Indiana Jones adventure games were part of my gaming DNA growing up. From the Fate of Atlantis to the Emperor’s Tomb to both the Lego games (they totally count!) Indy has always found a place throughout my gaming journey, and it is exciting to finally see a big single player blockbuster cinematic adventure finally release on modern consoles. The original release was in December 2024 on Xbox Series X/S and PC to near perfect critic and audience scores, and now four months later, Indy makes the leap to the Playstation 5 with a ton of updates and customisations for the Sony systems, more specifically the PS5 Pro being able to get the best out of the game.
The Grand Circle is a grand and gorgeous globe-trotting adventure that hearkens back to the original stories of Indiana Jones and its narrative focus that incorporates solving puzzles, sneak attacks and bombastic action that make this one of the best tomb raiding adventure games ever made. With Bethesda choosing Machine Games to head this up, their work on the Wolfenstien and Quake games is evident here. The first-person view, strafing, shooting and great level design are all reminiscent of their previous work.
The game is played out in first person, which is a choice. It could have easily gone down the Tomb Raider and Uncharted third person view to easily fit in with this genre of games, however the decision to make it first person for gameplay makes it stand out from the rest. This mechanic also helps the game to feel more grand and cinematic, when you emerge from an underground tomb and see the pyramids in all their splendour. It is also a great way to get hands on with puzzles, even the simple act of unlocking a door with a key is a lot more immersive from this viewpoint.
The story starts off by giving every Indiana Jones fan their ultimate fantasy come to life in a game. It’s set during Raiders of the Lost Ark, you get to play the jungle discovery of the temple, swapping out the golden idol and running out of the tomb from a rolling rock. It’s the perfect way to showcase a tutorial, before jumping into the story of the Great Circle. A mission through Connecticut’s Marshall College which lets you explore all of the rich history on display here, a trip undercover as a priest in the Vatican City and slinking through Nazi dig sites in Egypt. All of these locations have been stunningly recreated with ray tracing and beautiful lighting, with full environments to explore outside of the main mission you have been sent there for.
What helps push the story and environments further are the absolute stellar performances from the cast involved. The mo cap main performance from Troy Baker sounds odd on paper, but Baker brings the trademarks of the Indy we all know and love, while also offering something more nuanced, with an experience that lasts about 20 hours, allowing us more time with our favourite whip cracking professor. The other performance that stands out is Marios Gavrilis as the evil Nazi archaeologist Emmerich Voss, he is the closest thing to the big bad villain of the game, and his willingness to go toe to toe with Indy, makes him a formidable foe.
So what’s different about this version I hear you ask? Every part of this game has been optomised to take the best advantage of the PS5, PS5 Pro and the Dual Sense controllers. For your record – I was playing on the PS5 Pro version and was astounded with how much the game works perfectly on the system, particularly after playing it on the Xbox Series X late last year. The first thing I noticed is the lack of loading from the menu to the main game. Even as you save the game, close it down and come back to it, there is a Bethesda logo reveal, a Machine Games logo and then bang you’re straight back in the game. It is barely a mili-second, you can’t even see the transition.
Visually the game runs a native 4K resolution with high levels of ray tracing and SSD acceleration. You cannot compare the PS5 and Xbox version side by side, the PS5 Pro outdoes it every single time. The frame rate is also locked at 60fps while still being able to give the same high level of ray tracing, and I noticed no drops or any visual bugs during my playthrough. The DualSense controller has also been fully decked out with haptic feedback when using weapons, the whip and even during cut scenes, you get some active rumble action which adds to the immersion.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a great Bethesda game for Xbox, made even better on the Playstation 5 Pro console thanks to the devs at Machine Games making full use of the hardware to get the best out of their software. If you have played the game before on an Xbox console, this PS5 Pro version is the ultimate way to experience this game. With perfect writing, stunning locations and a return to that old school Hollywood feel, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a great game, delivered perfectly on the Playstation 5 Pro.
Indiana Jones & The Great Circle is available on April 15 for early access and April 17 for all players.
