Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review - A Perfect Adaptation Of The Original IP

Before Lara Croft was raiding tombs and Nathan Drake traveled to various uncharted regions of the world, there was Indiana Jones, college professor and archeologist. His adventures had everything; an earth-shaking mystery to solve, global travels, witty banter, and a likable leading man. While his recent movie exploits have left a lot to be desired for fans of the franchise we're so happy to say that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle doesn't just meet the expectations of a classic Indiana Jones story, but absolutely blows them out of the water.

After a brief introduction reliving the opening scenes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, boulder chase and all, our story opens with a break-in at Marshall College, a giant man speaking in Latin knocking out Indiana, and a missing Cat Mummy.

A Story That Builds Player Intrigue With A Layered Mystery

This introduction is tight, to the point, and immediately hooked me as a player. Marshall College works equal part as a tutorial, promoting exploration of the world within a small sandbox and introductory puzzle solving, while also generating a number of questions about the plot to start the player's mind racing.

Who was that mysterious 8-foot man? Why was a cat mummy stolen? Why did he have an amulet related to the Catholic Church?

The adventure that these initial questions take Indy on leads him to multiple locations worldwide, including large 'hub' areas such as The Vatican and Gizah, as well as some smaller story-focused locations like the Himalayas and Shanghai.

Care has been put into the story so that at any point in time you'll have multiple questions floating around your head about the direction the narrative will take. Progressing through the story, only one of those questions might be answered, but it will always lead to wholly new questions or perhaps reveal a little bit more about other questions.

This created an environment where the next major breakthrough always felt just around the corner, maintaining a strong pace throughout the entire narrative. Even in the later hours of the game, when I feel most games begin to lose some steam, Indiana Jones continued to deliver a blockbuster experience.

Another key element of the story is that each piece of the puzzle reveals a whole other layer to the story. Your idea of where the narrative might be leading, or the scope of the adventure you're on, is constantly being expanded, creating an exciting experience.

An early example of this developing storyline, not wanting to spoil anything too far into the game, is that the amulet that the giant man is wearing indicates he's a member of a secret order that worked with the Catholic Church. That discovery is what helps guide Indy to begin investigating around the Vatican, but throws into the mix further questions about his objectives and why the Catholic Church needed to steal a Cat Mummy.

Every opened door leads to four other closed ones that just made me want to keep going.

 An Adventure Worthy Of Indiana Jones

It's so hard to talk about what makes a great mystery so great without spoiling anything, but for fans of the classic Indiana Jones adventures like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Temple of Doom, you're in for an absolute treat.

The story maintains a lot of Indiana Jones charm with entertaining, bordering slapstick moments, serious archeological breakthroughs, and action-packed set pieces. At times watching cutscenes and the story expand, it truly did feel like I was watching a missing Indiana Jones movie of the '80s.

Indiana Jones uses a variety of tools at his disposal to make his way through the world including disguises, his whip for swinging over gaps and climbing obstacles, a lighter to be able to see through caves, and other elements of the world like ziplines.

First-person gameplay did a great job accentuating the world. Stepping into massive mausoleums or creeping through Nazi bases and seeing the world through a first-person view really did feel like it was enhancing the experience in comparison to the third-person puzzle adventure games that are available.

A Secret Around Every Corner

Outside of the main storyline, there's so much else for players to experience and engage with. You'll be able to take photos of interesting people and places, hear remarks from Indy about their content, discover hidden locations filled with ancient relics, and solve smaller mysteries rewarding you with upgrades for Indiana or additional information about the world.

This feeling of a secret being hidden around every corner is also a testament to the incredible world design of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Even in the largest open-world areas, it feels like no matter where you stop and look around there is something interesting to grab your attention.

These collectibles also don't just stop at the mere collection aspect. There are many that interact and provide context not only to the main quest but also trigger mysteries to investigate. Picking up a note early in the game, there was mention of a secret passage near a fireplace, and by collecting additional clues such as a hand-drawn map, I was able to locate and trigger this chamber to open. It offers something for people who are skimming the surface but also provides more for players who are reading those notes and hunting for more. 

Taking the simple idea of collectibles scattered around a map and turning them into context clues further fuels the experience of stepping into the shoes of Indiana Jones.

A subtle aspect of the different caves and tombs that I appreciated was that these places really did feel like they were being discovered for the first time. If you wanted to be able to see in the deeper tombs then it was on you to light the different braziers dotted through the hallways. There also weren't any rooms with perfectly spaced boxes that you just knew you'd be cover firing from after you obtain whatever idol or relic you're after.

