INDIANA JONES & THE BIG RETURN

CATCHING THE WAVE

The first full title Indiana Jones game in fifteen years! Indiana Jones is a character that is beloved by many, with many fans around
the world. The Great Circle was developed
by MachineGames studios, the same team
of people that developed the Wolfenstein franchise games.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circles release
was met by cautious anticipation by fans.
It came at a time when most companies
in the industry are making safe
bets on projects.

Also, releasing just only a year after Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, a 2023 film.
It was very apparent they were aiming for
the window of time when the franchise
nameis still being widely discussed.

Has the studio behind it made a game worthy
of the title, or is it just another safe bet game that has nothing memorable to it?

RATINGS

STORY

COMBAT

VISUALS

PERFORMANCE

GAME INFO

GENRE:

Action-Adventure

PLATFORMS:

XBOX X/S, PC, PS5

DEVELOPER:

MachineGames

RELEASE DATE:

9 Dec, 2024

Reviewed By: Sabber & Aziz
Published On: 24 Jan 2026

NARRATIVE THAT HONOURS THE TITLE

The game is set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Last Crusade taking place in 1937. The story manages to be very engaging and enigmatic. It does not reinvent
the wheel; it follows a basic formula.

However, it knows how to handle itself very well, borrowing from real history just enough to
make itself feel grounded enough
and believable.

The characters cast is cliché, but still lovably charismatic. Since it is set in 1937 the main antagonist is, of course, a Nazi who has
an undying thirst for power and domination, stopping at nothing to achieve his goal.

Indiana and the Great Circle does a great job with the narrative it offers. Writing is strong
all around, and everything in the game
feels intentional.

INDIANA IRON-FISTS JONES

It feels very satisfying to throw a punch in this game. Combat is punchy, and your character
is somewhat overpowered. If punching your
way through an entire enemy encampment
is your style, you can. That is, if you manage your stamina. Stealth, however could use
a lot of improvement.

Enemy AI is very unaware and easy to trick, feeling more like a watered-down version
of Thief. The game levels are designed as different free-roam zones, which you can
revisit at any time. This makes it easy to
enter previously inaccessible areas or
complete collections.

Since it is an Indiana Jones game, it is to be expected that there will be lots of puzzles
to solve. The puzzles are fun with the right amount of complexity to make you think,
but not get stuck for too long.

DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT CHIP SHORTAGES

The game looks very good, with some locations looking especially good. But it demands too much hardware, and does not run its best on
it. A few times, I experienced heavy sudden frame drops. Beyond that, it had consistent frame rates and stable performance. It is free from game-breaking bugs, but it does have
the occasional issues like NPCs blocking you
or clipping issues. The game rewards exploration with Adventure Points.

The points are used for the game’s progression system. Upon the discovery of mysteries or finishing side quests, you get rewarded with Adventure Points. The points can be spent on books you find while exploring that improve
your character stats and skills. But to save,
you must go through certain checkpoints in
the game in order to trigger a save to happen. There are no manual save or save-on-quit functions in the game.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an action adventure that is fun to play. It knows what it
is and what it needs to do. It provides a great narrative and visuals at decent performance. There is not much to complain about with
the game, besides enemy AI and saving.

AI really needs a lot of work done on for stealth
to be, well, stealthy. And only being able to
save your progress by triggering checkpoints
is bothersome. I think it is a no-brainer choice
for action-adventure fans if they
see it on a discount.

As long as they have the hardware it is asking for, that is. It is also available on Xbox Game Pass, which, if you have it, then I highly recommend trying this game on it.