it’s a real joy. There are some cutscenes and bits of gameplay that feel like this The Great Circlethough there are so many that look less polished on the S Series, with stilted animations and overly harsh lighting. The writing and tone, however, are consistently top-notch.
It almost feels like two studios made this game, and one of them was much better at taking advantage of the Xbox Series S hardware. The visual disparity is strange, with animation quality and resolution changing from scene to scene. In between beautiful set pieces, there are sequences that look like a remake of a game from the Xbox 360 era. It’s weird. However, I imagine playing on Xbox Series X or a capable PC would increase the resolution and stability quite nicely.
Mechanically, the game is also sound. Combat is mostly hand-to-hand combat, and while there are weapons, they’re generally not the strongest weapon at Indy’s disposal. His whip is useful for stunning, creating distance, and bringing enemies close enough to punch him, and he’s capable of picking up objects like shovels, candlesticks, bottles, and clubs to use as projectiles or melee weapons. Random one-on-one fights against Nazis and fascists are well-paced, with solid punches and sharp whiplash, but scripted melee battles tend to feel stagnant. Enemies don’t have a health bar, and there’s little indication of how much damage Indy is dealing at any given time. Dodging is a key element in these fights and isn’t the most responsive or forgiving system; Inputs feel laggy or ineffective at times, and enemies can power up big hits even while being hit.
The combat could be slow, but I had a lot of fun playing it The Great Circle as a stealth experience, crouching down to sneak past Nazis and fascist guards like a ghost in a fedora. Stealth is a valid option in basically every scenario and is a simple and effective mechanic. Stay out of the enemies’ sightlines, don’t flash your lights in their direction, and stay crouched, and you’re good to go. There’s usually plenty of time to adjust your position if you’re spotted, and guards move quickly once you’re properly hidden again. I really enjoyed plotting stealth attack routes and then weaving between guards, occasionally throwing bottles as distractions. It’s kind of absurd when Gina comes along on these missions because she’s so, so horrible at stealth, but the game never punishes you for NPC mistakes. Enjoy the ridiculousness of your extremely obvious partner and keep drooling.
Puzzles are an important component of the game and are perfectly suited. None of them stand out as particularly challenging or innovative, but they’re built around smart ideas and executed well. There are light-reflecting puzzles, matching games, spatial awareness tests, and simple logic puzzles, and they always end with a cool article or dramatic revelation. I may have missed some more advanced puzzles in the side quests, and now that I’ve finished the main line I’m tempted to go back and see what I missed, which is surely a sign of a successful game.
The exploration is The Great Circleit’s the most critical mechanic, and luckily, it feels great. Indy can climb up and swing across gaps using his whip, and there are plenty of ledges, blocks, ladders, and ladder scaffolding. Secrets, side quests, and rewards are added to the maps, and curiosity is richly rewarded at every turn. Missions take Indy and Gina to snowy mountaintops and into murky, monster-filled waters, and there are moments of true terror and true beauty to be found. The game world looks alive and makes great use of vertical space. If you ever feel stuck in an area, just look up—if you can, that is.
I found a bug that broke the game The Great Circle. I was about 80 percent through the story and boarded a ship in the gunner’s seat as enemies raced us down the river and shot us from the shores. I couldn’t move the camera up and down, but I thought that was a weird restriction of the gunner mechanic. However, it persisted even after I got off the ship and into the following scenes. I couldn’t see the scaling opportunities, never mind the issues with combat, casting, and interaction. I tried restarting the game and console to no avail, and finally had to restore an old save and play about 30 minutes of content. This worked, but the experience left me feeling a little crazy and a little sad (so not much different from my baseline).
The uneasy feelings didn’t last long, as I soon found myself trading punches and insults with a Nazi karate master in the middle of a thunderous thunder storm, you know, Indiana Jones shit. This was the cadence of my play: moments of satisfying climbing, puzzles, and stealth gameplay interrupted by extremely silly bugs. What makes these glitches fun, rather than frustrating, is the game’s tone, writing, and acting. with The Great CircleMachineGames leans toward the easy charm of Indiana Jones, emphasizing its snark and the wild and incredible scenarios expected in popcorn action movies.
This game would make a great movie.
And maybe that’s what it’s all about The Great Circle. MachineGames made a fabulous and classic Indiana Jones movie, but they could have polished the gameplay aspects a bit more. So, set your expectations accordingly. Roll with the bugs, absorb the narrative, find all the secrets, and take a moment to laugh at Gina’s ridiculous animation when she’s dressed as a nun.
