Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Developer(s)	MachineGames
Publisher(s)	Bethesda Softworks
Director(s)	Jerk Gustafsson Axel Torvenius
Producer(s)	John Jennings Mattias Duclos Mariusz Macieja
Designer(s)	Jens Andersson Zeke Virant
Programmer(s)	Magnus Auvinen
Artist(s)	Mattias Astenvald
Writer(s)	Tommy Tordsson Björk
Composer(s)	Gordy Haab
Series	Indiana Jones
Engine	Motor
Platform(s)	Windows Xbox Series X/S PlayStation 5
Release	Windows, Xbox Series X/S 9 December 2024 PlayStation 5 Q1/Q2 2025
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, stealth
Mode(s)	Single-player

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a 2024 action-adventure game developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is based on the Indiana Jones franchise and features an original narrative that draws from the film series.^[1] Set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), the story follows archaeologist Indiana Jones in 1937 as he attempts to thwart various groups who are seeking to harness a power connected to the Great Circle, which refers to mysterious sites around the world that form a perfect circle when connected together on a map. The game spans numerous real-world locales such as the Vatican City, Thailand, Egypt, and Shanghai.

The Great Circle is primarily played from a first-person perspective with third-person being employed for contextual elements such as environmental interaction. Players control Indy as they navigate through a mix of linear, story-sensitive areas and wider, exploratory landscapes. Combat can either be directly engaged with or circumvented entirely through the use of stealth mechanics, and the character's signature whip can be used as both a weapon, or as a means for traversing across obstacles and solving various puzzles to uncover alternate paths and obscured collectibles.

Bethesda and MachineGames jointly announced the game's development in January 2021, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games.^[2] Jerk Gustafsson directed the game, composer Gordy Haab contributed original pieces and reinterpretations of classic themes from the films by John Williams. Todd Howard from Bethesda Game Studios conceived the game's story and served as an executive producer, considering the game a passion project of his. Troy Baker provides the voice and motion capture of the title character, whose likeness is otherwise based off Harrison Ford, who portrays him in the films. Alessandra Mastronardi and Tony Todd are featured in supporting voice roles.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on December 9, 2024. A PlayStation 5 version is scheduled to release in early 2025. The game received generally positive reviews from critics.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an action-adventure game that also consists of gameplay styles in various other genres.^[3][4] As archaeologist Indiana Jones, the player can choose to use stealth or engage in direct combat with enemies. The game also includes various puzzles, many of which are optional.^[5] Jones's whip can be used for combat and to traverse through certain areas.^[1] The game is played from a first-person perspective, but switches to a third-person view for certain gameplay actions and cutscenes, such as when Jones uses his whip to swing over gaps or when climbing pipes and walls.^[6]

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle features an original narrative that draws inspiration from the film series.^[2] The story is set in 1937,^[7] placing it in between the events of the first film Raiders of the Lost Ark (set in 1936), and the third film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (set in 1938).^[8][9] Like both films, the game takes place before the events of World War II, with the Axis powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and the Empire of Japan) returning as antagonists.^[10] Jones (voiced by Troy Baker)^[6] also encounters Blackshirts, members of Italy's National Fascist Party.^[11]

The game picks up after Jones has left his fiancée, Marion Ravenwood. Following the theft of an artifact from Marshall College by an imposing man known as Locus (Tony Todd), Jones heads to the Vatican to investigate. He discovers that sites of spiritual significance have been built throughout history, realizing that their locations form a perfectly aligned circle around the globe. Besides Vatican City, other locations include Peru, Connecticut, the Sukhothai temples in Thailand, the Egyptian pyramids, Shanghai in China, the snowy Himalayas, and the Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq. During his journey, he teams up with Gina Lombardi (Alessandra Mastronardi),^[6] an Italian investigative reporter who has an interest in the case. They go up against Emmerich Voss (Marios Gavrilis),^[6] who uses psychological manipulation against his enemies.^[6][12]

