"Indiana Jones and the Great Circle": whips, puzzles, fights
The first-person perspective is a rarity in modern action games. However, it is essential for "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle", explain the developers.
Screenshot from "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle"
(Image: Bethesda)
The industry has made up its mind: Modern action games are to be played from the shoulder perspective. "The Witcher", "Horizon", "Uncharted", "Batman Arkham", "Spider-Man" or "Elden Ring" - the list goes on and on. Action games from a first-person perspective are a rarity - "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" by Machine Games swims against the tide.
The chosen camera not only determines the view of the action, it also determines the game design. Various gameplay elements simply work better in a first-person view, explained Machine Games developers Jerk Gustafsson and Axel Torvenius at an event in the run-up to Gamescom. In "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle", players not only have to run frantically through environments, but also look very closely - which works better the closer you are.
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"On the one hand, we at Machine Games have a long history of developing first-person games," said Creative Director Axel Torvenius. Machine Games developed the "Wolfenstein" games, which primarily fit into the first-person shooter category. "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" does not belong there. Nevertheless, the first-person view was the best option for the game idea. "This game is best experienced in the first-person perspective, because you can look at artifacts up close and solve puzzles better."
Ancient crypts like in an escape room
Heise online was able to see what this looks like during a gameplay demonstration. It consisted partly of scenes that were released as part of Gamescom, but also included previously unreleased gameplay. There were passages that were almost a little reminiscent of cheesy escape rooms. For example, Indiana had to examine mysterious mechanisms around a statue of the crucified Jesus in a crypt in order to be able to enter the correct number combinations elsewhere. Elsewhere, mirrors have been twisted so that their reflected light falls on a certain point. You have to keep snapping away with your camera to fill in your journal and record important clues.
Moving around also requires creative thinking. At one point, Indiana has to boldly throw a trident into the wall in order to swing along it later with his whip. The gameplay excerpts shown by Machine Games appear pleasantly decelerated and deliberate. Indiana is constantly on the lookout for tracks and clues to find his way around, learn more about his surroundings and solve puzzles. Environments are bursting with details and hidden secrets.
(Image:Â Bethesda)
The skill system in "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" is also worth a closer look: If you want to unlock new skills, you first have to find skill magazines, just like in "Fallout", in order to unlock them later with skill points rewarded for exploration. According to Jerk Gustafsson, the mission structure of the action game consists of a mixture of linear levels and extensive areas that can be freely explored. You can even find and complete side quests in these regions.
Fist fights and disguises
When you're not solving puzzles and exploring the surroundings, you're sneaking and fighting. Machine Games wants to make the sneaking passages chaotic and improvisational: You can pick up hammers, shovels and other ad-hoc tools in the environment to smack the Nazi guards over the head with. This not only breaks Nazi skulls, but also the tools themselves. As a player, you are always on the lookout for the next hiding place and a new strategy, constantly having to reorient yourself.
Fist fights are also fought from a first-person perspective, and Indy can use his whip for support. The title hero, voiced by Troy Baker and modeled by Machine Games as a young Harrison Ford, can also fire his revolver from time to time.
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During the gameplay demo, Machine Games showed another interesting gameplay element: disguises. In order to obtain an artifact in a Nazi camp, Indy has to disguise himself as a servant and hand the head Nazi a bottle of wine to avoid attracting attention. In addition to fixed story points, such disguises can also come in handy in side missions and when exploring, said the Machine Games developers.
"Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" will be released on December 9 for PC and Xbox Series X/S. A version for PS5 will follow in spring 2025. The developers did not want to comment directly on the scope of the game. But: "'Indiana Jones and the Great Circle' is the biggest game we've ever made," says Jerk Gustafsson.
(dahe)
