Indiana Jones finally returns to form, but not on the big screen

Adapting Indiana Jones for a modern video game is a bold project. Even more so when you’re aiming for a story set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, the franchise’s two most beloved films. Not only does this week’s The Great Circle successfully live up to those pulp action classics, but it’s the best piece of Indiana Jones media that’s been created since.

Sweden’s MachineGames made a name for itself with its rebooted take on the Wolfenstein shooter series throughout the 2010s. And although this game is also an immersive first-person adventure full of Nazis, it’s one filled with love for the ’80s Indy films and crafted with a deep understanding of what has made them stand the test of time.

From the John Williams-inspired score to the cavalcade of incredible settings, and from Indy’s mix of charm and resourcefulness to the fascists’ obsession with obtaining powerful mystical relics, the premise and presentation here feel like something that could have replaced 1984’s Temple of Doom. But that doesn’t mean it would be better as a movie than a video game.

By setting the events over a series of open explorable areas, with more linear storytelling throughout and between, The Great Circle lets its sneaking, spelunking, brawling and puzzle-solving become an expression of Indy as a character as well as a very enjoyable adventure game. And for fans of the series who have long imagined themselves whipping through a tomb tens of thousands of years old, or smashing a Nazi with whatever heavy implement happens to be nearby, it’s an absolute delight.

Fortune and glory

In 1937, one year after Jones helped prevent Hitler’s forces from acquiring the Ark of the Covenant, our archeologist hero has returned to a life of academia, albeit one haunted by nightmares and personal problems. But when a giant man breaks into the college to steal a cat mummy Jones recently unearthed in Egypt, the professor eagerly gives chase to the Vatican and discovers a fascist plot of global significance.

From the outset, as the game retreads some iconic ground and introduces its take on Jones, you can tell the character is in great hands here. Veteran voice actor Troy Baker pulls off an astonishing impersonation of 1980s Harrison Ford, and even while exploring the halls of Marshall College you get a sense of the reckless and all-consuming need for adventure that drives Indiana.

The Great Circle takes Indy to many cultural epicentres around the globe, from Italy to Egypt to the Himalayas and more.

The Vatican is just one of several hubs teeming with secrets to find and adventures to embark on, but it also sets the tone for the rest of the game. This is a place of great history and incredible significance to human culture, but which has been transformed in the prelude to a world war. The clergy carry on with their duties, though Mussolini’s militia also stalk the streets. As Indy, you’re largely out to do good and unravel a mystery, while trying not to attract too much attention from the fascists.

Though each area has a set of primary missions to work through, it’s impossible not to get caught up in the dozens of side-quests, collectibles and secrets dotted around. The game rewards you for every discovery – be it a document pilfered from a safe or a photograph of an interesting sculpture – with world-building context but also with Adventure Points, which you can spend to upgrade Indy’s abilities. And as you discover keys to locked doors, disguises to fool your enemies and breadcrumb trails leading to treasure and exploits, your journal of notes, fieldwork, maps and insights grows.

Storytelling is a major strength throughout, even if this is a 20-hour video game rather than a two-hour movie. The world is grounded in its believable settings despite the inevitable supernatural elements, and although you can feel the pre-war tension in every location, the people and the history you encounter are a comforting counter to that. The cast of supporting characters is well-realised and a lot of fun, but I also love how Indy mutters to himself to frame every minor archeological find or impromptu scuffle within his very specific perspective. In fact, MachineGames has more to say about the character than the last two films.

Jones is a scholar and a professor who cares deeply about the preservation of history, but he’s also not above robbing graves if it serves his purposes, and won’t hesitate to kill people who are trying to kill him. He has fairly progressive values when it comes to race, religion and gender (considering he’s a man of the early 20th century), but in The Great Circle he also takes the first excuse to fly off across the world specifically to avoid talking about his feelings.

Looking through your journal, maps and notes while the world continues around you adds to the immersion.

The game is smart about speaking to the fascism of the time as an instrument of insecure white men and those who manipulate them, and touching lightly on where Jones sits within or breaks out from that framework, without ever lecturing or breaking the fourth wall. Both villains and heroes are funny and ridiculous, with Indy and main antagonist Voss especially allowed to chew on the scenery, but the dialogue also touches on something relevant and true.

Making it up as you go

The first-person perspective is an unusual choice for a game that is very much not about shooting guns, but works well. In areas full of guards you’re generally sneaking and avoiding, which is a lot more tense at eye-level, and seeing Indy’s hands manipulate maps and puzzle items helps make the whole thing immersive. You never forget you’re Indiana Jones though; the dynamic shadows frequently remind you of the fedora and the whip, while performing certain actions has the camera pull out for a brief third-person view.

Puzzles are largely expected adventure game fare, though many games were inspired by the likes of Raiders, so that checks out. For example, there’s a room in a necropolis with some debris you need to burn to get past, but the only entrance to the room has water running down it and will extinguish your torch. So you have to find an adjacent room and throw a lit torch through a hole in the wall.

The combat fully embraces the slapstick silliness of the films, and even the most straightforward encounter can become memorable. Environments are littered with objects that can be picked up and swung as weapons, from lead pipes to guitars, and if you creep up on your quarry you can dispatch them without alerting others. You can also throw objects to maim or distract, engage in fist-fights, or utilise your whip for disarming, tripping or grabbing. Chairs and furniture will explode if struck, bad guys will fall if backed over a ledge, and if you happen to try to take someone out with a fly swatter you found, well, it will go as well as you might expect.

There were times that I got myself into something of an unwinnable situation though. The AI is dumb enough that you can pick them off one by one and they might not notice, but raise the alarm out in the open (by firing a gun for example, or picking fights in a Nazi camp) and you can end up with dozens of bad guys swarming after you. For the most part, you can predict what the fascists will do (officers will see through your disguises for example), but occasionally it felt like a Nazi with a sixth sense had spotted me and telepathically called his friends.

This is one of only a few frustrations I found with the game, another being that a few quests (among many interesting ones) are just A-to-B deliveries or extremely simple tumble-turners that undermine the credibility of a man who’s supposed to be the world’s most famous archaeologist.

The health and stamina systems, which you can bolster by eating bread or fruit respectively, also have the familiar video game issue of not letting you eat stuff you find lying around; you have to eat from your inventory to make space to pick up the new thing. As funny as it is to have Indy running around housing lemons to sprint farther, it’s annoying when grabbing some grissini off a guard’s table for a quick boost becomes a multi-step process.

Outside of those few issues, it’s an exciting and thoughtfully made game that seems designed to be enjoyed by anyone. You can set the difficulty of the combat and riddles independently, and using Indy’s camera to photograph a puzzle will provide a series of hints if you need them.

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