Speaking of treasure hunt games, what do you think of first? Tomb Raider, or Uncharted? These are indeed excellent treasure hunt games. Both the plot and the scenery can bring players an unparalleled enjoyment.
However, if we talk about the most classic treasure hunt works in the past 40 years, we have to mention a classic series of movies-Indiana Jones.
Indiana Jones’ series of movies should be the enlightenment of many people on the theme of treasure hunt. We follow Indiana Jones to the mysterious ruins to explore the ancient treasures. The dangers encountered on the way and the surprises of discovering the treasures are very fascinating.
In fact, this series also has games. That’s right, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is just the latest game in Indiana Jones series!
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was developed by MachineGames and released by Bethesda on December 9, 2024. Set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones III, this game follows archaeologist Indiana Jones in 1937 as he thwarts an evil force intent on exploiting ancient powers associated with Great Circle.
Players will follow Indiana Jones on a grand and gorgeous globetrotting adventure as he explores real-world locations such as Rome, Thailand, Egypt, Shanghai, and Himalayas.
MachineGames is best known for its modern Wolfenstein series, and some of the qualities of those games are present in Great Circle. Like The New Order and its excellent prequels and sequels, Great Circle is first-person and largely story-driven.
But Great Circle isn’t a violent journey. Unlike Wolfenstein, the key here is to be patient and slow down exploration and stealth, and as such, guns are rarely used.
Details
The first-person perspective gives Great Circle a stunning sense of scale. The sense of enormity is especially strong when you look up in awe at the massive pyramids or gaze at a massive Nazi battleship atop Himalayas. First-person also greatly enhances the sense of real-time engagement, especially when it comes to puzzles. As you pick up documents and clues, examine them, fiddle with and place items, and watch the results unfold before your eyes, you can’t help but feel like you’re in the world’s most expensive escape room.
Treasure hunts naturally present puzzles, most of which are relatively simple. Of course, they also have some difficult puzzles, and you feel a sense of accomplishment when you solve them. If you do get stuck, there is a built-in hint system, but it only appears after you take a picture of the puzzle with the in-game camera. This design solution is clever and appropriate, only providing help when the player actively asks for help, so that players can fully immerse themselves in the game without relying on their mobile phones to check guides.
On top of that, first-person is indeed the best perspective to show the modeling details in Great Circle, and MachineGames has put a lot of effort into this regard. From scratches on freshly cleaned glass to drips of wax that can be seen slowly sliding down as you explore ancient corridors with a candle in hand, these are details that would be hard to notice from other perspectives.
Combat
Great Circle’s combat is both satisfying and not overly bloody, which is quite in line with IP’s style positioning of being suitable for all ages and full of adventure. The sound design in the game is impressive, and every attack sounds like you are swinging a stick and hitting a bunch of celery.
The combat experience in first-person. You need to time your blocks and parries accurately, and you can also punch quickly and charge heavy punches. In addition, you can also swing Indiana’s whip to disarm enemies quickly and temporarily disable them, so that you can take the opportunity to hit them hard or pick up their dropped weapons to fight back.
The only annoying thing about the combat system is the stamina system, because Indiana will use up his stamina whenever he climbs, sprints, or punches, and you’ll have to interrupt the battle rhythm to either stop and catch your breath or retreat quickly when a group of stupid Nazis are approaching. The only purpose of this stamina system is to allow Indiana to breathe less after upgrading.
The combat situation will adjust according to your actions, so if you just pick up the gun and start shooting, all the gun-wielding enemies near you will return their bullets. Indiana obviously can’t withstand such a dense firepower, so in most cases, the best thing to do is to forget about hot weapons.
Speaking of guns, the revolver that Indiana carries with him in this game is a big disappointment. You will often find that shooting will not solve the enemy, but will only cause you trouble. Revolvers are not lethal to enemies. Even if you point the gun at Nazi’s head, they will not die immediately. Instead, they will immediately fight back at you, and then you will be surrounded by a lot of enemies.
This setting is very strange. After all, Indiana in the movie can accurately kill the swordsman on the opposite side with his pistol. This is one of the most classic scenes in the entire series. The design of scarce revolver ammunition can undoubtedly be retained, but the power of the pistol must at least be on par with that in the movie.
Difficulty
Great Circle actually adopts a very clever difficulty design. In addition to choosing from multiple gradients such as easy to difficult, players can also adjust specific details. Enemy attributes are subdivided into several aspects. Which means you can increase their strength but reduce their number. Or you can increase their alertness, but make their bodies more vulnerable.
These customization options are quite good, because at normal difficulty, the stealth system is relatively simple, the enemy’s field of vision is very limited, and it is very easy to hide. Once you’re fast enough to get through seemingly dangerous open spaces without getting hurt, you’ll be able to run around in enemy camps.
Summary
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle captures the essence of the classic film series, from the title text font to Harrison Ford’s classic hand movements, but its success goes far beyond faithfully reproducing the details of the movie. This game not only has many beautiful and detailed level designs but also has a satisfying and refreshing combat, and also focuses on slow-paced exploration, platform jumping, and puzzle-solving. Great Circle is definitely an unexpected surprise for fans of this series, and it can become one of the best Indiana Jones games ever.
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