Xbox Series X finally gets it's killer app with an excellent Indiana Jones adventure.
There was a moment where I knew INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLE really had me. I was crawling through the world searching high and low for weird little L-shaped stone doodads retracing my steps all the while picking up medicine bottles and completing cogwheel puzzles.
This is the sort of thing that normally I'd totally skip, I'm not a completionist in most games, happy to see it through to it's narrative conclusion and that's it.
But as I was travelling back to the fantastic locations of Indy and Gina's adventures I realised it had it's hooks in me.
This first-person adventure might be the best game since FATE OF ATLANTIS, and if you're like me you'll be loving this new faithful interpretation of the character.
When I first started playing THE GREAT CIRCLE, I had a suspicion it might lean pretty heavily on MachineGames' previous fascist killing simulator Wolfenstein, but I was surprised that despite the fact there is shooting in first person, this isn't a combat game.
You could go in guns blazing, well pistols blazing, but you'll quickly end up full of holes and restarting.
Instead I crawled slowly, watching the path of enemies, and whip cracking their necks from the perfect angle to take down each member of the Wehrmacht that I could.
I'd pick up a heavy objecting and BONK lights out for the unlucky Camicia Nera. It was definitely satisfying combat but getting into over the top B.J. Blazkowicz style melees isn't the game here.
This is a puzzle game through and through, with some excellent challenges that actually get you to explore the world and decipher clues to unlock items, ability unlocking books and cash.
There is a great depth to them too, there are jumping puzzles where you dodge comic swinging blades in the bowels of the Vatican, reroute pipes to control hydraulic systems in Thailand, and assemble and activate ancient machinery in Iraq.
You'll light more than few braziers in ancient Roman/Egyptian/Khmer tomb to progress all while platforming, swinging heroically with your bullwhip or diving through sunken catacombs.
Each level is a small open world where you can collect relics and unlock secret paths. The main storyline moves along at a really nice pace, but you're rewarded for going off the beaten track with lots of little mysteries to solve.
MachineGames have done a really great job of building out each area of the game and giving you enough breadcrumbs so that you take your time exploring each nook and cranny.
THE GREAT CIRCLE has a fair few side quests in each environment, which does make it almost stray into the open-world busywork, but each vignette is a satisfying expansion of the environment you're exploring, so they never feel dull.
For example, you end up rescuing an archaeological apprentice who has found themselves in hot water not once, or twice but three times and each feels fun and challenging and with some interesting twists.
Each environment is stunning, the burning sands of Gizeh and the war damaged cities of east Asia feel detailed and real. This is the sort of game you recommend to someone who hasn't picked up a console since last generation, or is testing out a new graphics card.
It wasn't without it's issues graphically though, very early on in the game my Indiana got what could only be described as a concussion, with persistent blurry vision fading in and out as I dodged blackshirts.
I ended up having to roll back my save around 30 minutes in order to get past this error, but it took me at least a couple of hours to get to that point as I tried reinstalling and adjusting graphical and accessibility settings.
It was a pretty weird bug to persist through restarts and reloads of the saves, but once I went back far enough I was able to appreciate the environments in crisp detail. Watch the video below to see what I mean.
Which was geat because the game feels like a lost film in the series, with shots that seem loving inspired by the cinematography of Douglas Slocombe, who made the first three films.
This is a seasoned Indy who has seen some stuff and is ready to believe in the fantastical alternate world in which he lives.
Troy Baker does an excellent job mirroring the Harrison Ford delivery, only with ever so slight faltering lines, but it's so close that with the perfectly mirrored mannerisms it feels real.
Alessandra Mastronardi's Gina Lombardi feels like a worthy companion to Indiana Jones, curious, brave and wise, and importantly for a video game character so complimentary to the experience without any of the weight of having to be looked after.
Gina can look after herself and she can look after Indy when he gets into a scrape as well.
Absolutely stealing the show is the evil Emmerich Voss though played by Marios Gavrilis, god I hated that guy, what a proper bastard, and kudos to the writing team and the actor for crafting such an utterly punchable nazi.
The story has all the fantastic historical nonsense that I love from those early films, it's rollicking high adventure in a basically consequence free environment. The perfect playground for a video game.
If you are craving those big budget single player experiences INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLE is one of the best of the last couple of years, if it wasn't such a late release I'm sure it would have hit a few more game of the year lists.
Do yourself a favour grab the whip and hat and swing into action, it's no surprise Disney got on the phone and reportedly ordered a few more games after this one.
A copy of INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLE on Xbox was provided to SIFTER for the purposes of this review.
