Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review – the best Indy's been since The Last Crusade
The legacy of Indiana Jones has been on rather shaky ground lately. His last two films didn’t quite hit the mark, and it’s been even longer since a game has managed to do him justice either. It’s a feeling that developer MachineGames seems acutely aware of, too, in the opening stretch of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. If there was ever a need to prove the studio fully understands what makes Indy great and what he’s about, then letting us play a word for word, and almost shot for shot recreation of the iconic prologue from Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly isn’t the worst way to go about it.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle reviewDeveloper: MachineGamesPublisher: Bethesda SoftworksPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out on 9th December on PC (Steam), Xbox Series X/S and Game Pass
Cynically, one might suggest it’s the kind of painstaking homage that actually ends up casting an initial shadow of doubt over the whole endeavour – that the subsequent romp around equatorial sites that make up the titular circle is all going to be a bit by the numbers, and a plain and obvious yank on the old nostalgia goggles. But those cynics would also be dead wrong, as once those Raider training wheels come off, it’s immediately clear this is no mere rehash of an old museum piece. The Great Circle is wholly its own kind of Indiana Jones adventure – a rip-roaring, globetrotting tour de force that marries The Last Crusade’s eye for fun, wit and slapstick humour with smart, player-driven investigations that really put you, as Indy, in the driving seat of this worldwide mystery. Better yet, it’s so much more than just another reheated attempt at a new kind of Tomb Raider or Uncharted yarn. At every red dot on Indy’s journey, The Great Circle is never quite what you think it’s going to be, and it’s all the more thrilling for it.
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Hands up time. I was as sceptical as anyone when The Great Circle was first announced. I mean, The Is that eyeroll of a subtitle really the best we can do here? It doesn’t exactly get the blood pumping, does it? Look past the words on the box, however, and this is right up there with the best that Indiana Jones has ever been on either the small or silver screen. Set between Raiders and The Last Crusade, the Nazis are once again up to no good in their pursuit of occult tactics to get the jump on World War 2, but the purpose and power of the treasures they’re after is kept tantalisingly at bay as Indy picks up their trail. It’s a journey that’s perfectly paced to keep you on tenterhooks throughout, its story missions and sizable ‘Field Work’ sidequests dovetailing brilliantly to fill in the gaps as you travel from the Vatican all the way across Asia and back again.
1 of 3 Caption Attribution Costumes play a vital role in how easily Indy is able to move through restricted areas.
The finer points of the story are best discovered for yourself, but the important takeaway here is that MachineGames well and truly sticks the landing with this one, offering up a gripping and memorable global conspiracy plot that’s buoyed by an excellent cast of supporting characters. This is a studio that’s always known how to do eminently punchable villains, and Marios Gavrilis’ performance as Nazi investigator in chief Emmerich Voss is no exception. He’s a real bruiser of man, his thick-set neck, permanently gritted teeth and wicked scowl making him a palpable intellectual threat from the off. He alone does a splendid job of carrying you through the main story, but it’s Indy’s companions where MachineGames has really stepped things up a notch.
