Get ready for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle with games and movies
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an upcoming adventure-action title from MachineGames
- Xbox Game Pass Tiers: Ultimate and PC
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S and PC
Set in 1937, between the Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade movies, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle sees the intrepid archeologist embark on a global adventure to uncover the mysteries of the titular Great Circle.
Unlike the Wolfenstein series, MachineGames is giving us a much slower-paced game to hand Nazis a well-deserved beatdown in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: it’s a first-person “adventure-action” game with a focus on stealth exploration and puzzle solving. With the game now so close to release, here are a few fun things to dive into as we excitedly prepare to don that fedora.
Get in the adventuring mood with Xbox games
For those players on newer systems seeking a bit of adventure, look no further than the queen of action-adventure games herself: Lara Croft. If you’re yet to play the Survivor Trilogy, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is available in Xbox Game Pass for all tiers and sees you sneaking, exploring, and puzzle-solving your way across a mystical island for one hell of a cinematic adventure.
For a game that most closely resembles the gameplay in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the fantastic Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is the place to be. However, the only way to play it now, unfortunately, is on an OG Xbox or Xbox 360, as it isn’t backwards compatible. If you do happen to have those consoles and can source a copy of the game, you’ll find yourself dropped into a dark world where stealth and first-person combat is a focus.
Similar to Escape from Butcher Bay, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle uses a first-person view, only letting us see Indy during cutscenes or when performing actions such as climbing and crawling under obstacles. Much like Riddick, Indy cannot survive too many shots, so using stealth is the best way to survive when delving into the game’s many Nazi-filled areas. This is a great game to check out if you want a similar-feeling experience to MachineGames’ upcoming title.
Bonus: If you happen to already own a copy — it was a Games with Gold title in 2021 — Indy’s other video game adventure, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, is worth a look. It’s an OG Xbox title that can be played on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One via backwards compatibility, but sadly the game was delisted from the store a while back.
Dive into the goofiness of LEGO Indiana Jones
Do you really have a blockbuster film franchise if Lego hasn’t licensed it for a fun, blocky parody? No, I don’t think so. Both Lego Indiana Jones: Original Adventures and Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues can be played on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. Just like the many other Lego titles from TT Games, you can expect to explore the films in Lego form with all the gags, comedy, and general goofiness we all love from the Lego games.
If, however, you’d rather sit down over the weekend to craft your own model, there is a fantastic selection of Lego Indiana Jones models to fiddle with. From a nice big depiction of the Temple of the Golden Idol from Raiders of the Arc — a fitting model to build while we wait for the Great Circle — to a blocky depiction of The Last Crusade’s fighter plane chase, it’s tough to recommend just one out of the bunch. If you love your Lego, then just pick the one that you find most immediately appealing!
Watch Raiders of the Lost Arc and The Last Crusade
You can’t have a list of fun things to indulge in while you wait for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle without mentioning the film it follows: Raiders of the Lost Ark. The first Indy film to be released and the top pick for many Indy fans, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a timeless classic.
Set in 1936, Raiders of the Lost Ark sees Indiana Jones racing the Nazis to the lost Ark of the Covenant. Not only is it a fantastic movie, but my Indiana Jones and the Great Circle preview earlier this year revealed a few references to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
While not strictly necessary, I also recommend checking out The Last Crusade; not because it has any ties to the Great Circle that I know of, but because it’s my personal favorite! The humorous dynamic between Indy and his father (Sean Connery) is just a blast as they have run-in after run-in with the Nazis while searching for Holy Grail. The comedy is a step up from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it’s still an action-packed thrill ride.
