Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: XBox Series X Review

Developed by Machine Games
Released by Bethesda
Platform: XBox Series X

The XBox family doesn't really have as many story-led games as it perhaps should - but Indiana Jones and the Great Circle upends that tradition brilliantly and demands that there be plenty of others.

Set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Last Crusade, The Great Circle gets off to a fantastic start allowing you to relive one of cinema's greatest sequences as Harrison Ford's Jones escapes a giant boulder and betrayal while searching for treasure in the jungle.

But it's from here where the game forges its own path, taking in the Vatican City, a conspiracy and much, much more that would be ruining the experience without spoilers. Suffice to say, the kind of globe-trotting, swash buckling adventure you'd get from the films is what you experience here.

While MachineGames have developed the Wolfenstein series and some of its footprints are scattered throughout this game, the company's swerved away from simply replacing its MO with a do-over and taken what works best about the Indiana Jones character and ran with it.

Chiefly the mix of tomb raiding, fighting, whip-cracking and adventure all gel together to make a game that's as enjoyable to play as it is to watch. From first person scale to get a sense of the regions to well-realised jungle areas, this is as immersive a game as it feels and as you'd hope.

With a series of levels that embrace the best of Indiana Jones' world and make it feel well-realised too, the game proves to be the surprise of the year - but a welcome one at that, and one that will for years to come be heralded as what strong games should be.