Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: all that is now known.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to consoles soon. After a small teaser was announced for 2021, we’re finally starting to piece together the mystery that is this new MachineGames game.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be coming to consoles soon.

Although many popular and successful games have been based on the Indiana Jones movie franchise, including Uncharted and Tomb Raider, Indy himself has yet to be utilized in a true action-adventure game worthy of his legacy. Will this game be the one that reminds audiences who is the true pioneer of the adventure action and puzzle-solving genre around the world? Time will tell, but we can at least speculate based on the clues we’ve found.

So far, we’re not sure.

Release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be released on Xbox and PC on December 9, with the PlayStation 5 version coming in the spring of 2025.

Platforms

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t exclusive to the Xbox console like we all thought. This game will join four other Xbox games that will be released on the PlayStation 5 at a later date.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Trailers

The first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle reintroduces us to Indy, who, predictably, finds himself up to his eyeballs in trouble. The trailer doesn’t reveal any details, but comments from the developers at the Developer Direct event where it was shown revealed the basics of the game’s story.

The trailer does not reveal any details, but the developers’ comments from the Developer Direct event at which it was shown revealed the basics of the game’s plot.

The action of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will unfold before the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. After realizing that a seemingly unimportant artifact has been stolen, Indy will set out on a quest to find answers. This promises to lead him to more mysteries and conspiracies that will be revealed throughout the game. It’s known that the Nazis will be involved, and it’s up to players to stop what they’re planning.

And it’s up to players to stop what they’re planning.

The next trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle we got during the Xbox Games Showcase in 2024. It was almost entirely cinematic and laid down a few plot points. We already knew that Indy is on the trail of a stolen artifact, but now we know that it’s one of many artifacts to be found. All the places he has to go form a circle on the globe, hence the name of the game. This trailer focuses on the Himalayas.

Himalayas.

Exploring a frozen battleship, Indy and investigative reporter Gina Lombardi find what they’re looking for, but are quickly ambushed by Nazis. In traditional Indiana Jones fashion, Indy and the big bad guy banter for a few moments while Gina gets into position to throw a grenade and cause chaos. The Date Reveal Trailer features more behind-the-scenes footage than gameplay.

See the Date Reveal Trailer.

Gameplay

.

There was a lot of controversy about whether Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would be a third-person game. But the first gameplay quickly dispelled that mystery, confirming that the game will be almost entirely first-person. The only exceptions are scenes and movement actions, such as climbing around the environment. This makes sense, as the developers have a lot of experience in making first-person games and wanted to really put players in Indiana Jones’ shoes.

The game’s developers are very experienced in making first-person games and wanted to really put players in Indiana Jones’ shoes.

Fighting so far consists of hand-to-hand combat using fists, a frying pan, a whip, and a trusty pistol to shoot enemies. No other weapons have been shown (save for a machine gun mounted on an airplane during one of the episodes), so it remains to be seen whether you’ll stick to these basic tools or change weapons as you progress. The game also features some platforming and exploration elements, which will be used to dilute the combat and story moments.

The game will also feature some platforming and exploration elements.

Puzzles — another important component of the game. We see Indy exploring ancient ruins and interacting with various gadgets to advance. Several impressions have been published, telling us what the initial part of the game is really like. The tutorial takes place at Marshall College, where you fail to fend off intruders and are forced to engage in detective work and puzzle solving to figure out what exactly was stolen.

The game’s premise is that you can’t fight off intruders, and you’re forced to engage in detective work and puzzle solving to figure out what exactly was stolen.

Stealth is also noted as a mechanic, but it doesn’t seem forced. You have the option to grab and throw items to create a distraction or use them for stealthy capture. If you get caught, the mission isn’t over, and the game is pretty lenient about allowing you to go back to stealth rather than putting you on alert for the rest of the mission. Even in the more linear missions, you can find alternate routes, but not to a significant degree.

An alternative route can be found.

The Giza area — one of the game’s most open areas, where players are free to explore and complete various quests. There are still plenty of enemy patrols and camps to watch out for, but players will have more freedom in how to approach or avoid them. You won’t be given a map, however, and will have to collect them in the environment and navigate around them rather than relying on UI elements to navigate. This is also where disguises came in. By disguising themselves as the enemy, players will be able to freely infiltrate Nazi camps without attracting attention.

The open areas also feature side challenges, including finding wanted posters and a path to a tomb. Other optional puzzles and discoveries can be found more organically by exploring the terrain or eavesdropping on NPC conversations in the environment. Weapons are extremely rare in both levels. Stealth, hand-to-hand combat and using the environment to eliminate enemies — that’s what you should be focusing on, not pistol shooting.

So you’ll want to focus on the gunplay.

Pre-order

For now, you can pre-order Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Xbox or PC, and, we assume, on PlayStation 5 when that release date becomes known. For now, there’s a choice of standard and premium editions available.

Standard Edition: $70
Game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Bonus for pre-order — The Last Crusade set (cosmetic costume and whip).

.

Premium Edition: $100
Everything in the standard edition
3 days of Early Access
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: Order of Giants DLC
Digital artbook
The Temple of Destiny outfit.

.