Trailers for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle have nailed the tone of the franchise. The triumphant John Williams theme song, Harrison Ford’s sly smirk, all accompanied with the crack of a whip and the distant howl of a Wilhelm scream. These are stylistic staples in the 43-year-old franchise that has had five films, a handful of games, and a TV show. There’s no doubt that developer MachineGames understands the look and feel of Indy, but questions have lingered around its ability to capture playing as the globetrotter. Now that I’ve had some hands-on time with the game, it’s clear to me MachineGames understands more than just the aesthetic of Indiana Jones, but also what it means to be Indiana Jones. The result is a promising prospect not just for fans of the franchise, but the adventure genre as a whole.
Taking place between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, The Great Circle sees the titular character a year removed from his globe-trotting adventures, having been teaching archaeology at the fictional Marshall College in the interim. At the beginning of my hands-on time, I wasn’t thrust instantly into a big action set piece, but instead I got to walk around as Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr. the professor, rather than Indiana Jones the adventurer. This is an important distinction, as it presented a more relatable tone with the character, and a steady sense of pacing that allowed me to take in its environments rather than run through them–characteristics I was happy to see present for the entirety of my 90 minutes of hands-on time, all the way from Marshall College to the mini-sandbox of Gizeh.
Dr. Jones’s time-off from adventuring is put to an end, however, when he comes face-to-face with a towering intruder, portrayed by the menacing presence of Tony Todd, who steals an artifact from the college’s gallery and beats the crap out of Jones. With an artifact gone and its mystery thief on the run, Professor Jones hangs up the tweed sports coat in exchange for his brown leather jacket and fedora.