The best Indy game since The Fate of Atlantis and The Emperor's Tomb. Really hope this becomes a series of games.
1. Insane attention to detail (actually features a full fledged museum with detailed exhibits and actual descriptions for almost every item).
2. Brilliant sound design. Sounds exactly like the movies! Voice acting is excellent as well. Troy Baker actually pulls off a really good Harrison Ford.
3. Stealth is basic, but effective and rewarding. Think Chronicles of Riddick, Alien Isolation or a stripped down Thief.
4. Hand to hand combat is visceral and impactful. You can feel the weight of every punch thanks to the animation and sound.
5. Exploration genuinely adds to the sense of adventure and actually rewards you.
6. Extremely respectful to the depicted cultures and their history as well as native languages.
7. Runs really well on my setup (Ryzen 7 7800x3d / RTX 4070S / 32GB DDR5).
Only issues I have with it thus far:
1. Visual artifacts during some cuts cutscenes. (Has been patched since release on Steam)
2. Lack of manual save option.
3. Side activites do become somewhat repetitive.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is not only a fantastic Indy adventure but also an incredible game on its own accord.
I was a bit worried after Wolfenstein The Old Colossus focused a bit too much in the narrative and relegated the gameplay to only some disjointed sequences, but this title demonstrates that Machinegames still understands how to intertwine gameplay and narrative beautifully.
As you progress you'll be resolving puzzles, obtaining items to recollect historical information and artifacts, and find little books that allow you to unlock abilities using points you obtain by simply playing the archeologist part: taking pictures of historical pieces, collecting old scrolls or ancient statues, it all contributes to providing you with points to unlock some pretty significant abilities, that become even better and more useful through the recently added NG+ mode they updated the game with last month, letting you replay the game with your upgrades and obtaining a new ending.
The combat system is really satisfying, although it might be a bit tedious to some, you can block, punch, sneak around, and use your whip and classic revolver to take down enemies, but each level is composed as its own little playground for you to roam around in and explore.
As you play through the levels you can also find numerous outfits that give you different weapons and abilities to gain access to areas through the levels, or even engage encounters differently, it's a tad bit similar to Hitman but you can always choose the loud route if you please, just be prepared at times to fight the entire encampment if you do; this can be really fun, even on harder difficulties if you really start getting accustomed to the combat system of the game.
Overall, I think is fantastic that this game got added to GOG and serves to keep the game's preservation alive, this is one of those titles that definitely deserves it, some might say that all titles deserve to be preserved, and I would agree with that at a point, but the experience this game provides can be so enjoyable and fun that I'm particularly happy about it being here completely DRM free.
If there are any complaints I have towards the game, is the fact that the title doesn't really scale well in older configurations, the game forces Ray Tracing at a software level and you can't really disable it at all, just tone it down a bit. What's worse, if your gpu has less than 8gb of VRAM, you won't be able to even launch the game; which is strange considering they got this game running on portable devices, such as the Steam Deck and the most recently released Rogue Ally X.
I think that it would be awesome if Machinegames could patch the modes used in those devices for mobile gpu's that have less than 8gb of VRAM, but what do I know about the technological side of things really.
I played this game when it launched for Xbox, I even have the collectors edition(which is not for GOG) I personally would off bought it here if released day one. 100 percent recomended, feels like playing the OG Indiana Jones movie.
I will definitely buy it again once its cheaper. Simply just to have the game in my GOG library.
You do need a raytracing capable card with plenty of Vram to play it. And the DLC eventhough is cool, its really short.
I’m a few hours into Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and it’s been a really fun experience so far. On my setup (i9-10900k + RTX 3090 + 32 GB DDR4), the game runs great at Supreme settings with smooth frame rates and no major issues often close to 100fps at 1440p with no DLSS. Visually, it’s stunning...beautiful lighting, detailed textures, and environments that perfectly capture that old-school Indy adventure feel. The attention to detail in the ruins, tombs, and artifacts really pulls you in, and the soundtrack plus voice acting do a great job of setting the mood.
In terms of gameplay, the exploration and puzzle-solving are definitely the highlights. The puzzles feel clever without being frustrating, and exploring each area feels rewarding. Combat is okay but not the strongest part of the game...enemies can feel a bit basic, and the hand-to-hand fighting could use some tightening up. The climbing and traversal mechanics are decent, though they can feel a little stiff at times.
Regarding performance, my system handles it easily with everything maxed out, and load times are quick. I’ve run into a couple of minor texture pop-ins, but nothing serious. Overall, it’s shaping up to be a really enjoyable adventure game with tons of atmosphere and that classic Indy charm. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far I’d say it’s a solid 3.5/5 and definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of story-driven exploration games.
