In a few fluid moves with his iconic whip, Indiana Jones latches onto a pole, swings from a high point, and catches an unsuspecting enemy by the neck in a deadly grip. He then proceeds to punch a nearby soldier square in the jaw with a satisfying thwack in close hand-to-hand combat; knocking his opponent's helmet off in the process before pushing him down a slope. Only one more foe remains in the vicinity just outside of the Great Sphinx of Giza - there's nothing else for it but for Indy to pull out his revolver and take them out of the picture in one well-aimed shot.
As I watch this all unfold in a hands-off demo of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, all I can think about is how excited I am to put on the classic fedora and become the legendary archaeologist myself. With its first-person perspective on display, the Great Circle promises to let me step right into the role, which is exactly what developer Machine Games is going for. As a team that's well versed in creating experiences from this perspective - this is the studio behind Wolfenstein: The New Order, after all - the adventure will not only build on their strengths, but let us feel like we've become Indiana.
"It [the first-person perspective] is something that we have been doing now for over 20 years, with the history we have at Machine Games, and it's a perspective we feel very confident working with," game director Jerk Gustaffson says. "We feel it's a very good fit to the game as well, because it's very important, at least to me, that you don't just get to play Indiana Jones, you get to be Indiana Jones, you get to step into the shoes of this character and be in the world, experience the world through his eyes."
"We also feel that experiencing this game is best through a first-person perspective," creative director Axel Torvenius adds. "In first person, you will get extremely close up to solving puzzles. You'll be close to mysteries and weird artifacts, and to us that really is best presented in the first-person perspective."
Whip it good
Indiana Jones of course has brains as well as brawn, which is why we'll be snagging artifacts, uncovering mysteries, solving puzzles, and exploring to unearth clues to embody the role. His archaeological knowledge and academic side is also reflected in some of the tools we'll have at our disposal, which all play a part in helping us feel like we've filled his shoes. Alongside his classic whip, fedora, and handy revolver, the demo shows off the journal, which Gustafsson explains is "your guide throughout the entire adventure", and will become "this book of memories for you from the beginning of the game to the end." As we encounter interesting relics or locations, we can also take pictures with a camera that can serve as clues, and "provide hints about puzzles" as we get swept up in a "global conspiracy".
I love how the journal appears to catalog everything we experience and reflect all of our findings – it looks set to build up a picture of our adventures that we can constantly look back on and use to help us. I'm also drawn to the idea that the photos we take get added to it to make it feel more personal to us - like if I were to take the time to explore and find something notable, I have a photo as proof of that.
I watch as Indy ventures beneath the Sphinx, where he puts all his tools to use and encounters a puzzle that sees him line up mirrors to reflect lights in just the right way. There's a lot of interactivity with the environment throughout, with an earlier part of the demo showing how Indy can break down a wall with a nearby torch to reveal another clue. From using a lighter to navigate through the dark tomb, to finding important notes, and snapping a shot of an ancient mural, it all works together to make this look every bit like an Indiana Jones adventure, and the more I see, the more excited I am.
With every discovery and clue, adventure points are earned that pop up on screen. As Gustaffson explains, the Great Circle will have "adventure books" that populate the game "to encourage players to explore and really try to discover things" in the open area locations. These books are a big part of the skill system, says Gustaffson, as they "allow you to improve and update your character" with skills you can unlock with adventure points you earn.
"Adventure points is something that we reward you with based on finding things in the world, discovering things in the world, doing activities," Gustafsson adds. "So it's a rather big part of the game, and something that we feel is very important for progression in general."
"It's also just a big beat in terms of making sure that we can push the player into exploration," Torvenius continues, "but there's always more adventure points and things to find in the world. So the player should feel drawn to explore the world and the maps in the game, and there's a reward to it."
Playing the part
"All of these tools, and all of these different styles of gameplay, will provide a mix for you to play around with and have fun with."
Jerk Gustafsson, game director
What is perhaps most exciting, though, is the fact that the Great Circle will present us with various ways to engage with the world, from taking a stealthy approach, to cracking the whip in and out of combat, and picking up any object we find in the environment and using it to our advantage. In one instance, for example, the end of a nearby spade is used to land a concussive blow, while a spear in another location is thrown at the wall to become a makeshift latch for the whip.
"We want the player to really feel that they can take on different obstacles or challenges in many different ways, and stealth is definitely part of that," Gustafsson says. "... Something that we have been working with now for a long time, which can be a challenge when it comes to first person, is doing these very intensive hand-to-hand fist fights. We have been putting a lot of effort into that, and of course with the whip, which adds another element to the combat in the game. Overall, all of these tools, and all of these different styles of gameplay, will provide a mix for you to play around with and have fun with."
In what Gustafsson describes as "the biggest game we have ever made," Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is as a "mix of more linear areas and open spaces", and while there is a "golden path" to follow in the main story, there's a lot of extra side content and side missions. We'll have the freedom to "choose and do things in the order you would like to do them," with plenty of opportunities to make discoveries and earn adventure points.
Within the 30 minute demo I get to see, one of the highlights is undoubtedly when Indiana dresses up as a worker to infiltrate an enemy area. In a Hitman-like move, you can wear various disguises throughout the story to get into guarded locations undetected. I get to see how his worker guise lets him stroll right inside a tent where soldiers are meeting. One demands that Indy get him a drink, which presents the perfect opportunity to avoid suspicion as he heads to the back of the tent to get his hands on a medallion. I'm already curious to discover what other scenarios and outfits we'll be presented with as we go from location to location and progress through the adventure.
I can't speak to how good it will all feel to play, but it certainly looks every bit the "the direct sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark" Machine Games is going for. I'm looking forward to trying out the whip and all of the other tools that will be at our disposal when Indiana Jones and the Great Circle arrives. But more than that, I can't wait to swing into the adventure to discover if it really does feel like I've become the famous archaeologist.
Look ahead to more exciting releases with our roundup of upcoming Xbox Series X games on the way.