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In 1937, Indiana Jones returns to Marshall College after breaking up with his fiancée Marion Ravenwood. He responds to a break in at the college, only to be knocked out by a giant, scarred man named Locus. When he regains consciousness, Jones discovers that Locus stole a cat mummy. Finding Locus's medallion bearing the symbol of the Vatican Secret Archive, Jones infiltrates Vatican City to find answers. He finds the city under the control of Benito Mussolini and his Blackshirts, who are working with Nazi archeologist and occultist Emmerich Voss. During his investigation, Jones encounters the reporter Ginetta "Gina" Lombardi, who explains that she is investigating Voss due to the disappearance of her sister Laura, an ancient languages specialist. They agree to collaborate and help each other on their respective missions. Together, they discover that a tribe of giants called the Nephilim Order have been covertly working for the Catholic church for centuries to protect the secret of the "Great Circle", with the cat mummy containing a special stone related to it. Voss raids the Vatican's archives and steals all of the stones the Nephilim Order collected so far. He then leaves the Vatican as both Jones and Gina stow away on his zeppelin. Jones explains to Gina that the Great Circle represents a number of sacred religious sites across the globe that line up to form a perfect circle, and he fears that Voss has discovered some secret that can unlock the Great Circle's rumored power.

The zeppelin arrives at a Nazi dig site in Gizeh, and Jones and Gina begin their work to beat Voss to finding the Idol of Ra, which contains the next stone he needs. As they search for the Idol of Ra, Jones learns that the Nephilim Order also worked with the ancient Egyptians thousands of years before the Catholic Church was founded. Jones is eventually able to find the Idol of Ra and recover its stone, only to lose to Voss and be left for dead in the desert before being saved by Gina. Gina reveals she intercepted Nazi radio traffic indicating that after an experiment went awry, one of Voss' dig teams in Machu Picchu went missing before their distress signal was eventually detected in the Himalaya Mountains. The pair make the journey to the Himalayas where they find an entire Nazi battleship inexplicably stranded high in the mountains. Searching the ship, they learn that it was transported from South America to the Himalayas via the power of a third stone, which was recovered from Machu Picchu. However, Gina is distraught to find that Laura had frozen to death along with the rest of the crew. After a battle with Voss' men, the battleship is sent tumbling down the mountain, forcing Jones to use the power of the third stone to open a portal to escape through.

Jones and Gina suddenly find themselves transported to Shanghai, in the middle of the Japanese invasion of the city. They manage to steal a Japanese fighter plane and escape the city, deciding to make their way to the nearest Great Circle ruin, Sukhothai in Siam. They find Voss has already set up camp there, and team up with the local Siamese resistance to find the next stone. Locus confronts them during their investigation, warning them the secret of the Great Circle must not come to light, but Jones and Gina ignore his warnings. After Jones recovers the Sukhothai stone, Locus confronts him again to take the stones, but Voss suddenly attacks, forcing Jones and Gina to team up with Locus. However, in their attempt to escape Voss' forces, Gina is separated from the others and captured.

Seeing that Jones cares more about saving Gina than taking the stones, Locus agrees to help him rescue Gina and they follow Voss to the last site of the Great Circle, the Ziggurat of Ur. Seeing that the temple is heavily guarded, Locus summons the rest of the Nephilim Order to attack the Nazis, giving Jones an opportunity to rescue Gina. He is able to rescue Gina, but he ignores Locus' instructions to leave immediately, instead being convinced by Gina to discover the secret of the Great Circle. They journey deeper under the Ziggurat and are shocked to find Noah's Ark hidden beneath the ruins. Jones and Gina end up being captured, and Voss obtains all of the stones. He explains to Jones that the Great Circle is connected to all of the flood myths in history, with God granting Noah the power of the Great Circle to allow him to teleport all over the world at will to collect two of every animal and eventually repopulate the Earth. With the power of the Great Circle, Voss envisions the Nazis taking over the world. However, Jones warns Voss that since he was not chosen by God, unlike Noah, he will instead incur God's wrath. Voss ignores Jones' warning and complete the ritual, inadvertently starting another Great Flood. During the confusion, Voss is killed by the unstable energies of the Great Circle, while Locus takes control of the Ark and teleports it away, averting the Flood.

Afterwards, despite having feelings for each other, Gina ultimately decides to part ways with Jones, knowing that they will both focus on pursuing their passion for journalism and archeology respectively. After a heartfelt farewell, Jones sees Gina off as she boards a plane home.

The Great Circle featured Troy Baker as the titular character and served as the final video game credit of actor Tony Todd, who died a month before its release.

