The last time the developers at MachineGames made an Xbox-exclusive first-person action adventure based on a movie character, it ended up being one of the best experiences of the entire original generation of Xbox/PS2 consoles. That game was The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, back when the core MachineGames team was still at Starbreeze. I mention this because after seeing an extended demo of the studio’s latest project, the also Xbox-exclusive Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, I couldn’t help but be deeply – and I mean deeply – impressed. strongly – it’s reminiscent of the original Xbox classic starring Vin Diesel, in the best way possible. Indy screams Riddick, and so The Great Circle has gone from being on my most anticipated list to being by far the game I’m most looking forward to playing this year (specifically, December 9 on Xbox and PC, with PS5 getting it in spring 2025).
My hands-off demo began in (where else?) a massive underground temple, with the sun shining down on a small statuette. Indy picks it up, and the door closes behind him. He smashes the statuette with a rock. Inside is a small block of some sort—a key, perhaps? Naturally, this triggers a cave-in, with our hero remarking, “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
The player takes control as the camera switches to first-person (though it switches to third-person for platforming sequences). As sand fills the room, Indy crawls to a window that has suddenly become accessible thanks to all the sand. He lands on a handhold and then runs, a stamina bar showing how long Jones can keep running. He uses his trusty whip to make a leap across a chasm as the conditions in the temple become more lethal by the second. He slides out of the temple just in time.
MachineGames promises plenty of these thrilling action sequences in The Great Circle, which notably – as in Riddick – rarely involve the use of a gun. Sure, Dr. Jones has his trademark revolver, but as creative director Axel Torvenius explained, “The key to combat is to carefully decide your approach,” adding, “It’s very dangerous in this game to fire a gun.” That won’t be done very often, and shouldn’t be taken lightly when the moment comes. “You have to first try to use your wits and your whip,” he continued. “To understand that there are optional ways to solve [problems].” So don’t call this Indy game a first-person shooter. It’s a first-person shooter. gameOkay, but it’s definitely not a shooter. It’s a mix of puzzle-solving, platforming, stealth, and combat. Just like the team’s first game, which starred a certain bald convict who can see very well in the dark…
“The focus of this game is adventure,” says director Jerk Gustaffson. “We want exploration to feel really rewarding.” As such, one of your main tools is Indy’s journal. It starts out blank, but quickly becomes a well-stocked archive of his travels, which will include visits to Egypt and the Himalayas, among many other locations. Furthering the spirit of adventure, there will be moments where you’ll don disguises to fit in, like a scene I saw where our favorite archaeology professor dresses up as a priest to infiltrate a heavily guarded area. The adventure focus will even be reflected in The Great Circle’s gameplay structure, with MachineGames revealing that the campaign will consist of a mix of linear areas and more open areas where you’re free to roam.
In the meantime, you’ll earn Adventure Points by finding journal-worthy items and secrets—as well as by taking photos of key items with your camera—and those points can be spent to upgrade your Indiana Jones to play more how you prefer, whether that’s increasing his stealth skills, combat abilities (like True Grit, which essentially lets you survive a fatal blow to get back into the fight), or other abilities. MachineGames says there are “dozens” of upgrades to choose from. You can also buy items from shopkeepers, like one I saw that had a monkey next to him on his stand. What those are, though, I haven’t yet seen.
Much of the combat seems to involve your fists, but like Riddick, your enemies won’t go down with a simple tap of the punch button. You’ll have to skillfully parry, block, and combo your way to victory in melee combat. And don’t be afraid to get your whip involved, too, lashing it at opponents’ feet to knock them down, as an example of what it can do for you in gameplay. But your dukes won’t always be your weapons of choice. I saw Indy use a rolling pin in a kitchen to smash a Nazi’s face in. I also saw him grab a shovel, sneak up behind a Nazi, and bash him in the back of the head. In fact, sneaking seems to be a big part of The Great Circle, with stealth emphasized as a central gameplay tenet – as it was in Escape from Butcher Bay.
One thing Richard B. Riddick didn’t do, however, was bring friends along for the ride. Indiana Jones, on the other hand, will have some help along the way. I saw a few companions by his side during my demo in various scenes throughout the game. They’re not always around, but when they are, I didn’t see enough of them to know exactly what they’re capable of. Are they just there to help advance the plot and allow for more quips from Indy? Or will they also offer a similar assistance to Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite in combat?
That remains to be seen, but my demo ended with a sequence that showed off a lot of what The Great Circle will be about: adventuring, avoiding traps, and solving puzzles! In order to find a key that will unlock a temple, Indy needs to sneak into enemy territory disguised as a common laborer. After snooping around for a while, he finds the golden medallion he’s looking for and quietly takes it (earning +5 Adventure Points). He encounters four bandits at a table and this time makes it out of the tent without incident. Returning to the hidden door of the nearby temple and inserting the medallion, the door opens. Indy and his ally escort head deeper into the darkness, using a lighter to light their way. “This hasn’t been disturbed in thousands of years,” the professor remarks. They slowly explore the dark temple before lighting a torch. At the end of a narrow hallway is an ornate iron gate. Pulling the lever causes the floor to give way—revealing spikes beneath! The companion saves Indy from being impaled. Indy then uses his whip to catch himself on a bar above and then lowers himself into a newly revealed crawl space below the floor. He crawls, finds a pull chain, pulls it, and the gate opens. Both Dr. Jones and his ally find a mural and take a picture of it (for an additional 10 Adventure Points).
They arrive in a sunny room with a half-obelisk, half-throne at the back of the room, bathed in sunlight. The sunbeams point towards a golden mask. The puzzle here is to redirect the sunbeams by tilting the mirrors adjacent to the throne. His companion grabs the mask after the mirrors are aligned correctly. And in a moment of overexcitement, she sits on the throne with the mask on and the throne seat gives way! As Indy tries to save her, they both end up dragged into a dark pit below, where the torchlight reveals a floor covered in… scorpions. (You thought I was going to say snakes, didn’t you?)
The fact is, this core group of MachineGames developers—many of whom have been together for two decades—have never put a foot wrong. From Riddick to The Darkness to the modern Wolfenstein games, this is an incredibly accomplished team. And now, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a playable Indiana Jones adventure built using the best parts of the template this development team used to make their first—and, in my humble opinion, best—game ever. I can’t wait to play it.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Previews Editor and host of IGN’s Weekly Xbox Show, Podcast Unlockedas well as our monthly interview program, IGN unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Discuss with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
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