From IGN.com
Lucasfilm chose wisely when partnering with MachineGames to make a AAA Indiana Jones video game. The talented studio revived and modernized Wolfenstein, and before that made one of the greatest licensed video games of all time and one of the best original Xbox games ever in The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. And so it is high praise when we say that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is the best game this group of developers has ever made – not to mention the best Indiana Jones anything since The Last Crusade, 35 years ago.
Some gamers were skeptical when we found out back in January that Indy’s latest interactive adventure would be played primarily in first-person. But once everyone played it, MachineGames’s choice was quickly validated. The Great Circle completely immerses you as Indiana Jones, from the shadow of your fedora on a wall to the versatile whip in your hand to the leather jacket that squeaks as you walk – not to mention the absolutely S-tier performance of veteran voice actor Troy Baker, who completely disappears into the role of Indiana Jones and convinces your ears and brain that you’re somehow anachronistically listening to a 40-something Harrison Ford.
The Great Circle has action, sure, but that action occurs as a complement to the real heart of it: adventure. Your whip can be used to stun enemies – or knock the gun out of their hands – but it’s mostly used for traversal as a makeshift rope to help you navigate the crypts, tombs, cities, and dig sites you’ll visit around the world. And the swelling orchestral score makes the big moments feel extra big, just as it did in the Indiana Jones movies. The writing is also spot-on, with humor being used to punctuate various scenes and make sure the tone always stays fun without ever getting too dark or serious. Oh, and you’ll be solving puzzles too. So, so many puzzles both big and small. And they’re all really enjoyable to figure out.
In short, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle isn’t just the best Xbox game of the year, it’s the best game that Microsoft has shipped under any of its banners since IGN’s 2021 overall Game of the Year winner, Forza Horizon 5. It’s a globe-trotting adventure-action romp that eschews shooting in favor of punching, puzzles, whips, quips, story, sidequests, and setpieces. It is brilliant, impossible to put down, and it plays unlike any other first-person game out there. It easily and deservedly wins IGN’s Best Xbox Game of 2024 award.
