For fans of the franchise, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle represents a brilliant opportunity to faithfully recreate Indy's world in video game format. The action-adventure game has been developed by MachineGames, a studio well-versed in first-person titles thanks to its experience with the Wolfenstein series. Providing players with an authentic Indiana Jones experience was one of MachineGames' main priorities, and one of the consequences of this is that the game does not feature a skill tree in the traditional sense.
The Best War Games recently spoke with Indiana Jones and The Great Circle design director Jens Andersson to talk about the game in more detail. He discussed how the game's approach to learning skills and abilities is different from the norm, which should hopefully be a welcome change of pace for fans. He also touched on how players will find some of Indy's hidden abilities and what they add to the game.
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Approaches Progression With Innovation
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle's player skills and abilities do not work like most games, where skill trees have only become more and more common. Rather than the traditional skill tree formula, where the player gains experience points that can be used to buy new skills, MachineGames took a decidedly more immersive approach. Players need to explore and find Adventure Books, which will in turn provide players with game-changing new abilities. During our interview, Andersson explained the thought process behind this:
''We wanted to make this game as grounded and immersive as possible, so having a more traditional skill tree would detract from that. Instead, being able to discover and read books to unlock new abilities felt like a better match for our favorite archaeologist and professor. We also wanted to have really nice rewards for exploration and for solving the mysteries you discover around the world, and what better reward is there than finding a completely new ability that you didn’t know existed?''
Exploration in The Great Circle Will Be Richly Rewarded
It can be super satisfying for players who stray off the beaten path if their curiosity is appropriately rewarded. Finding secrets and Easter eggs is often the player's main incentive to search every nook and cranny, and Indiana Jones and The Great Circle doubles down on this by hiding some of Indy's abilities in hard-to-find locations throughout the game. Andersson continued:
''All abilities are designed to build on the existing tools and gameplay suited for Indy, like melee, whip, and guns. There are even a few special ones, like the Lucky Hat ability that gives you a second chance if you are taken down in the iconic Adventurers outfit with your fedora on. The biggest challenge here is that they are all optional and many of them are quite hard to find, so we couldn’t really be sure of what abilities the player has unlocked at any specific point in the game.''
This is just another example of the developer ensuring that the unique look and feel of Indiana Jones' world is replicated in The Great Circle. Hiding abilities and making them completely missable will no doubt add replay value and give players an extra incentive (not that they'd need one playing an Indiana Jones game) to explore.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 94%
- Released
- December 9, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- MachineGames
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Engine
- id Tech 7
- Franchise
- Indiana Jones
- Number of Players
- 1
WHERE TO PLAY
Uncover one of history’s greatest mysteries in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a first-person, single-player adventure set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The year is 1937, sinister forces are scouring the globe for the secret to an ancient power connected to the Great Circle, and only one person can stop them - Indiana Jones™. You’ll become the legendary archaeologist in this cinematic action-adventure game from MachineGames, the award-winning studio behind the recent Wolfenstein series, and executive produced by Hall of Fame game designer Todd Howard.
YOU ARE INDIANA JONES
Live the adventure as Indy in a thrilling story full of exploration, immersive action, and intriguing puzzles. As the brilliant archaeologist – famed for his keen intellect, cunning resourcefulness, and trademark humor – you will travel the world in a race against enemy forces to discover the secrets to one of the greatest mysteries of all time.
A WORLD OF MYSTERY AWAITS
Travel from the halls of Marshall College to the heart of the Vatican, the pyramids of Egypt, the sunken temples of Sukhothai, and beyond. When a break-in in the dead of night ends in a confrontation with a mysterious colossal man, you must set out to discover the world-shattering secret behind the theft of a seemingly unimportant artifact. Forging new alliances and facing familiar enemies, you’ll engage with intriguing characters, use guile and wits to solve ancient riddles, and survive intense set-pieces.
WHIP-CRACKING ACTION
Indiana’s trademark whip remains at the heart of his gear and can be used to distract, disarm, and attack enemies. But the whip isn’t just a weapon, it’s Indy’s most valuable tool for navigating the environment. Swing over unsuspecting patrols and scale walls as you make your way through a striking world. Combine stealth infiltration, melee combat, and gunplay to combat the enemy threat and unravel the mystery.
THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY
Venture through a dynamic mix of linear, narrative-driven gameplay and open-area maps. Indulge your inner explorer and unearth a world of fascinating secrets, deadly traps,and fiendish puzzles, where anything could potentially hide the next piece of the mystery – or snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
