The first five hours with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Look, I have played my fair share of Indiana Jones games. I even wrote a long chapter about them. For the longest time, the Fate of Atlantis was my favourite, because the puzzles and the story were incredibly good, and still are. Even for a 1992 game. However, the new game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is capable of stealing that crown. So far I am very impressed.
The game in general
So, first things first: I think my role in archaeogaming is to analyse video games that depict archaeology. I have written about it, taught about it, and even organised a hackathon about it (with more to come). I already have my thoughts, which I will share later in this post. But for now I want to talk about the game itself and how much fun it is. Because it is a lot of fun.
You start by replaying scenes from the first Indiana Jones movie, and this tutorial of sorts immediately catapults you back into the Raiders movie. The game definitely has that Indiana Jones vibe. This is partly due to the voice acting of Troy Baker, who does a more or less perfect impression of Indy. The digital twin of Indiana Jones behaves and sounds like the Indy in the movies, and the writing has also been done very well. The character is not only famous for his whip, but also for his wit. The story in the Great Circle captures that very well.
The game as a gamer
It is a first-person action game and we have to explore different levels, discover secrets, solve puzzles and sometimes fight some Nazis. I do not want to spoil the story, but I think it is well written and has some interesting characters to interact with. Also, I heard somewhere that the story of the Great Circle is better than his last two films. I totally agree.
The mechanics of the game are nothing special. We explore different levels and have to do some tasks here and there. Of course, we have our whip to help us fight, climb and jump over gaps. Some of the puzzles are exciting, but most of them involve taking something and moving it somewhere else. Because these tasks are so well integrated into the larger story, it doesn’t feel as repetitive as it should.
The game as an archaeogamer
Well, this is preliminary as I have only played the game for a couple of hours. Of course Indy steals artefacts, destroys heritage and justifies it for the greater good. That is actually what I expected. But there have been some positive surprises so far. One of the game mechanics is the use of a camera that Indy always carries with him. You can actually document archaeological finds and get points for it. Bravo! So simple, yet so powerful. Or in the Gizeh level, Indy is very friendly to the local workers and greets them when he passes by. A nice touch!
There is also a task in the beginning where we have to sort scattered finds from a museum into the correct cabinets. This is actually quite educational as we have to match the finds with pictures and other finds still in the cabinet. I think it is also a very nice and subtle way of teaching about archaeology and the past. I am sure there will be more positive mechanics, but I will have to get further into the game. For now, I can say that I am impressed and look forward to the holidays to spend some real time with Indiana Jones.
I don’t get any royalties here, but if you’re interested, check out Steam
