Indiana Jones and the Great Circle makes a timid but faithful first impression
Set one's map.
To this day, I still hold Indy responsible for my penchant for hats. I have been enthralled by Indiana Jones ever since I was a little girl - but despite this deep affection, coming away from a hands-off preview of MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, I just can't let myself get overly excited about the upcoming release just yet.
While I'm still looking forward to playing another narrative-driven adventure game, with that fun 'afternoon popcorn flick' energy Great Circle undoubtedly has, my immediate reaction from this first extended demo is to worry this is all it will be, leaning just a little too heavily on fan nostalgia and a tried and tested formula, but without the innovation to truly set it apart from the rest. (And, given the game is currently set to release this year, I really hoped to see more gameplay than I did.)
The demo, which is also being shown at this year's Gamescom, begins with Indy entering a large room within the Sunsparker Chamber, a mysterious underground temple and one of "several well guarded secrets and hidden ruins" you can expect to discover. With the camera in first-person, our archaeologist - gamely brought to life by a still-recognisable Troy Baker - looks around the ancient room before gameplay switches to a cutscene. Indy approaches a statue set upon a plinth at the back of the room, in a scene immediately reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark - which is fitting, given the Great Circle is set between the events of this film and The Last Crusade.
If nothing else, faithfulness to the franchise is evident throughout, and MachineGames has captured that old school Indiana Jones vibe. Items such as the whip, with its ever-satisfying crack, will be an essential part of the archaeologist's toolkit, we're told, with Indy able to use it both when traversing the environment and in combat. He will also fight with his fists, guns, and when the need comes, items found lying around, like a rolling pin - though MachineGames is avoiding getting into the details on how that combat, and Indy's stamina actually works for now.
I am glad the developer hasn't removed what we know and love about the archaeologist, and the project has clearly been made with a great deal of respect by fans of the series. But I don't feel MachineGames has really added much to it and I found myself thinking about other video games during the preview instead, including Uncharted.
It seems we have come full circle (pun not intended) with Great Circle. Uncharted was influenced by the Indiana Jones films, and now it appears that Great Circle has been influenced in part by Uncharted. The main callback I got was from Indy's journal. Much like Nathan Drake would take a quick sketch of relevant artefacts and clues in the Uncharted games, Indy can take photos with a camera and store them in his own journal. It will become a "a detailed archive of your journey with maps, photos and letters," audio director Pete Ward explained in voice over, adding it will also provide hints on where to go next.
I know Indy has used journals and jotted down notes, but when this Indy was flipping through the pages, I half expected to see pictures of Sully staring back at me with a joke scrawled in Nate's handwriting next to them, such was its layout and function. This point does raise the question, though, of how any new Indiana Jones game can actually feel truly innovative. After all, Uncharted is basically Indiana Jones in all but name and setting, and it has never hidden that fact, so where does that really leave Indy to go next?
Back to the demo, where I'm shown an example of a time in Great Circle when players will need to don a disguise, to allow you to progress into once off limits areas.
The presentation showed Indy being presented with a clerical suit to wear by his friend Father Antonio, making him appear as a man of the cloth (which all in all, is a more suitable look for the occasion - a whip and weapon holster is hardly Vatican attire). With this suit then on, Indy was able to make his way through a door that was only accessible to those wearing that specific ensemble. A new outfit will not be enough to pull the wool over everybody's eyes, though, and there will still be those who may notice Indy is not who he is pretending to be.
Disguises are "very much driven by the narrative of the game," director Jerk Gustafsson furthered during a post-presentation Q&A, before adding: "But we also have a system that allows you to change your outfit based on the situation you are in."
As someone who enjoys social stealth games like Hitman, I am eager to find ways to procure different outfits for Indy, sneaking him into places and situations that we all know he really shouldn't be. It adds an almost cheeky mischievousness to any given scenario. But MachineGames still didn't show enough gameplay to really give me an idea of how it will feel in Great Circle, and I didn't get a look at that aforementioned outfit switching system at all. Also - as a slight aside - as this game is played predominantly in first-person, the full visual effect of these outfit changes will be largely off camera save for the cuffs of Indy's sleeves.
We got to spend more time with Indy's Great Circle sidekick, investigative reporter Gina, later in the presentation. Solving a puzzle in the fairly straightforward manner of reading a document detailing an item and its whereabouts, and then retrieving said item (this was shown as a montage), Indy and Gina ventured forth through a once locked door under the Great Sphinx of Giza.
It's worth emphasising this is a first look, and again one only presented in managed chunks, but to be frank this entire section felt very 'safe' to me - a short cutscene encounter with a spiky pit aside. First off, Indy was saved from that pit by Gina anyway, seemingly without the player needing to do anything. But beyond that, to retrieve a golden mask from its concrete bindings, Indy and Gina had to solve that old video game staple: a mirror puzzle, bouncing beams of light around the room in a certain way liberated the golden mask from its stone pedestal.
It's tough to feel any fresh thrill of anticipation from what seemed a fairly paint-by-numbers section. The Great Circle's creative director Axel Torvenius said the game would include a variety of "rewarding, challenging and smart" puzzles, and brief snippets of gameplay shared earlier in the presentation did tease more. I just wish I had actually seen one of them in more detail, but even the gameplay shown in Giza felt quite minimal.
Gustaffson did mention that while there are "story-driven linear levels" within the Great Circle, there are also more open areas that will "push exploration and the sense of discovery" and plenty of side activities, though sadly we didn't see much of that in action.
Beyond the snippets of gameplay, there was also a look at a few more systems. All of Indy's endeavours in Great Circle will earn him 'Adventure Points'. The name may be quite on the nose, but these points are what allows Indy to expand his skill set, and are earned by completing objectives and exploration. These points are then used to unlock new skills that are hidden across the game in the form of Adventure Books.
One Adventure Book shown was called True Grit, and gave Indy the chance to shake himself off from a fatal blow by scooping up his hat after he had been knocked to the floor. I appreciated seeing Indy stand back up cinematically, replacing his fedora upon his head as heroic music swelled, but again, there wasn't really that much gameplay.
There are definitely parts of Great Circle I am keen to see more of, though. There is no denying it really did look like a beautiful world, and one which is bustling with detail, from the dusty sands of Giza to the frigid peaks of the Himalayas. MachineGames has promised "ancient crypts, lost civilizations and much more" to be discovered on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's release and all of that is right up my street. It will be great to get the chance to hop from country to country, without the need for passports, jet lag and sunscreen.
MachineGames is clearly being very careful with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, with Gustafsson stating this will be a much more "approachable" and "relaxed" game compared to the likes of the studio's previous in Wolfenstein. So if you enjoyed games like its very close relative in Uncharted, much the same as I did, I am sure Great Circle will scratch an itch. I just hope in a bid to give the game a broader appeal, MachineGames hasn't over-corrected.
As a huge Indy and adventure fan, I really want Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to be, well, great - but I am keeping my expectations in check for now. From my admittedly brief time with Great Circle, it's clear it's been created with a healthy dose of nostalgia and respect for long-term fans of the series. My first impression is of a game that's going to be a bit of nice-looking but maybe a tad predictable escapism, which will if nothing else be a fun way to while away a few hours - but I'd be more than happy to be surprised with a genuine adventure.