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<\/a><\/p>\nThe crux of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is that one night, a thief breaks into Indy\u2019s offices at Marshall College and steals a mummified cat from the museum\u2019s collection. It\u2019s a strange thing to steal out of a room filled with so many valuable artifacts, so Indy sets out to try and discover who took it and why. This being an Indiana Jones game set during the late 1930s, it isn\u2019t long before Indy realizes that a group of fascists (both the Nazis and the Italians this time) are involved, and that this wasn\u2019t a random theft. This is what leads him literally around the world, to a series of famous historic destinations and natural landmarks, to try and uncover the connection between them and put a stop to whatever abhorrent thing the regime is trying to do.<\/p>\n
The reason this particular Indiana Jones story is so compelling is not because it is breaking significant new ground, but because the length of the game allows it to be told with far greater detail than a movie could accomplish. Indy himself is mostly the same old dude (portrayed very convincingly by Troy Baker), but the side characters who he interacts with get\u00a0 far more screen time than they would in an Indy film, so they feel more fleshed-out and integral to the plot. There\u2019s more space for them to breathe between set pieces; we get plenty of moments when a wisecracking Jones banters with his co-adventurer, but also a lot of quieter moments, too. Even among secondary characters, performances and writing are incredible across the board. The main villain is a horrible person (he is a Nazi, after all), but its that perfect balance of despicableness and comical ineptitude that keeps the stakes of the narrative high, but the tone light.<\/p>\n
That sense of authenticity is complemented by the game\u2019s soundtrack, which seems to chime in at exactly the right level and exactly the right moments. The playful but cinematic orchestration feels ripped right from an Indiana Jones movie, but importantly, its not overdone to the point of fatigue. Little teases of it play when the player enters a mysterious new zone, or solves a puzzle, but for the biggest, most exciting moments, the score gets dialed up to 11. Placed alongside the outstanding environmental sound design, and the occasional moment of comedic timing, it just hits all the right notes.<\/p>\n
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle may be first person, but it\u2019s no shooter \u2013 it\u2019s built as a proper adventure game. Yes, there is shooting and fisticuffs, but there\u2019s so much more beyond that. You\u2019ll explore dark, claustrophobic ruins and caverns filled with traps. You\u2019ll decode mysterious symbols and snap photos of iconic real-world historic sites as you wander through bustling villages and excavation pits. You\u2019ll slink through Nazi-infested facilities, eavesdropping on conversations and pummeling fascists over the head with whatever\u2019s nearby. You\u2019ll meet allies, each with their own motivations, who\u2019ll get you out of tight spots \u2013 and sometimes, into them. These are all core aspects of the movies, and the game replicates them to an astonishing degree while also feeling like an original experience.<\/p>\n
The game will take players to many different locales, and while some of them are more linear and narrative-focused, a chunk of them are large open maps that allow players to venture off the beaten path. There are entire optional underground crypts to explore, Nazi outposts to raid, and puzzles to solve that are off the beaten path. The main story isn\u2019t particularly long on its own \u2013 perhaps a healthy 15-20 hours or so \u2013 but players who really want to see and do everything could easily double that, at least, depending on how quickly they like to explore. Just as a frame of reference, I probably spent ten hours in the game\u2019s first major hub of the Vatican by itself, and less than half of that was following narrative beats. Because of how open-ended some of these maps can be, this does occasionally result in situations in which I\u2019d enter an area before the story would have normally brought me there, which means returning there later on mitigates some of the impact of getting there for the first time. This mostly happened because I was having so much fun hunting down field notes for Indy\u2019s journal, or weird relics tucked in hard-to-access spots, so I suppose it\u2019s a testament to how enjoyable all of that was that I didn\u2019t really mind how my playstyle would occasionally interfere with the narrative flow of the game.<\/p>\n
The word \u201cimmersive\u201d is thrown around a lot when describing games, something I\u2019ll admit of being guilty of myself, but Indiana Jones and the Great Circle truly earns that label. A big part of that comes down to the way the game creates a unique sense of place at every turn. Whether I was navigating a boat through the flooded jungles of Southeast Asia or exploring the cramped corridors and alleyways of the Vatican, the level detail on display is truly staggering. In naturally busier environments like market squares and military bases, there\u2019s activity in every direction \u2013 workers building things, nuns praying, a storyteller entertaining a group of kids. Elsewhere, interior spaces feel lived in, cluttered and worn. There are just so many collectibles to find and neat little areas to poke around that even when I didn\u2019t have a reason to go somewhere, I couldn\u2019t help but want to poke into every nook and cranny just to see if there was something cool or useful there. And usually, there was!<\/p>\n
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Of course, Indy can\u2019t just roam around completely without consequence. There are plenty of areas that are restricted, and where guards will attack on site. Stealth is an option, of course, but can be tricky. Even on moderate difficulty settings, guards will spot Indy from pretty far away, and will investigate pretty quickly if they see him for more than a moment, with combat essentially guaranteed if the player fails to get out of sight quick enough. Assuming you don\u2019t get spotted, it is extremely satisfying to be able to pick up whatever household objects are lying around and use them to clobber a Nazi from behind. Its especially funny when said object is an acoustic guitar, a toilet plunger, or a large broom. There\u2019s also a simple but satisfying disguise system, which lets Indy dress up based on the environment he\u2019s in to better blend in with the general populace, or the guards themselves. It\u2019s a safety net, but not a foolproof one, as more experienced guards will see through it, so using it feels like equipping another tool in the toolbox rather than entering a cheat code.<\/p>\n
