Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
More like Tomb Raider than... Tomb Raider?
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is now out. Having played a reasonable chunk of the games first hours i'm going to tell you why i'm enjoying this game so far and why it feels closer to being a Tomb Raider than the actual Lara Croft series.
The Indiana Jones franchise is one of my favourite film franchises, though the quality of both games and films have been a mixed bag. Story wise, The Great Circle sits between Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Last Crusade, the latter being my personal favourite. From what i've played so far there's some connective tissue with Raiders, particularly the tutorial level which is essentially a beat for beat recreation of the iconic intro.
The game has been carefully crafted so that everything you do feels so typically Indiana Jones. From landing blow after blow to an enemy goon with that trademark, over the top hollywood punch sound to delving into catacombs and crypts hunting for lost relics.
The reason why i'm making the comparisons to the Tomb Raider series is that, as much as I enjoyed the rebooted trilogy, for me I felt it was a lot more geared towards being action orientated rather than exploration and adventuring, searching for lost treasures. In fact, the more challenging tombs in the reboot series quite often are optional and you don't even need to attempt them. I can't lie, I was disappointed with the lack of challenge from the puzzle solving elements in the rebooted series.
Where, in m opinion, the recent Tomb Raider games lost that sense of globe trotting adventuring, it can be found here in Indiana Jones. There is a much greater emphasis on puzzle solving and exploration. Indy is armed with a trusty journal and camera, which he uses to track his quests, making the whole experience just feel a lot more organic. I have to applaud the developers for how well the environmental story telling is done here. I feel a lot of games these days will use books or notes scattered around the environment to give you some additional context about the world you're in. however, for me personally I struggle to engage with the story in that way . Whereas here in Indiana Jones each note, postcard, pamphlet you pick up feels like an important clue and necessary for certain story beats. Even the maps of each area are only found by picking up tourist pamphlets or guides that Indy then inserts into his journal. I think it helps also with Indy's inner monologue describing what he's looking at and it's role in the wider story. Indy sometimes offers subtle hints when puzzle solving but it's done with such nuance it never feels insulting.
The best one i've come across so far is exploring a secret underground burial chamber underneath the Vatican city. This did take me by surprise as not only was it creepy as hell and I was legitimately apprehensive I was going to be attacked by some kind of supernatural mummy, it was genuinely quite a head scratcher. Having done what I thought I had to, Indy then pointed out something to me that which I hadn't considered but it is done in a way that felt that it was naturally part of the storytelling and it's almost as if the developers knew most players would attempt to solve a certain way when the reality was the opposite. This whole section culminated in a really enjoyable cinematic piece that felt as though it could have been a deleted scene from one of the original trilogy films.
Indy is not Lara Croft or Nathan Drake. Living a double life as college professor come adventurer, his lifes work has always been about ensuring ancient relics and treasures don't end up in the wrong hands of evil and darkness. From what i've experienced so far in The Great Circle it excels in retaining the feel of the original trilogy of films. Troy Bakers voice impersonation of Harrison is absolutely impeccable.
“Gameplay wise, you're not going to be dual welding two pistols doing acrobatic flips over Dinosaurs like you would in Tomb Raider. I would class this much more as a first person adventure with strong roots in exploration and almost i'd say an archeology sim. For someone who cannot get enough of puzzles and riddle solving in games, this ticks all my boxes.”
If you're new to the Indiana Jones franchise then I would say this game does a fantastic job of replicating the feeling you get watching the best films in the franchise. Within each area you visit there's so much to explore, see and do and each environment is dripping with detail and atmosphere. Every nook and cranny is just begging to be explored to uncover the hidden secrets within. Indy or not, you get a strong sense of an being a globe trotting explorer on race between good and evil.
So is this game worth your time if you're only experience of Indiana Jones is an 80 year old in a tired fedora hat trying to find some kind of ancient time travelling device?Yes absolutely. It is a game for anyone who is a fan of a good old fasioned wholesome adventure. If you're an Indiana Jones fan like myself, you should definitely give it your time.