"Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" Video Game Talkback (Spoilers)

[wonderfly]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

“Indiana Jones” Gamplay Reveal Highlights The January 2024 Xbox Developer Direct"​

"Perhaps the biggest reveal was the first full trailer introducing the story, gameplay (and official title) for the Indiana Jones game. MachineGames is primarily known as the creators of the recent Wolfenstein games, which relied heavily on first-person perspective, and that trend continues with the upcoming Indiana Jones game (though there will be third-person cut scenes and moments of traversal in the world that require a third-person perspective). The trailer also reveals the likeness of Harrison Ford (though the voice acting of Indiana is provided by Troy Baker, most well known for the voice of “Joel” in “The Last of Us”.

This marks the first “Indiana Jones” video game (outside of Lego games and appearances in Fortnite) since “Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings” in 2009. Todd Howard, the Director and Executive Producer of Bethesda (the parent company of MachineGames) revealed in the Developer Direct that he’s been wanting to make an Indiana Jones game for years. It was also revealed that the time setting of the game was to take place between “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “The Last Crusade” (in other words, the best time period in the fictional hero’s life)."

Read the full article here.

Also, here's the official trailer:

 

[the_joker]

The most notable aspect of this game would be the fact that it's an Xbox exclusive, or more accurately not on PS5, as I don't believe that console has a ton of exclusives. I think it feels somewhat odd for a established IP not owned by Microsoft to be exclusive to their platforms (unlike the Star Wars games), though I am aware that it's being made at a studio owned by Microsoft. On the flip side, there are also the recent Spider-Man games being exclusive to PS as they were made by Insomniac which is owned by Sony, though a number of them have become available on PC for reasons I don't understand. But I digress.

As for the game itself, I don't have much to say. I don't own any kind of Xbox console (yet) or a gaming computer, and I'm only a casual viewer of the Indiana Jones movies. If this becomes successful, at least Microsoft will have it's own Uncharted-style game(s) as well as its own major exclusives.

 

[wonderfly]

Well, if the rumors of "Hi-Fi Rush" coming to Playstation and Nintendo Switch are true, maybe there will come a time when "Indiana Jones" will come to other consoles.

But do I want to wait that long? I think I'm just going to have to breakdown and buy a Xbox Series S (or go all out for a Series X). The Indiana Jones trailer just looked that thrilling, it really captured the spirit of the 80's films (not so much the later films).

EDIT: The developers said this takes place between "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade". Upon further review, I found "the internet" says that this is the timeline for the "classic" Indiana Jones films:

"Temple of Doom" takes place in 1935
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" takes place in 1936.
And "The Last Crusade" takes place in 1938.

So, "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" takes place....in 1937? You would think they'd spread out the years of the original films a bit more. Would it have hurt for some of his adventures to actually occur during World War 2?

And when do Indiana Jones' other video game adventures occur? Or are those now "non-canon"?

 

[wonderfly]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

"“Indiana Jones And The Great Circle” No Longer An Xbox Exclusive"​

"Back at the Xbox Developers Direct in January, the company revealed the upcoming game “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle”, with a tentative release date of “2024”. It’s now August, and with the months ticking away, fans were anticipating Xbox to reveal the release date at the annual “Gamescom” trade show this week, and the publisher did not disappoint: A new trailer revealed the game is now scheduled for release on December 9th, 2024.

But along with a reveal date, another key aspect was revealed: The game will now be coming to the PlayStation 5 in the Spring of 2025! Xbox exclusivity has come into question more and more over the last several months, as Xbox released 4 games to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 earlier this year (the games included Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded and Sea of Thieves).

The addition of “Indiana Jones” to the list of titles that are no longer “Xbox exclusive” left several Xbox fans bewildered, as Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said back in March that Indiana Jones was NOT going to PlayStation. That statement, in retrospect, turned out to be that Indiana Jones was not one of the 4 initial titles announced as going to PlayStation or Nintendo. But that raises the question: What OTHER Xbox first party titles will possibly go to PlayStation or Nintendo systems in the months or years ahead? And with that in mind, what is the reason for owning an Xbox console, if this many games are going to other console ecosystems?"

Read the full article here.

Also, here's the latest trailer:

 

[wonderfly]

Here's the "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" Accolades trailer:



Apparently the game turned out to be pretty good, among both critics and fan reviews (it's sitting at an "86" on Metacritic scores).

I'm still waiting for the PS5 version though.

 

[the_joker]

This game getting ported to PS5 makes me slightly more hopeful for Elder Scrolls 6 also coming to PS5, but I certainly shouldn't get my hopes too high (and ES3 and ES4 are still not on PS4/5).

As for the game itself, it seems to run well on Xbox Series X/S, so here's hoping to an immediately good port for PS5. It was also nice to see the game recreating scenes from the first movie


I really should rewatch the movies at some point as it has been too long, and I haven't even seen Crystal Skull yet.

 

[Classic Speedy]

As I mentioned in the What Are You Playing? thread, I bought the PS5 version and have been playing it the last few days, and am up to Giza. I really can't say enough good things about this game. It's gorgeous, with such high attention to detail in the environments. The puzzles are fun, and while they're not terribly taxing, they're still enjoyable to solve and have that Indy flavor. The John Williams-esque soundtrack is excellent. Voice acting, superb- Troy Baker sounds so much like Harrison Ford it's scary. And the game even has some legitimately funny moments in it, which we expect from the Indy franchise. There are also a lot of optional side missions that you can partake in, mostly item collecting but given how large and detailed the hub areas are, you want to explore every last nook and cranny. The mostly first person viewpoint really works well, and it's refreshing to have a game like this which doesn't involve shooting everyone (fun as those can be).

Also, love the Raiders intro stage, that's definitely some grade A fanservice right there.

Okay, if I had to give a criticism, the combat can be kind of clunky. Thankfully though, it's not a big part of the game.

 

[Classic Speedy]

DLC: The Order of Giants is coming 9/4/25!

It can't come fast enough. Even after beating the game I went back and replayed levels to get items I missed and complete side quests- it was addicting. So the DLC will give even more replay value to an already great game.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Sorry for the triple post but nobody else wants to chime in. (come on, people, it's a great game!)

Anyway, it's getting a Switch 2 release next year. I was wondering how a game which required such powerful consoles as the XBS and PS5 would fare on Switch 2, but I dunno, looks pretty good to me!

 

[wonderfly]

Sorry for the triple post but nobody else wants to chime in. (come on, people, it's a great game!)

It's on my "pick it up eventually" list. I definitely want to play it!

Also, they announced DLC today: