Indiana Jones and The Great Circle's Approach to Traps and…

Throughout his decades-long career, archaeologist and treasure hunter Indiana Jones has survived dozens of deadly traps from identifying the Holy Grail to escaping the iconic rolling boulder. In his newest adventure, MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Indy will obviously find many traps and puzzles in his way as he journeys to key sites around the world. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle pays homage to this crucial element of the Indiana Jones franchise by including puzzles and traps that hearken back to Indy's cinematic adventures while still feeling fresh and new.

The Best War Games recently spoke to design director Jens Andersson, an expert on all things Indiana Jones who previously worked at LucasArts and ILM. He named solving cryptic puzzles and escaping dangerous traps as "cornerstones of Indiana Jones" and described how the studio made them tricky enough to challenge players but also provided difficulty sliders so that players just interested in the story could still enjoy The Great Circle.

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By Dominik Bošnjak

Puzzles And Traps Will Feel New But Familiar

Andersson acknowledged the difficulty of making one-to-one recreations of traps Indiana faced in his previous adventures but noted that the game does feature several homages. He specifically called out the snake-filled tomb from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was particularly memorable due to Indy's fear of snakes. Describing MachineGames' trap design philosophy, Andersson said:

"As you can imagine, the ones we see in the movie don’t really translate directly into a game, so our inspiration from the movies is primarily their look and feel. Discovering something mysterious in an ancient tomb in the desert but riddled with critters, or something hidden in plain sight in the Vatican but guarded by the enemy"

Because the puzzles are so "intricately tied to the story" and are thus not optional, the team made sure they were accessible to all players. On Light adventure difficulty, puzzles will have fewer steps and simpler solutions, while Normal difficulty will present players with trickier, more complex puzzles to solve. However, Andersson promised that the game does feature "a robust hint system" for each and every puzzle. Furthermore, it's worth noting that critical path puzzles, as a whole, are a little more simplistic compared to those found when exploring the world.

In addition to puzzles and traps, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will feature stealth sections where the archaeologist must move quietly to avoid alerting his foes. Emmerich Voss and his Third Reich soldiers are hot on the trail of the Great Circle, and Indiana will come into conflict with them throughout the game. Andersson explained that the team wanted the stealth sections to "feel different" from stealth-based games like Assassin's Creed because "[Indy's] not an assassin."

Indiana Jones' Character Makes Stealth Sections Feel Unique

Andersson revealed that "there is no such thing as a fully silent takedown in this game." Using a convenient bottle - or even Indiana's trusty whip - to knock out or disarm an enemy will make a sound, potentially foes to Indy's presence. The team is excited to see players tackle the unique stealth gameplay, which will require careful thinking and deliberately deciding what tool to use in which part of the game.

Overall, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is designed to be a rich and varied experience that will truly make players feel like they are standing in the shoes of the great archaeologist himself. Whether they're moving stealthily to avoid setting off a trap, using Indy's knowledge of history to solve a puzzle, or relying on his whip to get them out of sticky situations, players will have to learn to think and act like Indiana Jones if they want to solve the mystery of the Great Circle.

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