A Rollercoaster Ride With Nazis and Pit Stops Along The Way
Get ready to unravel one of history’s greatest mysteries in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle™, a first-person, single-player adventure that picks up between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. It’s 1937, and sinister forces (Nazis, probably) are scouring the globe for the secret to an ancient power known as the Great Circle – because… why not. And who’s going to stop them? You, the one and only Indiana Jones. That’s right, dust off your fedora and grab your whip because it’s time to get into some globe-trotting action.
This cinematic thrill ride comes from MachineGames, the masterminds behind the Wolfenstein series, and is executive produced by none other than Todd Howard, the game design legend who knows a thing or two about epic adventures. So, grab your compass, because you’re about to be knee-deep in ancient artifacts and, of course, punching Nazis!
Pros
- Thrilling set-piece moments worthy of Indy.
- A fun, authentic story true to the series.
- Punching Nazis. (Because, obviously.)
Cons
- Too much unnecessary fluff.
- No innovative or particularly clever puzzles.
- Pace derailed by random open-world segments.
Ok, ok…. Back to the Whipping Action!!!
Indiana Jones has been punching Nazis and stealing ancient artifacts for decades now, and it’s about time his adventures made their way into a video game worthy of his iconic fedora and whip. Enter Indiana Jones and the Great Circle—a game that promises everything you want from an Indy adventure: globe-trotting, Nazi-punching, tomb-looting, and just the right amount of snarky one-liners. And while the game absolutely nails the first half, somewhere along the way, it gets distracted by… well, random quests like collecting cat posters.
Let’s dig into this game like Indy digging up a long-forgotten treasure (and no, I’m not talking about the Crystal Skull). It starts with a bang, but does it keep the action rolling, or does it take a detour into side quest hell? Strap on your whip, folks. We’re about to find out.
The Good: The Beginning (Oh, The Beginning)
Picture this: a lush, cinematic opening sequence that’s almost a carbon copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark’s iconic boulder chase. You know the one. The boulder, the scrambling, the heart-racing escape from an ancient tomb? Yeah, it’s back. And it’s glorious. The moment you fire up the game, you’re right in the middle of an Indiana Jones-style spectacle. You’re not just watching it—you’re living it. The adrenaline, the sweat, the near-death experience—it’s all there, and it’s better than your last trip to the supermarket (which, let’s face it, wasn’t that exciting).
This opening sequence sets the stage for what feels like an Indy movie brought to life.
The tone, the pacing, the action—it’s as though MachineGames (those wonderful folks who brought us Wolfenstein) took every fantastic moment from the movies and mashed them all together into a rollicking, non-stop thrill ride. You’re Indiana Jones, folks. Get used to it. You’re going to punch some Nazis, crack that whip, and be generally charming while making everyone around you question their life choices.
After this exhilarating start, you head to Marshall College, where things start to connect back to the events of Raiders. The narrative gets rolling and the next thing you know, you’re sneaking around Vatican City on a quest for an ancient artifact thief (who, by the way, is voiced by the incomparable Tony Todd). The story hits all the right beats—the right amount of tension, mystery, and excitement—and Indy’s character, played by Troy Baker, captures that signature mix of gruff and charming to perfection.
The first hour or so? Pure Indy bliss. You’re exploring, solving puzzles, sneaking around, and—let’s be honest—living your best life as a globe-trotting archaeologist. This is what you came for.
The Not-So-Good: The Open-World Pitfall
Now, here’s where things start to take a turn. You’re still in Vatican City, having fun, solving puzzles, dodging guards, and generally feeling like the world’s greatest adventurer when… BAM! You’re suddenly swarmed with side quests, markers, and a never-ending checklist. Now you’re expected to run around Vatican City collecting comic books, taking Polaroid pictures, and—you guessed it—hunting down missing cat posters. Because, of course, Indiana Jones is the type of guy who’s constantly finding lost cats while thwarting ancient evildoers. It makes perfect sense, right?
Look, I get it. Developers love side content. It’s fun to pad the experience with extra things to do. But this is Indiana Jones, not Super Mario Odyssey. I don’t want to be collecting comic books or solving “missing cat” mysteries. I signed up for ancient artifacts, secret societies, and, yes, punching Nazis. But no, instead, you get distracted by every map marker and every single quest that pops up in your log. It’s like if Indy spent half his time being a postman and the other half cracking open ancient tombs.
