Indiana Jones and The Great Circle: The PS5 Review
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle released December 9th 2024 but only on Xbox and PC ruffling more than a few feathers at the time. PlayStation players have only had to wait 6 months to get their hands on Indy's latest adventure and luckily thanks to the good people over at Bethesda ANZ I have been playing a little early to give you some insight from the PS5 side of the fence.
Awoken with a start from a deep slumber in his university office Doctor Jones hears crashing and murmurs coming from museum section of the archaeology wing. You take control and wander through the dark hallways finding muddy footprints, smashed windows and an upturned study before finding your foe, a giant of a man (played by the late great Tony Todd) knelt before an artifact reciting some ancient Latin phrase. After a brief scuffle you're left alone for Marcus to wake you in the morning and so begins your adventure.
The team at Machine Games made a wise choice in returning Indiana Jones to his prime and goes about capturing the soul of the first three films, resulting in probably the best Indy stories of recent memory. Indy's globetrotting adventure is recreated in painstaking detail across a myriad of different environments. From Vatican City to the Egyptian desert or the winding jungle waterways of Southeast Asia each have their own feel and are immaculately detailed. Though this isn't a walk in the park and wouldn't be an Indiana Jones game without intricate puzzles to stretch your mind and plenty of Nazi's to keep you from getting to your goal.
My biggest concern with this new foray into the world of Indy was Machine Games pedigree for first-person shooters and how they would work in a world where it is just as much about everything around you as what is right in front. Plus, how would you use his trusty whip? I don't deny I am a massive fan of third person highly cinematic story adventure games and would have been happy with another, but The Great Circle sets itself apart by going first person and is all the better for it. It skillfully uses the perspective to give you a real feeling of scale be it looking up at the Great Pyramid or climbing down under the Sphynx only for you to be blown away again while trudging through a snowstorm in the Himalayas and looking up to a sight that really has to be experienced. Puzzle solving benefits from the perspective giving you a more hands on approach to the puzzles you need to solve making you feel like you've actually accomplished something. The puzzles are mostly pretty pedestrian but on one or two occasions I was left wandering around and looking at my objective from different angles in order for that "click" moment.
Unfortunately, the move to first person has also hindered the attempted stealth-based gameplay the team were hoping for. I am yet to successfully complete an area completely in stealth as is designed, having to too often resort to straight out violence. Not that I am opposed to that, but I also love the satisfaction you get from completely bypassing conflict and leaving an area untouched. These issues can be contributed to a couple of things. In a stealth scenario controls are just clunky and not intuitive, the enemy AI is a bit all over the place with them being able to see through walls or pick you up in areas they really shouldn't be able to see you. But given the plethora of items you can pick up, your trusty whip and if all else fails the good old left and right, you're never really cornered with no way out.
Visually Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the best of the generation. While some character models feel a little off, I cannot fault the overall look. But it is more the intricate details you may have missed as I did when I didn't play on the big screen. The way light bounces off a flickering torch around the walls of the tomb you've just found, wax running down a candle and the intricate architecture of the world around you all combine to be a feast for the eyes. Indy's movement through the world can be a little disjointed mainly when having to traverse large open areas or in some cases when you're trying to make your way through a tomb, but never once did I get lost, more a little frustrated at some of those moments.
Playing on the PS5 nothing has really been changed from the original release, nor should it have. Having played on a higher end PC originally I was surprised that the quality being pushed out by the PS5 was perfectly acceptable for a loungeroom experience on a big TV. The worlds are still lush and full of life. Light movement has always been a key factor in my rating of the technical prowess of a title and this does not disappoint with Ray tracing on full show. It has been enhanced for the PS5 Pro also to make use of the extra grunt.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is not a perfect game by any means. I was hoping there would be some tweaks made prior to the PS5 release but it looks to be the same. It's a shame those frustrating gameplay elements let it down when it needs them most. That being said, Machine Games have done a brilliant job capturing the essence of Indiana Jones and giving us a story that has all the elements we remember from the original movies. It's focus on lavish set designs, a slower pace gives you the chance to wander and explore each area, plenty of puzzles and satisfying hand to hand combat moments, The Great Circle is an immersive global treasure hunt and race against the Nazi's to uncover the secrets before they can be used against mankind. Its first-person view ended up being a breath of fresh air in a segment dominated by third person.
Originally I played it and finished in a couple of sittings only to put it aside and not bother going back for collectables or a second playthrough. Now playing on the big screen I can see the grandeur that the team at Machine Games was aiming for in an Indy title. In a gaming space that has been pretty mediocre of late, a great single player story might be just what you ordered.
Finally releasing to the PS5 on April 17th 2025.
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