There’s an arguable point to be made that Indiana Jones’ video game adventures are better than most of his films.

I’m not talking Raiders of the Lost Ark, of course. There’s even a wonderful throwback to that here in Machine Games latest, but titles like Fate of Atlantis, The Infernal Machine and now The Great Circle really do stack up well, especially against the Dial of Destiny, Crystal Skull and even Temple of Doom.

Indy’s adventures always felt like they would better translate to the video game world, honestly. You can immortalise that character in any number of adventures, tied in with any sort of historial significance and blur multiple genres together so it works. The original point and click adventures understood it early on, offering a path with puzzles or with action and even a mix of both.

Yet despite how much I’ve loved these games over the years, outside of Fate of Atlantis which – truly is the greatest Indy game – none of them really got that Lucas/Spielberg/Ford humor and style nailed down. There was this point when the games felt like they just wanted to copy Tomb Raider’s homework. Which was weird because Tomb Raider was sort of copying their homework.

But with The Great Circle, what Machine Games, Bethesda and the team have finally done is make this feel like an Indy adventure straight out of the cinema. A plot that believably makes sense in this world – and even ties in with the films – but most importantly really makes you feel like you’re playing as Indiana Jones. The awkward lines, the comedic moments, the exclamations of frustration and this general sense of wonder and discovery as you progress.

Paying homage to the classic Point and Click adventures, Great Circle does an expert job of giving you plenty of puzzles and problems to solve while also running out of fire, escaping hordes of scorpions and yes, punching Nazis in the face.

In The Great Circle, we find out Indy has uncovered a ‘Cat Mummy’ statue at a recent dig and put it pride of place in his museum, but one night someone breaks in, confronts Indy and takes the Mummy for themselves. Never one to back down from a challenge, Dr Jones packs his bag (which is basically his hat, whip, journal and a record) and sets off half way across the world to try and get it back.

In true Dr Jones fashion, this is only half of the story, and before long he’s trying to mingle in the Vatican as a ‘Father’, digging around in old abandoned sanctums looking for treasure and even working with a new companion who, coincidentally, is the best since Sophia Hapgood herself. If you know, you know.

The Great Circle just feels like a good old Indy adventure. It’s full of Lucasfilm charm with the whimsical and titular music playing in the background and the cutscenes are full of great moments. One, in particular, really stood out to me where a Nazi forces Indy into a confessional so he can profess his sins. Indy reluctantly listens, is actually shocked by what he hears and punches him through the other side of the booth, knocking him out completely. It just felt so typically Indy it make me snort laugh.

There’s other moments, of course, like when he’s in a life and death trap and is shouting out for help or is frantically looking around for a solution. But the game doesn’t always take the control away from you and puts you in the spot too. You get to recreate the famous boulder chasing scene at the beginning of the game, and there’s one puzzle where the floor is quite literally lava so you have to find a way across.

Great Circle’s puzzles aren’t altogether too taxing but there is just enough brainpower needed that they’re not just there for brute-forcing either. There is probably an overabundance of ‘work out the four digit code for the safe’ puzzles, though the game at least tries to mix it up in different ways, using code rings, or making you work with different pieces of evidence in tandem to find a solution.

As for action, Indy’s punches feel suitably weighted and forceful, complete with the appropriate wind whistling and ‘Pow’ and ‘Biff’ style impacts. When you throw a punch, it feels powerful and after a few fights, you’ll even see cuts and grazes form on Indy’s fingers. I actually found like I wanted to break stealth just so I can get into a bit of a rough and tumble because it was so enjoyable. The combat just works here, but that should come as no surprise, considering the latest Wolfenstein games were most highly rated for their combat.

That goes for gun shooting as well, by the way, but due to the sometimes stealthy nature of the game, you’ll find yourself in a lot more hand to hand situations than you may realise. But Machine Games also really get the feeling of stealth and provide a whole range of random environmental objects for you to use to knock out unsuspecting Nazis and Fascists. Everything from a vase to a club and even a toilet brush!

And yes, there’s the Whip too. Which is actually a useful tool, for traversal (climbing out of ditches and swinging over gaps), puzzle solving (tugging down items or yanking down a broken lever) to combat where you can stun an enemy, scare an animal and even take a weapon out of someone’s hand. It’s actually incredibly useful and important.

Again, Indy’s humour is often on full display, throwing out one liners as he downs an enemy or bantering back with Gina, his new associate while they talk through the wider plot. There’s an unusual cast of characters along the way as well, some familiar faces, some not so but all in you feel the greater peril lingering in the background and all comes to a head in an epic, final showdown.

And we can’t not talk about the work Nolan North puts in here because at times, he sounds scarily like Harrison Ford. He’s got the tone right down, the inflections, the timing. While of course we all would have loved Harrison Ford to have done the VO for the games, Nolan is excellent and works brilliantly alongside all of the other cast to really bring this one to life.

Not to mention the scenery. It, of course, wouldn’t be an Indiana Jones game without travel and you do travel the four corners of the world, between Shanghai, the Himalayas, Vatican City and more. Each location is beautifully recreated, from scorching hot suns with piercing light to deep luscious greens and deep blue night skies. And each area is suitably sizey with side questions, hidden notes and objectives and fun things to stumble across.

Fortunately, the game gives you a map and journal to help track your progress. The Journal, in particular, is a lovely feature as it tracks the wider adventure, as well as any Discoveries you make in the game – such as lines in passing conversation or leads from documents – as well as lengthier mysteries which span over time.

If I had to pick a weakness, it would probably be the map and navigation system. While you can customise it to suit – editing the Location Markers to make it easier to find things – you can sometimes get easily lost and usually have to run around with map in hand. I understand it’s by design to sort of feel suitable to the 1930s timeline but also as a throwback to the puzzle games of old, but it does sometimes cause some frustration.

That said, the game at least lets you dial down (or dial up!) difficulty, depending on how you’re feeling, and over the course of the game you can build up your attributes through books where you can improve your survival by increasing health and regeneration or with fitness by using less stamina when moving. These can all be purchased using ‘Adventure Points’ which you gain from solving mysteries, gathering intel and even snapping photos of locations and people.

The Great Circle is a love letter to Indiana Jones in every sense of the word and is, by far, the best Indy game since Fate of Atlantis. The development team understand the source material beautifully, you feel like Indy in a way you never have before and despite its healthy sized campaign, you’ll still find yourself wanting more by the end.

With this enticing blend of dungeon roaming, open world movement, story building, and great action, The Great Circle has everything and does it all just right! This is the Indiana Jones game we’ve all deserved for years and whether you like the series or not, what you’ll find here is a great, funny, action-packed adventure that overdelivers in a way we weren’t expecting but are incredibly grateful for.

Verdict

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle has shot up to the top of my favourite games in 2024 and is by far, the best Indy since Fate of Atlantis! It understands and respects its source material so wonderfully and in so doing creates a compelling, enjoyable, epic adventure that does an amazing job of blending action and adventure together so seamlessly. From the excellent performance of Nolan North, to its stunning graphics, intriguing plot and hard-hitting combat, The Great Circle is everything you could want from a great game, whether you’re a fan of the films or not. 

Pros

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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is out now on PC and Xbox – Coming Summer 2025 to PS5.

Code Kindly Provided by Bethesda for review purposes

Played on Xbox Series X