“Indy, Why Are You Collecting Comic Books?“
The problem here isn’t that there’s side content—it’s that it feels completely disconnected from the core of what makes an Indiana Jones game. While I’m sure someone out there is thrilled to gather lost comic books in Vatican City, I’m just sitting here wondering why Indy suddenly feels the need to stop his epic journey to find an ancient power in favour of doing some random fetch quests. Let’s be real—if this were a movie, Indy wouldn’t stop for a second to find comic books, even if they were right next to a Nazi hideout. And yet, here we are.
The Great Circle of Fluff: A Tale of Two Games
As you progress, this issue continues to rear its ugly head. The game is split between these gorgeous, tightly designed linear sequences (where you do classic Indy stuff like whip-swinging, puzzle-solving, and tomb-raiding) and open-world segments that grind the pace to a halt. The Vatican City section is fine at first, but when the game drops you into Giza (yes, Giza), it starts to feel like you’re just redoing everything from the previous map—right down to those beloved comic books.
The repetitive side content really makes you wonder if the developers just ran out of creative steam and decided to throw everything into the open world bucket for “player retention.”
By the time you hit Giza, you’re honestly praying for the next tight, story-driven sequence. You just want to get back to chasing Nazis, solving puzzles, and fighting the forces of evil. And sure, the game does deliver in these moments. There’s a truly fantastic set piece in Shanghai that rivals anything Uncharted has ever done, and it’s these moments of sheer spectacle that remind you why you love the game in the first place. Unfortunately, those moments are few and far between compared to the mind-numbing grind of side content.
The Puzzles: A Love Letter to 90’s
Now, let’s talk puzzles. We all know that Indiana Jones is synonymous with tricky, devious puzzles that involve rotating mirrors, moving statues, and ancient mechanisms that require just a little bit of brainpower. And while The Great Circle tries its best to honor this legacy, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve done it all before. Classic puzzles like rotating mirrors to reflect light or moving statues to open secret doors are great, but… can we get something new? Something that doesn’t make me feel like I’m just filling out a puzzle worksheet from the 90s?
I’m all for nostalgia, but when your entire puzzle-solving repertoire consists of “rotate this statue” or “reflect light into a mirror,” I start to wonder if we’re really pushing the envelope. MachineGames had a golden opportunity here to offer some fresh, challenging puzzles, but instead, they leaned heavily on the classics. And while those classics are fun for a while, they’re hardly groundbreaking.
Combat: More Punching, Less Thinking
“kicking Nazis around like they’re made of cardboard“
You know what’s also pretty great in this game? The combat. It’s satisfying. It’s punchy. It’s full of haymakers and jaw-cracking goodness. Nothing beats taking down a Nazi goon with a well-timed left hook and watching him fly across the room. Unfortunately, that’s about all the combat has going for it – timing punches and kicking Nazis around like they’re made of cardboard.
There’s not much depth to the combat, but then again, maybe Indy doesn’t need to be a kung fu master. He’s a whip-swinging, Nazi-punching, artifact-stealing hero. Still, it’s hard not to feel a little disappointed when the combat mechanics feel a bit, well, basic. It’s serviceable but not exactly revolutionary.
The Verdict: More Than a Museum Piece
In the end, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a game that’s almost perfect, but not quite. It has all the ingredients to be an all-time classic, and when it sticks to what makes Indy great – action, exploration, puzzle-solving, and Nazi-punching makes it truly shines. But when the game strays into open-world bloat and pointless side content, it starts to feel like the developers were more interested in filling time than delivering the Indiana Jones experience we all know and love.
If you can resist the temptation to chase down every cat poster and comic book in sight, The Great Circle offers a thrilling, cinematic experience that any Indy fan will appreciate. Just focus on the main quest and ignore the distractions, and you’ll find a truly enjoyable adventure. The game may have a few cracks, but when it’s firing on all cylinders, it’s still one of the best Indiana Jones games we’ve seen in a long time.
And let’s be real—this is still better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. So, yeah, it might belong on your hard drive, not a museum. Just don’t expect it to be perfect. It’s still an Indy adventure, and sometimes, even the great ones get a little distracted by shiny things.
Entertainment – 4.5/5
Action – 4.5/5
Extra – 3.5/5
EAX score 4.5/5
A big shout out to our friends over at Prima Interactive for giving us the chance to dust off our fedoras, grab our whips for some globe-trotting action while being knee-deep in ancient artifacts and, of course, punching Nazis!
