Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was a very late arrival in 2024’s year of gaming, but once we saw the quality it was packing, we made time for it. And we’re glad we did because it’s a phenomenal stealth action-adventure that captures the heart and soul of what it should feel like to be the legendary Indiana Jones himself. Not only that, but it’s also another solid MachineGames title that continues to build upon the studio’s specialty for laying out fascists with satisfactory violence.
There’s so much we could gush about when it comes to Indiana Jones, but maybe the most important starting point is the impeccable character presentation. Troy Baker delivered an incredibly spot-on Indy, not just in the grunts or the low growling lines, but also on the high notes when the action is tense. He also captured Indy’s timing and charm with the quips. That’s not to take away from the other amazing performances either. Tony Todd gave us one final incredibly imposing character in Locus before his passing, Alessandra Mastronardi gave us a resourceful heroine in Gina Lombardi, and Marios Gavrilis delivered a truly dastardly villain in Emmerich Voss, just to name a few.
Then there’s just the sheer amount of Indy stuff you can do in this game. It’s not as big on combat as other MachineGames ventures, but the attention to detail on nearly everything was flawless. You literally play the Raiders of the Lost Ark opening as a tutorial and it’s great for showing you the punching, whipping, puzzle-solving, and platforming you’ll be doing to make sure Indy survives his ordeals. And boy howdy does the melee combat feel good. Sneaking up on an enemy with any of the improvised melee weapons in the game is always grand time, or you could start by bullwhipping them in the face.
The locations are also grand and breathtaking, bringing Indiana Jones on journeys to places like the Vatican in Rome and the Pyramids in Giza. Along the way, there are also tombs and crypts to explore and Nazis galore (for your punching and bludgeoning pleasure). MachineGames set out to make an amazing Indiana Jones experience and the team succeeded completely, giving the Xbox an arguably much-needed feather in its cap in 2024.
Be sure to read over the rest of the Shacknews Awards in our Year of the Games: 2024 feature.
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TJ Denzer posted a new article, Shacknews Best Xbox Game of 2024 - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle