Every day is a good day to punch a Nazi, and MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle understands this better than almost any other game I’ve ever played. I wasn’t expecting to love the title as much as I do – the last new Wolfenstein from MachineGames didn’t hook me near as much as the previous one, and I was unsure about the cast. However, I’ve rarely been more consistently pleasantly surprised.
I’ve grown tired of hearing certain voice actors in games. You know the ones I mean – people like Nolan North, Jennifer Hale, Yuri Lowenthal, and Laura Bailey. Troy Baker’s been on that list for a while too, but he puts on such a good performance as Indiana Jones that it’s easy to forget you aren’t just listening to Harrison Ford B-roll. It’s like watching Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer after seeing him play nothing but Tony Stark for the past fifteen years. You forget that, man, Troy Baker can act.
Swat ‘Em, Smack ‘Em, Shoot ‘Em With A Gun
No matter which way you choose to dispense of fascists in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, it looks and sounds terrific. From the ineffectual smacks of a flyswatter to the heavy thud of a sledgehammer to the ratta-tat-tat of a machine gun, every action has the appropriate weight and catharsis behind it. Don’t get me started on how fun it is to use the whip.
History has rarely given us such unequivocally evil villains as Nazis, and that’s why they make such good enemies in video games. It’s an enemy you can hate without question, without fear of a moral grey area. Nazis are evil, and they need to be eradicated and destroyed, because if you don’t they will spread unspeakable horrors across the world. This is true in real life, and it’s true in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
On All That Other Stuff Going On
Wait, what’s happening?
Do we really have to go over this again? Right now? I’ve been having such a good time beating fascists with sledgehammers. Do we have to do this now?
You know what, that pretty much says it all. Let’s move on.
Oh good, see, someone’s already written an article about it. And another. I don’t need to add my own two cents. Good on all y’all for catching it early. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Monday morning there is peace.” That might as well be the slogan for this column every week.
But What About The Game Awards 2024?
Can’t we just talk about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle? Yes, it’s the best Indiana Jones movie that exists, but also I have a lot to say about how good it feels to throw a Nazi off a rooftop. Like, do you understand the level of satisfaction you get from the dopamine spike which comes from watching a fascist’s body ragdoll down some steps after you threw it from the fourth floor of the Vatican?
The Game Awards 2024 were fine and were even sometimes good. There were no incredibly awkward moments like there have been in previous years, and I’d say the most “meme-able” moment was just Harrison Ford staring into the camera and making his “I’m not gonna read all that,” gesture. It’s genuinely funny. And he congratulated Troy Baker on his performance as Indiana Jones, which was the only relevant moment to this issue of Ludology Now! in the entire show. Watch it below:
Now, let’s speak no more of The Game Awards until 2025 (except to say that someone really should have handed Todd Howard some platform shoes).
Indiana Jones’ Villains Are Always Easy To Hate
MachineGames knew what they were doing with the enemies and villains in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Voss in particular is delightfully hateable, somehow fitting directly inside the Venn diagram that consists of René Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Senator Steven Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It’s a subcategory of despicable antagonists I didn’t know existed, but I’m 100% here for.
This is smart. Nazis should not be depicted sympathetically, they should be depicted as someone you want to hit with a shovel. And hitting Nazis with pretty much any melee weapon in Great Circle is so much fun, I find myself going out of my way to do it even in the middle of what are ostensibly “stealth” sections.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle: Tips I Wish I Knew Earlier
You can travel back to previous locations at the press of a button from the menu. There are hidden disguises in the overworld which make it easier to traverse enemy camps undisturbed. You can smash open certain boxes to obtain money and other items if you have a strong enough melee weapon. That house puzzle has panels on each side of it.
Another good thing about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is that it was a Day One launch title on Game Pass. I’ve spoken before about how I think Xbox Game Pass is the best deal for kids out there, and it’s still true for adults too.
The Great Circle is best when it makes you feel like Indiana Jones completely organically. After dying three times in the boss fight at the end of the first location of the game, I suddenly remembered I had a gun and shot my opponent dead in seconds. Once, I was spotted by Nazis and ran as fast as I could into the nearest exit, which happened to lead me into an underground temple filled with relics. These moments don’t need to be sought out – they just happen.
This Is About Social Media
When I’m playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, sometimes I’ll come across a bunch of fascists sitting in a group. If I have the time and they’re not well-observed, it’s an easy decision to pick up the nearest beating stick and knock them into a (possibly lethal) coma. This is the Vatican, punk. Fascists aren’t welcome here.
The same goes in Gizeh. If a Nazi sits down at a table, and none of the other people say anything, the safest course of action is to assume that all of them are Nazis and to deal with them accordingly. No one who sits at the same table with a Nazi, no one who lets a fascist into their home willingly, deserves to be respected or treated with anything but hatred and derision. That’s why it’s nice to be able to send Indiana back to the University every now and then – it’s easier to breathe when there are no Nazis around.
THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED MEDIA:
- I’ve been playing Mouthwashing on our 13-year-old’s suggestion, and good lord is that a game. Fans of Indiana Jones won’t find much to love here; Mouthwashing is all PS1-style graphics, emotional and physical horror, and a dab of satirical introspection. It’s short, eye-opening (literally), and absolutely worth checking out if you are a fan of horror games.
- I’ve just finished Sink The Bismark by C.S. Forester, a mostly factual account of the last nine days of the German battleship Bismark in 1939. The story jumps back and forth between characters, locations, and points of view in order to give as much of an overview of the situation as possible, and it’s quite interesting. I highly recommend it if you enjoy historical nautical titles.
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