Indiana Jones and the Great Circleis better than it has any right to be. There’s plenty to love in this recent Indy game, but level design might just be its crown jewel:Great Circleis brimming with cleverly crafted environments, all of which include deep secrets, hidden paths, and unique, grounded architectural marvels.
Players will get a heavy dose of this stellar level design shortly afterIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s prologue, when they are carried away to Vatican City. This is the first open-ended area of the game, introducing its broad and multifaceted environment design. Ancient catacombs, climbable structures, covert rooftops, and underground fighting rings are just a few promising attractions in this recreated European city, making it a joy to explore. The presentation of such an iconic real-world location is mirrored only by the likes of theAssassin’s Creedfranchise, specifically the Ezio-ledACgames, which take players across Italy, allowing them to dig into a number of different historical settings.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Is a Continuation of Assassin’s Creed’s Open-World Italy
Why Assassin’s Creed 2 and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Have Such Great Level Design
Before morphing into an expansive open-world franchise akin to the likes ofThe Witcher 3,Assassin’s Creed’s environments were far denser. It would be inaccurate to call a game likeAssassin’s Creed 2"small," of course, but its size and scope were more defined by verticality and tightly layered facets within meticulously detailed cities;AC2lacks the vast, sprawling natural landscapes of a game likeAssassin’s Creed Valhalla.
The scenic English countryside has its benefits, as do the endless, enchanting deserts of Egypt, but there’s a certain magic to the granularly designed cities of olderAssassin’s Creedgames that’s hard to replicate. There’s a real sense of history and mystery in these locales, as the games hide an inherent promise of powerful secrets around every corner. And oftentimes, games likeAC2andAC Brotherhooddeliver on this promise.Assassin’s Creedmay have shifted away from this design philosophy, but it lives on inIndiana Jones and the Great Circle.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Italy Is Highly Reminiscent of Classic Assassin’s Creed
Many of the aforementioned strengths ofAssassin’s Creed’s Italian cities are reflected by the open-world Rome ofIndiana Jones and the Great Circle.Great Circle’s looping, multilayered level design often feels like an even more condensed version ofAC2’s Florence or, naturally,AC Brotherhood’s Rome: it’s filled with powerful secrets, both large and small, and its vertical exploration allows for unconventional traversal. Traipsing through ancient catacombs below the city’s surface feels an awful lot like spelunking in Assassin’s Tombs, and searching for long-forgotten secrets hidden in plain sight is more than a little reminiscent of Eagle Vision clue-hunting.
Indiana Jones may not be quite as acrobatic or athletic as Ezio, but he does engage in a fair bit of climbing, shimmying, and creeping around rooftops inGreat Circle, which can feel like anotherblast from the past forAssassin’s Creed 2fans.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Is an Evolution of Old-School Assassin’s Creed, Not an Imitation
Make no mistake,Great Circledoesn’t have much in common withAssassin’s Creedfrom a gameplay or structural perspective. Rather, it’s its ambitious and faithful recreation of historical settings, with a healthy dose of creative liberty, that hearkens back to Ubisoft’s earlier action-adventure titles. Verisimilitude is something thatGreat Circleshares withAssassin’s Creed 2(many in-game locations look almost identical to their real-world counterparts, in both games), but whileAC2,AC Brotherhood, and evenAC Revelationssubvert this verisimilitudethrough classic adventure game tropes,Great Circleurges players to focus on it, putting them in the shoes of an archaeologist rather than a globe-trotting assassin.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
WHERE TO PLAY
Uncover one of history’s greatest mysteries in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a first-person, single-player adventure set between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The year is 1937, sinister forces are scouring the globe for the secret to an ancient power connected to the Great Circle, and only one person can stop them - Indiana Jones™. You’ll become the legendary archaeologist in this cinematic action-adventure game from MachineGames, the award-winning studio behind the recent Wolfenstein series, and executive produced by Hall of Fame game designer Todd Howard.YOU ARE INDIANA JONESLive the adventure as Indy in a thrilling story full of exploration, immersive action, and intriguing puzzles. As the brilliant archaeologist – famed for his keen intellect, cunning resourcefulness, and trademark humor – you will travel the world in a race against enemy forces to discover the secrets to one of the greatest mysteries of all time.A WORLD OF MYSTERY AWAITSTravel from the halls of Marshall College to the heart of the Vatican, the pyramids of Egypt, the sunken temples of Sukhothai, and beyond. When a break-in in the dead of night ends in a confrontation with a mysterious colossal man, you must set out to discover the world-shattering secret behind the theft of a seemingly unimportant artifact. Forging new alliances and facing familiar enemies, you’ll engage with intriguing characters, use guile and wits to solve ancient riddles, and survive intense set-pieces.WHIP-CRACKING ACTIONIndiana’s trademark whip remains at the heart of his gear and can be used to distract, disarm, and attack enemies. But the whip isn’t just a weapon, it’s Indy’s most valuable tool for navigating the environment. Swing over unsuspecting patrols and scale walls as you make your way through a striking world. Combine stealth infiltration, melee combat, and gunplay to combat the enemy threat and unravel the mystery.THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERYVenture through a dynamic mix of linear, narrative-driven gameplay and open-area maps. Indulge your inner explorer and unearth a world of fascinating secrets, deadly traps ,and fiendish puzzles, where anything could potentially hide the next piece of the mystery – or snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?
