Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC review — It belongs in a museum

To be honest, I was barely aware of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle‘s existence. I’d heard rumblings about it here and there, but I recall seeing very little marketing and even less hype, which is strange for a franchise of this magnitude. Perhaps it has to do with how late in the year it launched, or maybe because of it being a licensed game. It’s a giant shame because, after playing it, it became clear to me that this is not only one of the best games of the year, but one of the most soulful, enjoyable licensed games that’s ever been made. This is a must-play for anyone that enjoys the franchise or games about exploration.

The story in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle kicks off with Indy at his college. He hears a noise from downstairs and, when he investigates, he catches a huge man that’s broken in. Powerless to stop him due to their difference in size, the man absconds with a small cat mummy artefact from an exhibit after tearing the place apart. But he leaves a strange medallion linking him to the Vatican behind. Indy follows the trail, which leads to him attempting to foil a Nazi plot, while aided by an Italian journalist searching for her missing sister. The plot has numerous twists and turns and feels like a real Indiana Jones adventure.

Obviously Harrison Ford isn’t involved, but the likeness to him in the 80s is present. He’s voiced very well by Troy Baker, who thankfully neither uses his own normal voice, nor does he try to do a strict impression of Ford. The writing and voice acting is terrific across the board and the presentation is excellent. You’ll find yourself going across the globe, exploring large areas and dodging traps in dark tombs. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is pretty much the game that the character deserved, alongside practically being an Immersive Sim at the same time.

While in the game’s larger areas, you’ll be following the main quest as well as side quests that aren’t always actually side quests, as some are mandatory. Even the ones that aren’t as rich and detailed and often take you to optional locations. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has tons of collectibles too. For some, they’ll be too many even. There are dozens and dozens of notes scattered around, plus medicine bottles, artefacts, and relics to find.

You can also take photos of a great number of notable encounters for extra points you can use to unlock character improvements via skill books that are purchased or found. You’ll get a lot of points from solving the game’s mysteries, which are optional puzzles that are often very well thought out. As far as gameplay goes, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle very much leans toward stealth. You can sneak around, distract enemies by throwing items, and take them down when unaware, either with improvised weapons found in the environment or with Indy’s whip if you’ve purchased the right upgrade.

At the centre of this is the game’s brawling mechanic. Indy can dodge and parry enemy attacks, while engaging in combat with his fists. Guns are weirdly weak compared to melee attacks, though, which is somewhat immersion breaking, even though I understand that the developers wanted players to focus on melee. You can literally shoot an enemy in the head twice and they’ll stay standing.

There’s also a lot of climbing, causing the camera to switch to third-person. You can use Indy’s whip not only to stun and take down foes, but to climb or swing on designated points. Indy’s journal has a map that gives you a marker while open, too. The game is aggressively user-friendly while feeling deep and lived in, a difficult balance to strike. You’ll even find disguises much like in Hitman, allowing you to enter certain areas without drawing the attention of enemies. It’s killer all around and the game is an absolute joy to play.

There are some issues here and there, though. Depending on the area, you can steal things. Sometimes I find that doing this even when no one is looking at me results in all the guards getting alerted. At one point, I changed disguises behind a closed door, yet a dog that wasn’t tall enough to see through the window still magically spotted me and then attacked. In another instance, I couldn’t progress in the story because the helper character wouldn’t get into position and I had to reset the checkpoint half a dozen times until it finally worked properly. Thankfully, these glitches aren’t horribly common.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an incredible game that wonderfully captures the spirit of the franchise, while also being a tremendous game in and of itself. Its large areas and immersive gameplay are in a class of their own and exploration in general is rarely done better than it is here. In terms of going on a globetrotting, tomb raiding action adventure, it blows the modern Tomb Raider and Uncharted games out of the water, making it a tour-de-force for anyone who loves that sense of discovery and wonder.

Check out our previous review:

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