I've played Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and it's not what I expected – it's even better

Considering how iconic the character it's somewhat shocking that it's taken so long to produce a new licensed Indiana Jones game. Perhaps even more so that Bethesda is behind the wheel.

The now Xbox-owned publishing arm is better known for its expansive RPGs and interesting first-person shooters than licensed tie-ins. But, after playing a preview built of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to just 10 minutes, it actually started to make sense.

Developer MachineGames is no stranger to a character-filled FPS, having worked on many a Wolfenstein and Quake, so has brought something different to the action adventure genre. Then throw in the sort of puzzles and mission structure that wouldn't go amiss in Skyrim and you have a game that fits the brand. You could even say it's more adventure-action, in fact.

Also, by making the game first-person (for the most part), it diverts from inevitable comparison to Tomb Raider and Uncharted. The Great Circle can't avoid certain similarities, of course – after all, Lara Croft and Nathan Drake were clearly created with Indy in mind – but from my early playthrough of about two to three hours, there is such a melange of other inspirations too that the experience is far greater than its parts.

There's definitely a bit of another Bethesda classic, Dishonored, in there, plus Mirror's Edge thanks to some first-person parkour moves. Add some of the best puzzle-solving and clue hunting of the Sherlock Holmes games and you're just about there.

Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - YouTube

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In all honesty, this came as a bit of a surprise. I expected an Uncharted-alike (we all did, if we're being honest), but what I played was so much more.

Heading on an adventure

I played through three sections in total – each designed to give me a taste of different gameplay elements. The first, Marshall College, is effectively the start of the game and sets you off on your world-spanning adventure.

I'm going to try to avoid plot spoilers, so won't go into much story detail, but this area gave me my first encounter with the melee fighting engine. It's a fairly robust boxing simulation, albeit with some basic punches and dodging. Timing is key (as always) but it's tangible enough to feel natural and flowing.

There was also some clue spotting to be done, a fair amount of dialogue – mostly with Marcus Brody, the character originally played by the late Sir Denholm Elliott – and some proper Indiana Jones moments. Being given your fedora as the recognisable music score lifts gave me goosebumps, for sure.

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Then it was off to the Vatican as the first stop off on the quest. This level was open to me to try stealth more than anything, as I had to get from outside the complex to a meeting point in its bowels.

The ground was patrolled by Blackshirts which, in 1937, were effectively Italy's equivalents of the Nazis. The gave plenty of opportunity for stealth – both in avoidance and takedowns – with plenty of relevant gameplay tropes thrown in for good measure. That meant I threw a fair amount of bottles as distraction, and a whole lot of sneaking around in the shadows.

I also took on a few as, now that I had the whip, there were additional combat options open to me. I could even use Indy's trusty revolver, but that caused way too much noise so was actually more a hinderance than help.

One thing I really liked about this section is that there were plenty of side areas to explore, both as additional paths to circumnavigate guards, but also to find collectables. There are a whole tonne of objects you can pick up in The Great Circle. Some work as powerful melee weapons, others can boost your stats. Some just add adventure points, which can also be spent to increase abilities – that's the Bethesda RPG heritage, right there.

It encourages you to go off the beaten track and, had I more time with the game, I would have happily sneaked into every nook and cranny. However, my final level (of this early play session) was arguably the most interesting, so I didn't want to miss it.

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Open world

My final destination (for now) was Gizeh in Egypt, to give me a flavour of one of the open world levels in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. This felt much more like an expansive adventure game that the previous two, with a lot more dialogue and side missions. It was also where we met up with Gina, Indy's running-mate for the game.

After learning what the Nazis were doing in the region, including interactions with a couple of new characters, I was pretty much left to my own devices to follow either the main story mission, or head off on a side quest. I actually did a little of both, thanks to having a couple of hours to spend in this part of the game.

Perhaps the most interesting play mechanics that were introduced were the ability to find and use disguises to get around the majority of Nazi patrols, plus some good old fashioned Indiana Jones tomb, er, raiding. This involved puzzle solving and some interesting uses of the objects in your possession – including a gas lighter purloined from a market trader elsewhere in the level.

Two hours flew by, to be honest, and I didn't see even half of what that one area offers. It also looked stunning, with the pyramids in the background and a lot of the direct play happening underneath the Sphynx. There were a few bugs – it was a very early build, after all – but the level of polish was still highly impressive.

All the way through my session, I was also highly impressed by Troy Baker's portrayal of Indy. It was hard to distinguish between his delivery and an early Harrison Ford, in fact. And the musical score was superb throughout – suitably cinematic.

In conclusion

I need to spend some time with the final game, of course, but what from what I've played so far, the gaming fate of Indiana Jones is in very good, albeit surprising hands.

And considering that his last great console adventure was in 1999 (Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine), this has been long overdue.

In many ways, it can be argued that this game has the potential to be the best Indy outing across all media since The Last Crusade. I for one can't wait to don the fedora again.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be available for Xbox Series X/S and PC on 9 December 2024. It will be a day one release on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

It'll also be released early next year on PlayStation 5.