Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: Great movie, good game

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has no business being as entertaining as it is. Outside of the superhero genre, there aren’t many high-quality licensed games out there, and this one comes with decades of film lore to live up to. And, frankly, it’s a little bit of a mess on Xbox Series S. Some of its scenes are stunning, but it’s also infested with resolution issues, mechanical glitches and silly animation bugs. In most other games, the combination of these problems would make me throw down the controller and uninstall.

And yet, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is endlessly endearing. The game’s tone is pitch-perfect, it offers moments of earnest beauty and Troy Baker’s Harrison Ford impersonation is a treat to witness, let alone embody. In fact, every actor in the game is fabulous, and its writing, audio and direction feel like classic Spielberg and Lucas fare — but this time it’s all in first-person, interactive form, courtesy of Wolfenstein studio MachineGames.

I can’t speak highly enough of the writing in The Great Circle. Indy feels like an authentic extension of the film character, and his sassy remarks and dad-like frustration spill out in hilarious bursts throughout the game. His companion, Gina, is just as witty, mysterious and independent as Dr. Jones himself, expertly portrayed by actor Alessandra Mastronardi. The main bad boy, a Nazi archaeologist named Emmerich Voss (played by Marios Gavrilis), is supremely unsettling as he manipulates his troops and monologues at his captors, every word dripping with a dark sense of entitlement.

The story is set in 1937 between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, and it takes players to Rome, Giza, The Himalayas, Shanghai and the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai in north-central Thailand, on a quest to save the world from an old and powerful magic.

Of course, it also involves punching lots of Nazis right in their stupid faces.

There are moments in The Great Circle where the music, environment, lighting and writing converge to create a memorable vignette, such as Indy’s first real conversation with Gina on a balcony in the Vatican. They banter back and forth as a Nazi airship docks on a domed turret behind them, afternoon sun glinting off gold roofs, and the music reacts to their strategizing and flirting with small trills. For a second, the game feels indistinguishable from a classic Indiana Jones movie, and it’s a real joy. There are a few cutscenes and gameplay bits that feel like this in The Great Circle, though there are just as many that look less polished on Series S, with stilted animations and too-harsh lighting. The writing and tone, however, is consistently top-notch.

It almost feels like two studios made this game, and one of them was much better at taking advantage of the Xbox Series S hardware. The visual disparity is odd, with animation and resolution quality shifting from scene to scene. In between gorgeous set pieces, there are sequences that look like a remake of a game from the Xbox 360 era. It’s strange. However, I imagine playing on Xbox Series X or a capable PC would boost the resolution and stability nicely.

Mechanically, the game is also hit-or-miss. Combat relies mainly on hand-to-hand fights, and while there are guns, they’re generally not the strongest weapon at Indy’s disposal. His whip is useful for stunning, creating distance and pulling enemies closer for a punch, and he’s able to pick up items like shovels, candlesticks, bottles and batons to use as projectiles or melee weapons. Random one-on-one fights against Nazis and fascists play out fine, with solid-sounding punches and sharp whip cracks, but the scripted melee battles tend to feel stagnant. Enemies don’t have a health bar and there’s little indication of how much damage Indy is inflicting at any given time. Dodging is a key element in these fights and it’s not the most responsive or forgiving system; inputs feel laggy or ineffective at times, and enemies are allowed to power up big hits even while they’re being punched.

Combat might be sluggish, but I had a great time playing The Great Circle as a stealth experience, crouching to sneak past Nazis and fascist guards like a fedora-wearing ghost. Stealth is a valid option in basically every scenario and it’s a simple, effective mechanic. Stay out of enemies’ sight lines, don’t shine lights in their direction and stay crouched, and you’re good to go. There’s usually enough time to adjust your position if you’re spotted, and guards are quick to move on once you’re properly hidden again. I truly enjoyed mapping out sneaky attack routes and then weaving between guards, throwing bottles every now and then as distractions. It’s kind of absurd when Gina tags along in these missions because she’s so, so awful at being stealthy, but the game never punishes you for the NPC’s missteps. Just enjoy the ridiculousness of your extremely obvious companion and keep slinking along.

Puzzles are a major component of the game and they’re perfectly adequate. None of them stand out as being particularly challenging or innovative, but they’re built on clever ideas and executed well. There are light-reflecting puzzles, matching games, spatial-awareness tests and simple logic riddles, and they’re always finished with a cool item or a dramatic reveal. I may have missed some more advanced puzzles in the sidequests, and now that I’ve finished the main line I’m tempted to go back in and see what I missed, which is surely a sign of a successful game.

Exploration is The Great Circle’s most critical mechanic and thankfully, it feels great. Indy can climb and swing across gaps using his whip, and there are plenty of ledges, boulders, ladders and scaffolding to scale. Secrets, side missions and rewards are secreted around the maps, and curiosity is richly rewarded at every turn. Missions take Indy and Gina to snowy mountain peaks and down to murky, monster-filled waters, and there are moments of real terror and true beauty to be found. The game’s world feels alive, and it makes great use of vertical space. If you ever feel stuck in an area, just look up — that is, if you can.

I encountered one game-breaking bug in The Great Circle. I was about 80 percent through the story, and I boarded a boat in the gunner seat as enemies raced us down the river and shot at us from the shores. I was unable to move the camera up and down, but I figured this was a weird restriction of the gunner mechanic. However, it persisted even after I stepped off the boat and entered the following scenes. I was unable to see climbing opportunities, never mind the problems with combat, sneaking and interacting. I tried restarting the game and the console to no avail, and I finally had to restore an old save and replay about 30 minutes of content. This worked, but the experience made me feel slightly crazy and a little sad (so, not too different from my baseline).

The feelings of unease didn’t last long, because I soon found myself trading punches and insults with a Nazi karate master in the middle of a raucous thunderstorm — you know, Indiana Jones shit. This was the cadence of my playthrough: Moments of satisfying climbing, puzzle and stealth gameplay interrupted by supremely silly glitches. What makes these bugs funny, rather than frustrating, is the game’s tone, writing and acting. With The Great Circle, MachineGames leans into the easy charm of Indiana Jones, highlighting his snark and the wild, unbelievable scenarios expected in popcorn action flicks.

This game would make a great movie.

And maybe that’s the thing about The Great Circle. MachineGames made a fabulous, classic-feeling Indiana Jones film, but they could’ve polished the game aspects a little more. So, set your expectations accordingly. Roll with the bugs, soak up the narrative, find all the secrets, and take a moment to laugh at Gina’s ludicrous running animation when she’s dressed as a nun.