MachineGames has made a classic Indy game that returns the hero to his prime.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle should officially be considered the sixth instalment in the fabled franchise. I have no idea if LucasFilm is pondering bringing back 82-year-old Harrison Ford to mirror his on-screen dad’s pledge to never say never again. But I hope they don’t, because the Great Circle delivers a compelling, genuinely awesome Indy adventure that rivals the films – and is even better than some of them.
Set between the events of 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark and 1989’s The Last Crusade, that places the Great Circle in 1937 with Dr Jones at the peak of his archaeological prowess upon the cusp of World War 2. It’s a globetrotting adventure with Indy battling Nazis and Axis powers all over the world, from Vatican City and Gizeh in Egypt to the Himalayas and Shanghai, as he attempts to stop a mysterious ancient power falling into devious hands.
The Great Circle opens with a flashback to an iconic moment from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which serves as both a tutorial and to establish the era of Indiana – this is Raiders’ Indy. It’s loaded with references to the film franchise — although the events of 3 films are yet to occur — yet is quick to establish its own legacy, with the professor entrenched in teaching at Marshall College before being lured away.
That’s the first of several massive and distinct open world levels. While Uncharted and Tomb Raider took their cues from Indiana Jones, MachineGames has been heavily inspired by Hitman. These are large sprawling landscapes, each with a unique atmosphere, vibe from the locals, objectives to complete, and mysteries to uncover. The main adventure ushers you in the right direction, and you could blitz through doing little else, but that’d be a major disservice. There’s so much more to explore in these vibrant worlds, connected organically through Indy’s jet-setting reputation.
As well as the main quests, each area contains some actual archaeological work for Indy through optional fieldwork. Some of these relate directly to the Great Circle and help to unravel its secrets, while others are off topic but too intriguing for Dr Jones to ignore. These are just as comprehensive as the primary adventure, featuring multiple objectives and quite lengthy and elaborate cutscenes. They also often venture deep into the location, unlocking areas that would otherwise be completely missed.
Unlike the main adventure quests, fieldwork needs to be discovered by stumbling upon a lead or making a new connection. While optional, these come highly recommended, signified by an Achievement for their completion. They provide some of the most engaging content, and help to balance the flow of an otherwise quite fast-paced, narrative-focused adventure.
Beyond those, each level includes a stack of collectibles and mysteries to solve. The latter are generally light puzzles that ultimately lead to discovering a slightly more valuable collectible with extra experience points. Sometimes, it’s just stumbling upon a point of interest worthy of a photo, which offers the same reward.
However, there’s no skill tree. To cash-in points to unlock new abilities, Indy must first find the book that teaches the skill. This further encourages exploration, but it’s really the blend of everything – the intriguing worlds, the local culture, the hidden items, and the beneficial side quests that’ll have you eager to explore and leave no stone unturned. Wandering around and soaking in the atmosphere is time well spent. Indy navigates using a handheld paper map; don’t worry, it has a modern flourish by still featuring a player marker and a waypoint amongst the cursive scribbles. But that obvious path is often the last place you’ll turn for fear of missing something interesting.
These large open levels are split-up by tight linear sections, often in new locations, which keep the story flowing. These segments are cleverly designed, and are more reminiscent of Uncharted with explosive set pieces as they funnel you down a defined corridor.
Combined with around 4 hours of cutscenes, the Great Circle is a fully-fledged Indiana Jones story. Regardless of if it’s a snappy linear sequence or a key moment during one of the more open spaces, MachineGames has done an outstanding job blending gameplay and cutscenes to tell an extremely well-paced and highly addictive story.
While not entirely seamless, it’s a fairly smooth and importantly fast transition from cutscene to gameplay. It hooks your attention and all feels like part of the same adventure, rather than distinct story and gameplay segments. Sometimes you’ll only play for a few minutes before a short cutscenes moves things along, and then the story continues to flow after you’ve retaken control. There are clearly fluctuations in framerate for the cinematic moments which are a little jarring, but it’s some of the best blending of gameplay and cinematics I’ve ever experienced.
The elephant in the room is most gameplay occurs in first-person, while the story is told in the third-person, so there is a clear divide. Considering MachineGames’ pedigree with Wolfenstein, it was the obvious choice for them, but perhaps not for an Indiana Jones game. First-person was a gamble, especially having acquired Harrison Ford’s likeness. But that makes it more impactful when the ’80s icon is on-screen, and having now spent 20+ hours playing as Indy, first-person mostly feels natural. The goal was to make you feel like you’re actually playing as Indy, and thanks to the extensive storytelling, excellent supporting cast, and all-round narrative focus, it clearly achieves that. It’s also a point of difference to the similar games I’ve mentioned, and as a package, it presents something quite unique.
The outlier is whenever Indy uses his trusty whip to lasso-swing across a gaping hole or climb up a wall, the camera suddenly switches to third-person and the animations look very awkward. These couldn’t have been done in first-person, but nevertheless feel odd; after a few in succession, it can start to feel like a game that wants to allow you to swap between perspectives on the fly, but has taken control away. For the most part, it all works well and helped me feel much more like I was Dr Jones than what I do when controlling Agent 47 or Nathan Drake.
It’s awards season, which means the Stevivor crew has recently partaken in the annual debate of what constitutes an action game versus an action-adventure game. We rarely hear about pure adventure games; certainly none from a first-person perspective. But that’s exactly how I’d describe the Great Circle: it’s an adventure game with puzzles to solve and a drizzling of action.
Stealth is the preferred approach, and you’ll need to find cunning ways to use whatever’s lying around to bonk enemies on the head – or just bypass them all together. Like the films, Indy carries a gun but scarcely uses it. Firing is more of a last resort as it’ll alert nearby enemies, so it’s often favourable to flip the revolver around to pistol whip instead and go through the story barely firing a shot.
It’s an adaptation that stays far closer to its source material’s characterisation than most games in that regard. Whereas Bond murders hundreds of goons to prolong gameplay, but only a handful in the films, you can pretty much do as Indy would in any given situation: crack the whip or improvise.
While it’s a first person-game, it’s definitely not a shooter and that’s so refreshing. There are plenty of puzzles, story beats, and hidden areas to explore, so it’s not all fighting Nazis and fascists; even then, combat feels more meaningful despite being quite simplistic. You’re best-off taking time to either sneak past a guard or plotting when to smash a guitar over his head, rather than running in blasting – Henry Junior isn’t a mass killer like Nathan or Lara.
It’s an excellent package, but each element in isolation can feel quite dated. This structure means you’ll be thrown back to ’90s stealth games with goons audibly querying, “huh, what’s that’s?” The way enemies are stationed and follow very defined paths also feels two-generations ago, as does the slightly janky combat if you do engage head-on with a group of bad guys.
Some puzzles can also feel a little old school, with a propensity for reflecting lights. But they’re generally quite good — though short — focused on deciphering codes or shuffling things around from afar with the whip. They offer a nice variety and suit the pacing quite well — after all, I don’t recall Indy getting stuck looking at the wrong wall for half-an-hour in any of the films.
But none of these singular shortcomings bothered me. The Great Circle is the sum of its parts. It won’t be remembered specifically for any of its gameplay mechanics, but it’s how it blends them together with an action-packed narrative that leaves you wanting more. It’s all brought together by a faithful recreation of John William’s iconic soundtrack, and a pretty good approximation of Harrison Ford in his early-40s by Troy Baker to match the actor’s 1980s likeness.
After a few decades with an ageing Indy, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a delightful return to Dr Jones in his prime. It’s a narrative-driven first-person adventure game, which does more than capture the essence of the original films — it crafts something worthy of joining them. If you’re not already an Indy fan, there’s not enough here to change your tune, as the gameplay alone isn’t enough to carry it.
But for long-time fans, it’s about the complete package, which is epic. It’s inspired me to rewatch the entire franchise — which only further endears the Great Circle — and kept me on the edge of my seat, glued to the expertly weaved story-into-gameplay structure. It’s a great adaptation by building gameplay into an elongated narrative that stays true to the character. The Great Circle is strictly for the fans, in all the right ways.
Update: The Great Circle is now available on PS5, and while it offers some haptic feedback on DualSense, its real selling point is that it looks juuuuuuuuuust that little bit better (especially on a PS5 Pro) than on Xbox Series X, and certainly than Xbox Series S. Especially for those on consoles — and unless you’ve got a beefy PC — PlayStation is the best place to play the latest Indiana Jones adventure.
That said, graphical improvements are fairly minimal, so unless this is your absolutely favourite game on Xbox, it’s likely not worth the investment on PlayStation. You can also link your Microsoft Account in-game to auto-pop Trophies for any Achievements you earn — and vice-versa as you progress — so that needs to be kept in mind as well. Buy accordingly.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is available on Windows PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5. It’s also part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscriptions.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was reviewed using a promotional code on Xbox Series X, as provided by the publisher. Steve Wright added info on the PS5 release. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle9 December 2024 (PC, Xbox); 17 April 2025 (PS5)PC PS5 Xbox Series S & X
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