Indiana Jones And The Great Circle Extended Gameplay Reveals A Raiders-Like Adventure

The Indiana Jones franchise began in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark, a film that many would argue remains the best movie in the series. Bethesda and MachineGames’ upcoming game, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, takes some influence from each of the three original films. But in the latest extended gameplay video, the Great Circle has more than a passing resemblance with Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The parallels start early in the video, when Indy takes an idol from its perch and triggers a trap, much like the opening minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It could be argued that this the incident that taught Indy to use a counterweight when swapping out idols, although that strategy still failed him in Raiders.

A good deal of the tone also feels like it was lifted from Raiders, including the sequence where Indy is at Marshall College, his home away from home when he isn’t hunting down priceless relics. The game’s heroine, Gina, echoes Indy’s first love, Marion Ravenwood, in part because the former has an agenda that doesn’t necessarily line up with his. Indy wants to stop the Nazis from uncovering the secrets of the Great Circle, while Gina is an Italian journalist who just wants to find her missing sister.

No Indiana Jones story would be complete without a globe-spanning adventure, and the Great Circle has that as well. Indy’s primary weapons against the Nazi guards are usually his fists, or anything that happens to be at hand. The video also teases some of the puzzles that Indy has to solve, as well as some sequences that move into third-person view while Indy navigates hidden tombs.

That largely lines up with GameSpot’s early hands-on experience with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which emphasized stealth over combat. And Indy won’t ever shoot or punch a dog in the game. Nazis, however, are fair game for both.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will hit Xbox Series X|S and PC on December 9. A PlayStation 5 port will follow in Spring 2025.