It’s a bit of a stretch: while Indiana Jones was of course the inspiration behind popular gaming franchises like Tomb Raider and Uncharted, it’s precisely those games that now serve as the benchmark for a genre that truly belongs to Dr. Jones. After all, it’s hard for anyone who sees images of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to avoid comparisons to the aforementioned action adventure. Not bad at all, but it’s funny how that perspective has been reversed. It’s also because we’ve never had a really good indie game. It’s also been over a decade since a game based on the Indiana Jones franchise was released. So it’s about time again for the famous fedora- and whip-wielding adventurer to find his way to PC and consoles. Or, well, consoles: specifically Xbox, because following Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, the PlayStation 5 has been removed from the list of platforms.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is of course an action adventure in which exploring ancient temples and caves plays an important role. This certainly keeps the comparisons with Tomb Raider and Uncharted, but there is an important difference. We are talking about a game that is completely immersive First person Plays. This takes some getting used to, because this type of game usually uses a third-person perspective. Not Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the development studio Machine Games has a lot of experience with first-person games. For example, the studio was responsible for several Wolfenstein games and many employees have worked in the past on, for example, The Darkness, which is also a first-person game. However, this is not the only reason. The game makers believe that the first-person perspective draws the game more into the world. Puzzles can also be viewed up close, which provides more options in this regard.

Great explanation, but still… I’m always a little wary of action-packed games that you play in first-person. That’s because the events often feel a bit funny, awkward, and uncomfortable. I don’t expect any problems with puzzles and especially shooting; it’s perfect for that. But I found the images that Machine Games showed off during Summer Game Fest, showing Indiana Jones fighting various opponents, to be disconcerting. Not because they’re not pretty, they certainly are, but because this type of combat system rarely looks good in games.

We’ll put that point on hold for now, because it’s usually something you can’t say anything meaningful about until you play the game. I haven’t gotten to that yet, because in the run-up to Gamescom, Tweakers were shown a new, expanded demo of the game, but we didn’t get a chance to play it for yourself. Thankfully, this new trailer has already revealed the necessary details about the adventure game, which is due out later this year for Xbox and Steam.