Indiana Jones Review: What is the Last Big Xbox Game of the Year Worth ?

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Among the “exclusive” games expected this year 2024 on Xbox and PC, there was obviously the very immersive Hellblade 2 of course, without forgetting the recent Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. But there was also (and above all!) a certain Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle. Cooked up by MachineGames and supervised by Bethesda, the game is obviously an Xbox/PC exclusive in 2024, but Indy will also arrive on PS5 in 2025 (with probably a PS5 Pro optimization). Highly anticipated, does this new game stamped Indiana Jones keep all its promises ?

The best Indiana Jones game since… since forever ?

Indeed, even though the Indiana Jones film saga was a hit in the 1980s and 1990s (and still is), when it comes to video games, players haven't really been treated to a worthy adaptation. Sure, some people had a blast with Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Atlantis (a point-and-click on PC) in 1992 or Greatest Adventures (Super Nintendo) in 1994, but it wasn't enough to make it a “classic”. The saga did get a Tomb of the Emperor in the early 2000s and a Scepter of Kings in 2009, but nothing that really did justice to the glory of the original trilogy. But all that was before this Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle.

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Forget (temporarily) Nathan Drake and the Uncharted series as well as Lara Croft, the real Indiana Jones is back. Be careful though, unlike the games in question, this Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle does not position itself as a real competitor, the developers having made the bet to opt, not for an action-adventure game in third person view, but for an adventure game in first person view, with a bit of action.

Context-wise, we obviously play Professor Jones here, with a story that will fit between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. We play a young Indiana Jones (in the 1930s), who will quickly leave his position as a professor at Marshall College to pursue a colossus who has stolen an artifact from the adjacent Museum. It is the beginning of a (long) journey that will take the famous archaeologist to various countries around the world, to once again face the Nazi threat.

An action/adventure game, but above all an adventure game

After a particularly tasty prologue, Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle offers a first level allowing you to get acquainted with Professor Jones. We find a game in FPS view (Wolfenstein style), which is mainly based on exploration, solving puzzles, with obviously sometimes a bit of action. Of course, the adventure concocted by MachineGames very quickly takes us to new lands, with semi-open areas that offer a main objective of course, but also secondary missions that we advise you not to miss.

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Indeed, throughout the adventure, you will have to learn to use new gadgets, to put on certain disguises, but you can also accept various secondary quests, which sometimes allow you to discover a whole new environment. Indiana Jones obliges, we often find ourselves faced with riddles and other puzzles to solve, and not only are these very inspired, but we feel as smart as our dear Indy once we overcome them.

On the action side, however, this Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle is clearly old-fashioned, with certainly hand-to-hand combats very close to those that we can appreciate in the films, but with the controller in hand, the feeling is still very average. It's messy, it's not always very “logical”, and in reality, we quickly end up trying to dodge these same fights as much as possible, (very) far from constituting the heart of the game. Note that we can also use firearms, but their use quickly becomes anecdotal in reality.

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Added to this is a really stupid AI, which sometimes struggles to spot you from two meters away and/or if you have just smashed a Nazi's helmet with a shovel. It's shameful for a 2024 game yes… but without meaning to, it's ultimately a bit “in keeping” with the Indiana Jones atmosphere. A blessing in disguise, one might say.

An “Indiana Jones effect” that works like thunder

Same thing on the graphics side, with a game that offers sublime textures (not to mention the lighting effects!), but which generally lacks life (the vegetation in particular), coherence, with a bonus of some serious popping sometimes, a few bugs here and there, animations from another age, just like those of the faces, sometimes very inexpressive (but sometimes not). We also appreciate the French dubbing, even if the sublime voice of Richard Darbois does not necessarily fit with this Indy game. It is obvious at the beginning of the adventure, and we pay less attention to it as the hours go by, appreciating the countless thoughts out loud of this good Dr. Jones.

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But there again, without doubt “the’Indiana Jones effect“, we easily forgive these few worries to focus on the adventure, which is really gripping in its exploration part. It is difficult not to be moved by discovering a temple hidden under a fountain, by foiling the traps on the way (like The Last Crusade) to go and retrieve the artifact at the end of the room, all with a very neat sound design. On the difficulty side, the game allows you to independently dose the fights, but also the puzzles. You can therefore choose to put the fights on Easy (which we recommend), to dispatch the fights more quickly, and leave the difficulty slider on Normal for the puzzles. A side “à la carte” really very well seen from the developers.

The fact is that the player feels totally “actor” in this Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle, and the immersion is clearly one of the strong points of the game. And so much the worse for the “old” side of the whole sometimes, including at the level of the in-game interface, which will make you cry more than once that's for sure. No EXP here, but adventure points to collect based on your prowess, which allow you to buy books and other very useful objects for the rest of the adventure, which will require at least 20 hours, and much more if you plan to search the environments and complete the side quests (which we strongly recommend).

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Our opinion on Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle

Ultimately, Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle is an excellent action/adventure title, with an assumed “old-school” side, sometimes bordering on point’n click in certain sequences. The action is there, of course, but it is a bit old-fashioned and messy, and it is the adventure and immersion that take precedence here. Moreover, the game is full of very successful cutscenes, so much so that we sometimes end up progressing in the story, mainly to visualize the next one, as we would watch one of the first three films.

So yes, the French dubbing is questionable (and the lip-syncing is terrible), the game, although visually very clean, suffers from a few flaws (bugs, popping, lack of life…), but what a pleasure to be able to immerse yourself to this point in the Indiana Jones universe. Despite obvious flaws, we enjoy a superb experience here, with the impression of participating more than ever in an adventure that could not be more faithful to the Indiana Jones spirit. So, try it, especially if you are a fan of the first three episodes of the film saga.

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