Indiana Jones and the Great Circlehas a lot riding on it remaining faithful to the films, simply due to the legacy theIndiana Jonesmovies have built over the last four decades. Thankfully,Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s developer MachineGames has thoroughly devoted itself to ensuring every part of the game reflects the nature of the film series, especially its combat.
Game Rant had the opportunity to speak withIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s creative director Axel Torvanius and its design director Jens Andersson following a special presentation of the game atGamescom 2024. During the interview, Andersson shared some of the ins and outs ofIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s combat and how it stays true to the films by discouraging the use of a gun.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Discourages the Use of a Gun
Indiana Joneshas never been about combat but about intrigue and discovery. That said, there is plenty of combat in the films, so it needed to be integrated intoIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s gameplaysomehow. The only issue would be implementing it in a way that remains faithful to the films, and that means fewer gunfights and more fistfights. When asked about what the general philosophy behindIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s combat was, Andersson replied:
“It all comes back to the character. We want to put you in the shoes of Indiana Jones and give you the tools that he has. That means you have your revolver, sure, you can pull it out and shoot someone, but that doesn’t happen in the movie. We don’t want to reward you for doing that either. It’s a choice that we give you.”
There are several familiar tools players will have at their disposal inIndiana Jones and the Great Circlebeyond the explorer’s revolver. Of course,Indiana Jones' most important tool is his whip, so MachineGames had to make players want to use it as much as possible. That means designing it to be useful in traversal and effective enough in combat that players would grab it instead of their gun. On the subject of the iconic whip, Andersson continued:
“The whip that we give you, on the other hand, we want you to use it as much as possible. You use that as a traversal tool to get around, but you can also use it to disarm people or initiate combat by pulling someone into melee range so you can start punching them.”
MachineGames has clearly gone to great lengths to ensureIndiana Jones and the Great Circleremains true to the filmsin every way, especially in its combat. As such, the game’s combat escalates with the same crescendo as one might witness in anIndiana Jonesmovie — from quiet to chaotic. Still, MachineGames recommends players try to avoid chaos as much as possible by favoring a stealthy approach over a guns-blazing approach. As Andersson concluded for the game’s combat,
“We have this layered action combat sequence. You usually start in stealth, you go through it with a disguise or not, and then when that goes wrong, it escalates to hand-to-hand, melee-style fighting…If things go awry and people start shooting, sure, at that point you have nothing to lose, you can start shooting back—but that’s high stakes and a dangerous route to go. What’s interesting is that we managed to preserve this kind of cycle so you don’t go straight to the gun. Even if we give you that choice, it’s not the most effective, and it’s not the most fun way to play the game.”
Transforming the films' essence into a video game is no short order, but MachineGames seems to have done everything in its power to keep the atmosphere of theIndiana JonesmoviesinIndiana Jones and the Great Circle. Because of that, when players finally step into Indy’s shoes come December, they might want to train their itchy trigger fingers to grip the whip instead.