Puzzles Are Rewarding

Puzzle solving is the bread and butter of Indiana Jones, and there are plenty of fun ones to experience. I will say throughout the main story and what side content I did explore, there weren't too many puzzles that stumped me for long, but the act of solving them was fun in itself.

Some of the puzzles included gathering information about different artworks to set a code in a wall, cracking Nazi codes, and placing gears of different sizes to cause a mechanism to rotate correctly.

These kinds of puzzles really reminded me of some of the point-and-click adventure games I used to play and the things they would throw at me. As I write this review I'm rearing to get back into the game to explore how much deeper the puzzles get as you stray from the beaten path.

The Tools At Your Disposal

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is first and foremost a first-person exploration game, but does also have a fair bit of combat. Routinely you'll find yourself behind enemy lines in Fascist and Nazi bases and while you can power your way through, it's going to be very dangerous.

The preferred form of infiltration for Indy is through stealth. Attacking enemies from behind results in satisfying takedown animations, and the ability to carry and dump bodies can help you get as far into a base without being spotted as possible. There isn't too much more depth than 'sneak up behind enemies and wallop them with whatever hammer, broom, or guitar you can find,' but there was never any need for more.

If stealth fails and you don't happen to have a gun in your hand, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle manages to have one of the best first-person melee combat systems I've ever used. By the end of the game, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I actually resorted to using guns because punching was just so much fun.

Different attack buttons will let out a left or right punch with the option to wind up to break through enemy defenses. Your punches are tied to a stamina bar so you can't just wildly swing and instead need to plan your punches.

This combat system gets even better as you progress through the game as you obtain additional abilities like one that recharges your stamina for a perfect dodge. This really pushed me to learn Indy's combat capabilities and work to read enemy patterns and was absolutely required knowledge for some of the later 'boss' encounters.

I had honestly expected there to be far more combat, especially gunplay, in the game knowing it was from the team who created The Old Blood and The New Colossus but for a game about an archeologist like Indy this felt like the perfect amount of combat with semi-realistic enemy and player health, and really solid stealth mechanics and takedowns.

 A Love And Understanding Of The Source Material

One of the things that impressed me the most about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is just how much it understands and loves the source material. From the tone and grandeur of the adventure to the banter between Indy and his adversaries you can tell those involved in creating it understood why Indiana Jones became as popular as it did.

A lot of this is also only possible on the amazing work capturing the tone of Indiana Jones's (and Harrison Ford's) voice by Troy Baker, and the work put into making sure all of the smirks, glances, and general Harrison Ford-isms are just as you would expect from Harrison Ford himself.

While it's a wholly new story it doesn't mean that there isn't also plenty for fans of Indiana Jones to keep an eye out for. The opening scene being a remake of the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark is just the surface of some subtle, and some not-so-subtle, nods to the original film franchise.

This love also extends to the game's soundtrack. Much of the score is reminiscent of early John Williams with powerful horns blaring through combat and chase, and whimsical transitional music playing as you stumble upon your next secret.

Each element of this game from the look to the way it feels to play has had the utmost attention paid to it. Not only does Indiana Jones and the Great Circle accurately portray the IP that it is based upon, but it celebrates and uplifts every aspect of it.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review | Final Thoughts

By using that understanding of who Indiana Jones is as a person, and what makes Indiana Jones the IP so beloved, each major gameplay element is not only able to stand on its own as an extremely enjoyable part of the experience but also is grounded through the lens of Indy. The way that you approach exploration through photos and study, engage in combat with a mix of serious and strange weaponry, and are able to become a more proficient version of Indy through exploration creates a complete experience that truly does blow your expectations of this game out of the water.

The story was always engaging, revealing layers upon layers of depth. While the puzzles weren't too difficult they were still rewarding to complete, the stealth and combat segments are engaging and surprisingly deep, and the world is filled with secrets to discover and explore.

One of my greatest regrets as I devoured it over the past week is that I wanted to spend so much more time exploring the world but I needed to reach the credits so that I could get my review submitted in time.

This game isn't just a success for fans of Indiana Jones, but a great success for fans of adventure games. I would recommend this game to anyone who is looking for an epic adventure to play through this December and I genuinely can't wait for Indy's next outing if this is what we can expect.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was reviewed over approximately 23 hours of gameplay on PC via Steam with a key provided by the publisher. All screenshots were taken during the review process.