Preview: ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’ weaves itself into the fabric of the films

MachineGames knows how to breathe new life into franchises. The Swedish studio founded by former Starbreeze developers reimagined “Wolfenstein” from a frenetic shooter into a more explorative and inventive action game. They explored what they could do with the franchise, and now, Bethesda has handed them one of the biggest properties in the world.

The developers approached the Lucasfilm franchise with the appropriate ambition and care. “Our goal is to put you in the shoes of Indiana Jones,” said Jens Sanderson, MachineGames design director. “We want you to experience the world of Indiana Jones, to make you feel like Indiana Jones.”

With that goal in mind, they set off to work, creating “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” in the distinct way they know how. I had a chance to check out a preview build of the experience and played through three areas: Marshall College in Connecticut, the Vatican and Giza. The first two areas showed off the basics of gameplay while the third area put much of the concepts together.

A FIRST-PERSON INDY GAME
Being MachineGames, the adventure takes place mostly in the first-person, but the adventure has flourishes where it jumps out in the third person so players can see him swing across chasms or scale walls with the help of his whip.

The Marshall College level introduces players to the start of the narrative, where Dr. Jones, expertly voiced by Troy Baker, confronts a mysterious giant played by Tony Todd of “Candyman” fame. This stage serves to set the tone and show the care that MachineGames put into design. After the giant wallops him, Indy wakes up and sees the museum ransacked.

This is where players run across the first puzzle, and it’s one of several that have just the right feel, capturing the archaeologist side of Indiana Jones. They’ll have to figure out what the giant took by cleaning up the museum and putting the scattered pieces where they belongs. Thankfully, players don’t need to know papal history or Egyptian mythology to figure out these puzzles. Rather, it rewards players who are observant and can read the environment. They’ll recognize patterns and connect clues to solutions.

When it comes to the franchise lore, the team places “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” between “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” They tie in elements of his past movie adventures into conversations and that makes it feel as though the video game is woven into the fabric of the bigger universe. For the eagle-eyed fans, the developers even referenced the Disneyland ride, The Temple of the Forbidden eye.

NEAR THE VATICAN
The setup is just right as players head to the Vatican based on a clue the giant left behind. That takes players to a singularly focused stage, where Indiana Jones has to meet his friend Antonio, but he has to sneak through the Castel Sant’Angelo, which is full of Benito Mussolini’s blackshirt thugs.

Players have the opportunity to run through the level causing chaos, but it’s best to move methodically. Indiana Jones doesn’t often run into trouble with guns ablaze. He usually opts for the stealthier approach, and that requires players to read the level (normally paths are marked in white) and identify opportunities to ambush enemies. Players can toss bottles to create distractions to separate patrolmen in order to knock out one and then the other. If Dr. Jones gets in trouble, a quick snap of the whip can disarm or at least stun shoes to gain advantage in a fistfight.

By far the most effective thing to do in “The Great Circle” is to carry a weapon with you at all times. It can be a fly swatter, rolling pin or shovel. Having one in hand is reassuring because it means that Indiana Jones can knock out an enemy almost instantly. In this early level, players fisticuffs haven’t been leveled up yet, so weapons are almost always the best option. Fistfighting relies heavily on stamina, which is limited. The triggers control the fists while the left bumper blocks. Players can try button-mashing but that leaves Indy open to attacks as fighting drains stamina along with running and other activities.

HOW TO EARN NEW SKILLS AND PERKS
Players can level up skills and learn perks by picking up items called Adventure Books. They can find them while exploring or they can run into stores that have them. Just having a book isn’t enough to acquire the skills within. Indy also earns Adventure Points by taking photographs, solving puzzles and exploring. Those points are used to activate the Adventure Book perks, so the protagonist learns them.

The Adventure Book skills are divided into five categories: Survival, Fitness, Packing, Brawling and Combat. They contain perks such as Punch Out 1, which restores stamina when an enemy is knocked out or Cutman I, which improves health bar regenertion efficiency. Still others are more creative, like a skill that gives Indy an extra life as long as he can crawl to his hat and put it on.

What I liked about the stealth gameplay in “The Great Circle” is how briskly everything moved. The sneaking elements are forgiving, and though an enemy may spot Indy, alert players can quickly retreat and hide behind a corner for a better opportunity to strike If push comes to shove, they can always disarm adversaries with the whip and enter a fistfight.

I moved quickly through Castel Sant’Angelo and the guard spotted me and gave chase. I easily ran away but got lost and made the situation worse, running into more and more adversaries. I somehow managed to survive and wandered to the goal.

A TRIP TO EGYPT
The third phase of the demo took place around the Great Pyramids of Giza and it was by far the biggest and most open-ended map. I hope it’s indicative of the rest of the campaign. Players start off on a hill overlooking the landmark, and Nazis are crawling everywhere. Players can snap photos of the landmark using Indy’s camera to earn Adventure Points and learn the lay of the land. The goal of the mission is to find a mysterious statue called the Idol of Ra.

Accompanying Indy is Gina Lombardi, who is looking for her sister. The sibling has been caught up in the Nazi research on the Great Circle and Indy and Gina are trying to help her. The map is fairly large and reminiscent of something like “Dishonored” or “Deathloop” but a step bigger. The map is filled with points of interest. The Sphinx has a notable Nazi presence and there are different enemy camps along the way. Gina has a contact in a blue tent in a small camp and that’s where players meet up with Dame Nawal.

She introduces the two to the area and highlights point of interest and the goal. There’s also a comedy bit that echoes a scene from “Temple of Doom.” She asks Indy to locate four Stone Stele before the antagonist Voss and his minions find them. At this point, Nazis will kill Indy on sight, so it’s best to find a disguise, which players can pick up in two locations. Those are important to the adventure because it lets players access areas that are normally out of bounds.

A MASTER OF DISGUISE
With a disguise, Indy can sneak into Nazi camps and take items that are key to opening a door underneath the Sphinx or locating a Stele that Nawal needs. The one caveat is that disguises don’t make players invisible. They still have to casually avoid enemies because if they look too close players will get found out.

Elsewhere in the map, there’s a village complete with shops. That’s where players can pick up a lighter that’s important to the quests. It creates light in darkened tunnels and helps Indy burn away obstacles. Again, stealth has a brisk feel to it. Players can do their best to bypass enemies while staying in the shadows, but if they do end up caught, it’s not a death sentence. Indy can fight his way out and run away.

In between stealth scenarios, I had to solve puzzles and they were fairly simple. I had to find urns and match them to pedestals to unlock a sarcophagus. Another area had me using a whip to descend a pit and search for alternate routes beyond a gate. It took me a while to realize that Indy can fit through small holes near the floor of the rooms to reach new areas.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete the Giza mission, but I did enjoy exploring the area. It’s a place packed with side quests called Field Works, and they offer enough rewards in the form of Adventure Points and other power-ups that help make the adventurer easier for Indy.

It’s the first time I’ve experienced a first-person Indiana Jones game, and MachineGames seems to nail the experience of putting players into the famed archaeologists shoes and creating scenarios that use his brain as well as his other skills.

The perspective also sets the adventure apart from the other games that took inspiration from the franchise, namely “Uncharted” and “Tomb Raider.” All of this creates a distinct video game adventure that doesn’t compete with those titles nor invites comparison. Instead, it’s an adventure that tries to be something else entirely — a worthy chapter in a legendary franchise.

“Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” is scheduled for release Dec. 9 on on PC and Xbox Series X and Series S. It will be available on PlayStation 5 in 2025.