On January 12, 2021, Lucasfilm Games and Bethesda Softworks announced plans to eventually release a video game based on the Indiana Jones franchise. It would be developed by MachineGames, with Todd Howard serving as executive producer through Bethesda. Both companies are owned by ZeniMax Media.^[13][14] Howard considered MachineGames an ideal company to develop the project because of its work on the Wolfenstein series, which involves a battle against Nazis, like the Indiana Jones franchise.^[15] Howard conceived the game's story.^[16] As executive producer, he would occasionally check in on the game's progress rather than having a hands-on role.^[15]

Howard, an Indiana Jones fan, had previously pitched such a game to George Lucas around 2009,^[17][18] although the project did not move forward at that time, partly because Bethesda did not have the resources to develop it.^[15] In addition, Lucasfilm wanted to publish the game, a role that Bethesda sought to fill, and the two could not come to an agreement.^[19][20]

The game's 2021 announcement was accompanied by a teaser trailer which included various Easter eggs and hints about the game's setting.^[8][9] As of mid-2021, the game was in a very early state of development.^[21] It was developed using the Motor (based on id Tech)^[22] game engine.^[23] Jerk Gustafsson served as the game's director.^[16] Jens Andersson joined the project as design director in late 2022, after previously being hired in the same position for the planned 2009 game. Andersson had also served as lead designer on The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004) and The Darkness (2007). The Indiana Jones team includes more than 20 developers who previously worked on The Darkness.^[24][25]

The title, story details, and first gameplay footage were unveiled on January 18, 2024, during Microsoft Gaming's Xbox Developer_Direct video presentation.^[26] Also announced was the game's first-person perspective, which received a mixed response.^[27][28][29] For MachineGames, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle continues a tradition of developing games in the first-person perspective, and to make it distinctive from similar third-person adventure games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted, both of which took heavy inspiration from Indiana Jones. The first-person viewpoint was also chosen to fully immerse the player in the role of Indiana Jones.^[27]

Lucasfilm had final approval over the game, which is the company's first non-Star Wars game in years,^[30] and the first Indiana Jones game since Indiana Jones Adventure World (2011).^[31] The game uses Indiana Jones actor Harrison Ford's likeness,^[32] while Troy Baker provides voiceover work for the character.^[33][34] Other voice actors included Alessandra Mastronardi as Gina Lombardi, Marios Gavrilis as Emmerich Voss and Tony Todd as Locus.^[6] The soundtrack was composed by Gordy Haab, based on the work of John Williams, who composed the film scores.^[6] Haab previously worked on the score for Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (2009).^[35] Certain actions were created for the game by stuntmen performing in motion capture suits.^[6]

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was released on December 9, 2024 for Windows and Xbox Series X/S as a timed console exclusive. A PlayStation 5 version is slated to launch in Spring 2025.^[36] It is available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass until it's added to the Standard tier for console at a later date.^[37][32][38] A cosmetics pack inspired by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) was available as a general pre-order bonus or for pre-loading the game on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Alongside the standard release, a Premium Edition and Collector's Edition are also distributed. Both editions enabled a 3-day early access period to play the game from December 6, 2024, an extra outfit for Indy inspired by his appearance in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and instant access to the game's story expansion The Order of Giants from release, in addition to a Digital Art Book.^[39] The Collector's Edition also comes with a steelbook display case, a physical replica of the Allmaker Relic displaying a download code for the digital game, a journal resembling the one belonging to Indy, and an 11-inch globe marking key locations in the game's story, with space for hidden storage.^[40][41][42]

The original contract between Bethesda and Lucasfilm parent Disney stipulated that the game launch as a multiplatform title, but said terms were initially amended to exclude a PlayStation 5 version when Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media in March 2021, thereby receiving ownership of Bethesda Softworks and MachineGames.^[43][44] Disney felt that Windows and Xbox Series X/S made up a large-enough marketplace to justify exclusivity as originally planned.^[45] By February 2024 as Microsoft Gaming was preparing to ship some of its first-party software onto non-Xbox platforms, Bethesda was reported to be internally considering a PlayStation 5 version of The Great Circle for launch following the Xbox and PC versions, which it confirmed as in development in August 2024.^[46][47] On the decision to pursue a PlayStation 5 version of the game after initially announcing it as an Xbox console exclusive, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer cited the strong reception to prior Xbox titles Pentiment, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves, which launched on PlayStation and Nintendo systems earlier in 2024. Furthermore, he described the necessity to provide returns to Microsoft to receive support on game development, and the desire to maintain strong interest in their franchises while growing the Xbox ecosystem across console, PC and cloud, calling multiplatform development "a strategy that works for us".^[48][49]

The Great Circle is set to receive a story expansion titled The Order of Giants following the game's launch.^[50]

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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle received "generally favourable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic,^[51][52] and 92% of critics recommended the game on OpenCritic.^[53]

• Official website