If things do escalate to full-on combat, Indy can still use whatever he finds lying about to deal damage, but most objects will break fairly quickly, so he\u2019ll have to use his fists most of the time. Indy can let loose a flurry of punches via the triggers, or charge up his punch to break through blocks and knock down foes. He can also himself block certain attacks, but cant do so indefinitely due to a stamina bar, which also limits movements like sprinting and climbing. He can even use his whip to pull in enemies before literally, visibly beating the snot out of them. There\u2019s a ton of opportunity for fun sandbox-style moments, too. I once picked up a stick of dynamite, lit it at a nearby flame, threw it at a group of guys, and shoved the dude next to me off a ledge in the span of a few seconds. It can be genuinely funny at times, as a good Indiana Jones fights scene should be!<\/p>\n
There are guns in the game, but I found using them to be a poor idea more often than not. It\u2019s not because they feel bad to use \u2013 they actually feel quite robust and accurate \u2013 but rather that Indy is no BJ Blazkowicz. He can\u2019t take much damage, he isn\u2019t fast, and he never has access to a ton of ammo. Firing off a gun is a quick way to alert everyone in a base to your presence, so there\u2019s a lot of risk involved, and I found it usually more fitting to go about combat a different way. Plus, Mr. Jones isn\u2019t exactly the type to mow down dozens of people with a machine gun. (That said, he definitely kills some people in this game, but its usually played for levity.)<\/p>\n
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Beyond combat, Indy will do a lot of climbing and swinging around with his iconic whip, which is fully intact in this game with its signature thwack sound. He\u2019s also no Nathan Drake, though, and is quite lacking in grace and style. The camera usually pulls out to third-person in these sequences, and he moves quite heavily and slowly, so these sequences don\u2019t feel great. I also found it trickier to gauge jump distance in third person, whereas it feels consistent at least in first person. But it\u2019s a minor nitpick, overall.<\/p>\n
Over time, there are opportunities to upgrade Indy\u2019s survival and combat skills, too. Adventure Books can be found around the game world, or purchased with cash that Indy raids from desks and bedside tables. Each book will upgrade something about Indy\u2019s moveset or resilience \u2013 this can range from improving his health bar, to granting him the ability to disarm foes with his whip. Once a book has been obtained, its attribute can be unlocked with a separate form of in-game points that are awarded to the player by solving puzzles, photographing cool places, or simply advancing the story. It\u2019s a great progression loop that particularly rewards more through players, who will be able to unlock things faster by exploring more. The upgrades all feel meaningful, too, so unlocking a new one has a noticeable impact. I love that these upgrades are contextualized within the game world as books that Indy picks up and reads, rather than just being yet another skill tree to click through. That design ethos carries over to other elements too, like the map, which Indy carries with him in is journal, and which the player needs to physically look down at while walking. Those little touches contribute greatly to immersion within the game..<\/p>\n
All of this running on Nintendo Switch 2 is immensely impressive. This game is up there next to Cyberpunk 2077 in terms of overall porting quality, but of course, changes had to be made to get the game on the system. The game\u2019s output resolution is only up to 720p in handheld, and 1080p in docked \u2013 not uncommon for ambitious Nintendo Switch 2 ports, but still a bit of a bummer. Textures don\u2019t always load quite as quickly as they always should when turning the camera, especially in more open outdoor environments, where there is noticeable pop-in. Foliage and distant structures have had their visual details cut down fairly substantially, which can cause them to look artificially soft or waxy.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, a lot of the little visual details you might not expect to see retained from the Xbox and PlayStation versions did still get translated into the Nintendo Switch 2 version. The game has excellent ray tracing and lighting effects across the board, and it noticeably enhances the game\u2019s atmosphere. Sparks flicker off the edges of torches and open flames. A significant amount of in game objects have physics applied, meaning indie can pick up and throw just about anything \u2013 something that comes in handy in combat. It\u2019s little things like this that help the port maintain a lot of its splendor and sense of scale. There are also a few Nintendo Switch 2 specific features here like mouse controls, which work well enough, although they were not my preferred way to play for a game like this with relatively layered controls.<\/p>\n
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I was less enthused with the game\u2019s frame rate. While the game targets 30 frames per second, it really only manages to consistently hit this benchmark in handheld mode. In docked mode, I experienced consistent stuttering throughout my playthrough. Some environments fare better than others \u2013 I had few issues in Egypt\u2019s deserts and in most of the game\u2019s tombs, but significant drops in the game\u2019s first major hub of the Vatican, which is dense with people and buildings. Sometimes, even when there wasn\u2019t a lot of action, something as simple as turning the camera slowly could cause the frame rate to drop. I can forgive this occasionally, but it happened during my playthrough way more often than I would have liked. Also noticeable is that NPCs who are a great distance from the player have their frame rates cut down well below the game\u2019s target. If you remember the infamous \u201cwindmill controversy\u201d that got Pok\u00e9mon fans riled up a few games back, you know exactly what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n
I experienced a few other technical issues here and there, too. My game got softlocked once in the Vatican, causing the screen to go black every time I tried to enter a particular room. In another instance, the game crashed outright when I threw a weapon onto the floor. These, fortunately, were one-off issues for me, but when combined with the frame rate issues, it did take some of the luster away from the overall experience. It was never so bad that I wished I had been playing on a different platform, though.<\/p>\n
While some of this did put a damper on my playthrough, its fortunate that the overall quality of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is so high that I still ended up having a great time. As I approached the end of the game, I felt like I had just discovered some long-lost Indiana Jones film that had somehow never been released until now. If you\u2019re a fan of the franchise looking to experience more of it, this feels like an essential part of the canon now. And if you\u2019re not, there\u2019s still an amazing time to be had here.<\/p>\n