Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle is a veritable love letter to the saga from which it draws its inspiration. The one that set the standard for all modern adventurers, whether in film or video games. A dinosaur, unearthed by Bethesda and MachineGames in the purest of ways. A true gem of fidelity, the game is packed not only with winks to ensure fan service, but also with details to integrate this new adventure with the cinematic saga. A success on every level, with Indy as real as life and total immersion. The only hitch is in the purely video game aspect. While the regions we visit are sublime, they're sometimes too vast for very little, and there's far too much filler in the way of collectibles. Indy may no longer be Nathan Drake, but he's not an old man either, and he's clearly not at his best in platforming or combat. Even the game's exploration drags on in a way that's hard to in 2024. The same goes for the lack of naturalness and life in the crowded, inhabited areas, and the completely out-of-date AI that breaks up the infiltration. Notable glitches, to say the least, in stark contrast to everything else. The fact remains that Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle is one of the best Xbox exclusives of recent years, a fresh and gripping adventure that fans would be foolish to overlook for the few glitches that will quickly be swept under the carpet, and rightly so.
Review in French | Read full review
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the best licensed games out there right now. This is one of the best games of the year, and a ray of hope for all Xbox fans.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
'The Great Circle' gives us Indiana Jones as we know and love him - even from the first-person perspective. However, the combat system is a problem.
Review in German | Read full review
Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle is an action adventure of great depth, well worthy of the name it bears. Moving away from its “shooter” comfort zone, MachineGames has built a fresh and engaging adventure, embellished with a maniacal attention to detail and supported by a palpable passion for the original material.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle perfectly translates the fun of the films into video game form. It's a globetrotting adventure that'll have you brawling through deserts, sneaking across a German boat in the Himelayas, and trying not to get bitten by snakes in long forgotten temples. The story is phenomenal, but the real highlight is the gameplay. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is absolute bliss from start to finish, and would make Dr. Jones proud.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle delivers an action-packed and entertaining Indy adventure the likes of which we haven't seen in over a decade. With engaging combat, a vast world to explore, and entertaining (if a bit simple) puzzles to solve, a fan of adventure games should be hooked from start to finish.
If you worry that single-player capers with plush budgets and a modest claim on your hours are destined for a museum, hopefully this will delay the entropy.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from developer MachineGames and publisher Bethesda Softworks brings the Indiana Jones world to life with a great story and fantastically designed game.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an essential experience for any action-adventure fan, regardless of platform.
If you're a fan of the movies you will be overjoyed at just how complete Indy's adventure is in The Great Circle. However, even if you're not, what we have here is arguably one of the best adventure games we've had in a long, long while.
Getting absorbed into the world of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is easy, thanks to its gorgeous presentation, thrilling action-movie moments and delightfully tactile puzzle-solving. Exploring ancient temples and foraging for artefacts beneath the surface as you solve intricate conundrums gives Indy a really satisfying sense of place, as he cracks jokes almost as often as he cracks his whip, no matter what danger might lurk around the corner. While combat and stealth can be a bit clunky and forgettable, at its heart, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a thrilling globetrotting story with plenty of tantalising secrets to uncover. It's yet another strong entry from MachineGames which will, hopefully, spawn a whole darn series of Indy games from here on out.
The new Indiana Jones is a game that would rock my world in 2014. Today it’s a game that struggles technologically (Uncharted 4 looks better) and gameplay-wise, with some additional issues. Still, I can’t help but like this game. I see all the flaws (some were really irritating), but I liked the puzzles, the protagonist and some very cool scenes. I had a lot of fun, and my main issue – regarding the immersion-breaking AI – is very personal.
Review in Polish | Read full review
I’m as tired as anybody of the “movies becoming games becoming movies” ouroboros that has dominated the last two decades or more of game development, but The Great Circle pulls it off in a way that hits several of my buttons. Whatever cynicism or skepticism I brought into this one wilted somewhere early on, perhaps the first time Vatican librarian Enrico Colantoni cut a rug to a swing 78.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle captures everything that Indiana Jones should be, while also doing things to set itself apart from similar games. Sure it has a couple of issues such as pop-in and slightly repetitive combat but its focus on adventure first give it a sense of discovery and reward that few games can match.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle delivers both high calibre adventure, story and performance in spades, to the point it feels as though it's wading into "uncharted territory" for its publisher. The decision to bop a Nazi should be a foregone conclusion, however the lack of balance in stealth and combat systems kept me in limbo, and left Indiana Jones and the Great Circle just a stone stele's throw from true greatness.
After a few decades with an ageing Indy, the Great Circle is a delightful return to Dr Jones in his prime. Strictly for the fans, in all the right ways.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle makes a strong attempt to bring Indy back to gaming with a great narrative and exceptional puzzles, but its minute-to-minute gameplay suffers from frequent perspective changes and clunky combat.
PlayStation 5 owners can finally rejoice... Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is here and yes, it's beautiful!
When Indiana Jones and the Great Circle plays to its strengths it's a captivating adventure led by Troy Baker's exceptional performances, but sadly some design choices bog it down and stop it from being a generational treasure.