Unlike my colleague, who swung right into The Great Circle at Xbox launch, I held back and nervously gauged this golden idol from afar. Gleaming with id Tech 7 resplendence and apparently a gold standard in the VO department, this artefact sure seemed like a no-brainer acquisition from a safe distance.
Perhaps there was nothing to fear here. But that’s also what scared me.
I’m the proverbial Forrestal who’s been tricked, trapped, and skewered by bad games before. I have decades of movie tie-in trauma to work through. It therefore occurred to me that the true value of this object might have been skewed by overzealous worshippers.
Not to be blunter than a big boulder trap, but Xbox-centric critics have been starved for an exclusive AAA for some time. The weight of any argument for The Great Circle could be out of whack—an imbalance in the sand sack of enthusiasm, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down.
Imagine my sheer delight, then, when I (finally) booted this up on my PS5 Pro, and all fears were allayed. As an aficionado of every Indy game ever made, there is simply no fighting this: Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is fortune and glory manifest.
It’s easily the best and most authentic fedora-fest since The Fate of Atlantis or The Emperor’s Tomb. Absolute peak Jones.
Absolute peak Jones.
Even better than that, if you somehow hold no particular torch for Dr. Jones, it’s just a damn fine first-person shooter / brawler / platformer / puzzler in its own right. Yet another Nazi-smashin’ MachineGames masterpiece that belongs in a museum-like trophy case.
Given that this is a secondary release and The Great Circle has been previewed/reviewed to death, I’ll cover PS5 Pro-specific impressions, and then I’ll do a quick gameplay recap next.
On the lower end of upgrades, we (very, very obviously) have DualSense support. The 2% of players who actually look down at their controller during play will be delighted when their touchpad light changes to signify combat engagement or extremely low health. That sure didn’t do much for me, but it’s nice to know it’s there?
I’m much more about the nuanced haptics thrumming through said controller. Meatier things like socking fascists in the face feel more or less the same as the comparisons I did to the Xbox (Game Pass) version. But MachineGames has certainly used a more deft touch when it comes to subtler interactions in the environment—pushing water aside with Indy’s hands or being near the engine purr of a truck or zeppelin, for example. There’s certainly no haptics expression in here that feels Astro Bot levels of clever, but I did notice and appreciate the efforts made.
Visual upgrades are what you’re buying this for, and while The Great Circle on Pro isn’t miles better than its Xbox debut, it sure is a looker. For the record, you’re getting native 4K resolution and advanced ray tracing. The former is significant as the XSX version was a dynamic 1080p that milled closely to the target, at a mostly solid 60 FPS.
To be perfectly honest, it’s easy to be gobsmacked by the Xbox version of Great Circle, purely by its era-authentic artistry, abundance of objects (both interactive and non), and attention to detail of said items.
There’s certainly no haptics expression in here that feels Astro Bot levels of clever, but I did notice and appreciate the efforts made.
On a Pro, with noticeably sharper texture detail and dazzling reflections, Great Circle became an absolute snoop-fest where I spent far too long poring over every college, tomb, and fascist HQ I entered. More believable shadow, lighting, and other volumetric FX truly elevate what was an already enticing tomb raiding experience. Hell, it’s like you can almost smell the dust, mildew, and rat crap in the air now.
Now that we’ve covered the console-specific upgrades, let’s update my fellow Johnny Come Latelys with how The Great Circle tells its own original tale in an exemplary FPS framework. After what is probably the most fan service intro one could imagine, our story picks up post Raiders with Henry Jones Jr. embroiled in centuries-old myths and enigmatic societies. In short order, it feels like a lost chapter worthy of a place in your Indy Blu-ray boxset.
Every twist in the plot feels as satisfying as finding a golden fleece in a hidden compartment. MachineGames’ pitch-perfect narrative waltzes between high-stakes action and cerebral puzzle-solving, mixing heart-pounding chases with moments of quiet intrigue that let you savour every bit of history—and wry, Harrisonesque humour—it serves up.
Also, it soon becomes obvious that the devs engage in many like-for-like moments from the films: a shadowy figure in a musty corridor, an ancient scroll with cryptic symbols, and yes, that notorious whip-crack (and beefy fist-smack sound effect) that are as satisfying as a perfectly delivered punchline. It’s like some Kali priest has ripped out the beating hearts out of the best Indy films and transplanted them into something interactive and addictive.
I was a huge fan of MachineGames’ revolutionary rethink of the Wolfenstein series, and the very first time I gripped the DualSense, I knew this also wasn’t going to be a phoned-in attempt. The devs have managed to inject fresh, clever ideas into the classic Indy formula without losing the charm that made the films iconic.
For example, the interactive environments are not just backdrops; they’re living, breathing elements of the adventure. Every time you pull a lever, twist a key, or read some intel, you’re reminded that these ruins have centuries of stories to tell. Good luck resisting the urge to check out the insane amount of side-questing content here.
Good luck resisting the urge to check out the insane amount of side-questing content
Obviously, a lot of that is going to be more puzzles to earn more perks (dispensed as books and paid for with looted cash or “action” points). The game ingeniously blends classic brain teasers with modern mechanics, challenging you to think, strategize, and sometimes even backtrack for some whip-smart platforming (done via a dynamic third-person camera). There were moments when I had to pause, furrowing my brow over a sequence that was as confounding as deciphering ancient hieroglyphs. And when you finally crack it? It’s the digital equivalent of finding the Holy Grail.
And then there’s the stealth-leaning, surprisingly gun-minimal combat. The action sequences are like a well-rehearsed line from a famous film where timing is everything. The Great Circle strikes a perfect balance between savvy reconnoitring, strategic planning, and raw, pulse-pounding fights when stealth invariably goes out the door.
Whether you’re engaged in a dramatic brawl with mercenaries or making a narrow escape from a perilously collapsing temple, every moment is infused with that signature Indiana Jones tension and occasional tongue-in-cheek one-liner. I found myself laughing out loud at a bunch of fan service references. It’s painfully obvious that the ranks of MachineGames are choc full of fellow superfans.And, honestly, in the end, that’s probably all you need to know today. The stars aligned just right for this production. A development studio with an increasingly upward trajectory of excellence and idTech engine mastery got handed their dream project with all the time and funding needed to crank out a modern classic. 1986-era me never dared to hope for an Indy game this good. The Great Circle is on my shortlist for a GOTY award.
This review was made possible by a code given by Bethesda AU. And, like all our reviews, it was a no strings attached affair.
