Easily one of the most beautiful games ever made.
Disclosure: Xbox and Bethesda provided the game for review.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the best Xbox first-party releases ever. MachineGames has delivered an authentic Indy adventure that’s easily one of the most beautiful games ever made, with a story that could have been its own film. It’s one of the most fun gaming experiences of 2024, and it’s on Game Pass.
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review: A Resounding 10Want to play it? Check the price on Amazon (also on PS5) or see every option in Where to buy.
Story
The story MachineGames put together could easily be its own movie, slotted between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. It’s that good, easily surpassing every Indy film since the original trilogy. It’s a globe-trotting tale of adventure, archaeology, heroism and relationships. The opener is a love letter to Indy fans that sets the bar for a high-quality, authentic Indiana Jones experience, and the ending wraps up the wild ride so well it could 100% be the final scene of an Indy movie. Indy still has his signature mix of bravado and book smarts, with witty one-liners as he knocks out bad guys and ruins their plans.
The side stories complement the main plot and feel just as intriguing, with cutscenes on par with the main ones. If you only stick to the golden path you’ll still have an amazing time, but you’ll miss fantastic character building. There are so many memorable characters, each with their own purpose and ambitions, and every one is worth getting to know.
Gameplay
MachineGames nailed the feeling of being Indy. The fist fights are so fun. Timing a block, parry or dodge just right and landing the counterattack is fulfilling, and there’s even a secret side event where you can join a fight club. Almost everything is a weapon, from pipes to shovels to fly swatters, and they’re all satisfying to use. Indy’s whip disarms enemies or pulls them toward you in fights, and while exploring you use it to climb to higher areas or pull levers to solve puzzles. The puzzles are thought-provoking and challenging without being overbearing, each one unique, with no repeats.
Exploration is amazing, with new side missions and discoveries around every corner, and potential enemies too. You can go in guns blazing and bring the whole area down on you, or play it cool with stealth, which is so well done. Sneaking up on someone and taking them out with the weapon of your choice is always satisfying. The camera is an unexpected delight: photographing statues, buildings and artifacts earns points for upgrades, but you have to find the upgrades before you can spend points on them, which gives exploration a real purpose beyond the stories you uncover. This is one of those games where time just disappears.
Visuals and Performance
MachineGames’ engine, built on id Tech, runs smooth and sharp at 60fps on both Series X and Series S, with ray-traced global illumination that significantly enhances the image. You can choose a standard full-screen view or a cinematic widescreen mode with black bars, and the cinematic mode fits the movie-like presentation perfectly. The HUD is barely there, with just a health bar in the bottom left corner, so you see all the beauty.
The facial expressions rival Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, making real-time cutscenes feel like an actual Indy movie, and so much of the story is told through nuanced facial animation even when nobody’s speaking. Indy looks ripped straight out of Raiders, down to the folds in his leather jacket, and every character, from the big bad to the imposing Locus to your partner in crime Gina, gets the same attention to detail. Clothing reacts to the wind. The environments are almost photorealistic at times, and while it isn’t an open world, it has gigantic open areas to explore. Fog, rain and explosions are top of their class, and water moves and pushes back realistically as you wade through it. Swimming looks and feels great too.
Sound
The voice cast is top notch, and Troy Baker’s Indy is the big one. He faced a bar many would call unattainable, and you’d be hard pressed to tell his performance apart from Harrison Ford’s. Most people would assume it was Ford. Dialogue tone fits the moment, too: characters talk quietly while sneaking and raise their voices when things get chaotic, which keeps you fully immersed. The script feels pulled straight from the original trilogy, delivered as if Spielberg were directing on set. The punches sound exactly like the films of that era and never get old, and the score is absolutely an Indy score, making you feel like you’re part of the movie.
Verdict
Every moment of gameplay is compelling, and every part of the story, from dialogue to notes to real-time cutscenes, is meticulously crafted to keep you eager to discover more. It exudes an old-school sense of exploration that pulls you off the beaten path. Bravo to Todd Howard, Troy Baker and the whole MachineGames team for a game that may just be the best of the year.
Image: MachineGames / Bethesda Softworks
The verdict: Masterpiece
Easily one of the most beautiful games ever made.
Pros
- Stunning visuals and phenomenal facial animation
- A story worthy of the original trilogy, with great side stories
- Satisfying fist fights, whip play and stealth
- Clever, unique puzzles and rewarding exploration
- Troy Baker's incredible Indy
Platform played: Xbox Series X|S
Where to buy
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