Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle game news: does the Xbox exclusive video game that everyone is waiting for have the makings of Steven Spielberg’s films?
Published on 08/20/2024 at 10:00 p.m.
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Did you just devour the new footage from Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle during Opening Night Live? Well, here’s some extra: we got to see a new sequence. Here are our impressions.
The more it goes on, the more this Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle catches our eye… The new adventures of the most famous treasure hunter, expected for December 9, 2024 on PC and Xbox Series (day one in the Game Pass) and in spring 2025 on PS5, were revealed more during the opening conference of Gamescom! So, what will the MachineGames studio (Wolfenstein The New Order and all that follows) bring out of its fedora? We now have a clearer idea of the question.
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A world of secrets
First of all, this visit to Opening Night Live was the opportunity to discover for the first time some raw gameplay of this Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle… And we liked what we saw, especially when it came to the puzzles (very important to the experience). Here, Players will have to rely above all on their talent for observation and deduction. It may seem obvious when you say it like that, but aside from a white border that serves to highlight the objects that can be held in your hand, we did not notice any “yellow trace” that shouted the steps to follow – as in most triple-A movies. In this Indiana Jones, it is the location of the objects that first seems to put us on the right track: a mass left right next to a wall ready to collapse, or a trident that is just waiting to be planted somewhere to cross a chasm. The camera, which offers information on key parts of the decor (when they are immortalized) also plays a major role. It is also mentioned that the journal – which records details of all your adventures and discoveries – can also contain clues!
Of course, we imagine that Indy’s thinking will often have to go much further than that… Indiana Jones will most certainly satisfy puzzle fans, especially since the title reserves (alongside its main adventure) a bunch of secondary puzzles. “You will always feel drawn to explore the world and discover the many secrets hidden there” says Pete Ward, audio director at MachineGames, in the Gamescom video. But the studio hasn’t forgotten about players looking for a more casual experience. As part of a press event, the developers confirmed to us that Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle will indeed feature a difficulty mode to lighten the challenge of puzzles, among other things.
Wealth smiles on the curious
Moreover, in this privileged interview with MachineGames, we learned thatIt will be possible to return to places already visited, in order to solve a quest, an unfinished enigma.. So, let’s be clear, Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle remains above all a “linear” adventure with a storyline that serves as an inevitable common thread… But, aside from the marked passages, it’s good to know that some areas will be more open. This seems to be the case for the famous Sphinx of Giza already presented in previous trailers, but which we were able to discover further in hands-off! To enter the bowels of the building, Indy must first find a medallion in the heart of a Nazi tent, still in the same area. A high-risk mission that requires an adequate disguise, to steal the treasure without being spotted. We take this opportunity to tell you that these Hitman-style missions will be recurring in the experience.
Above all, overcoming the slightest secret will allow you to obtain a resource: “Adventure Points”, which function like real experience points. So far, we haven’t seen a branch of a skill tree (MachineGames only mentions “dozens” of upgrades) but the studio tells us that these points will allow, for example, Indy to get back up after a fatal blow. Of course, for a hero “as human” as our Professor Jones, we didn’t expect RPG mechanics – but it’s a way to encourage and reward exploration.
Time to come to blows
By the way, we haven’t even talked about the fighting yet – which is based on a mix of whip, revolver and hand-to-hand fists. The treasure hunter has an endurance bar, symbolized by a gauge in the middle of the screen, which decreases each time he comes to blows.. So Indy doesn’t have all night to take down Emmerich Voss – the big bad guy in the story – and his gang! “Precise timing and mixing up your moves is key to knocking out your opponent,” explains Pete Ward, still in the Gamescom video. As with the puzzles, players will be encouraged to keep an eye out for items in the scenery, whether it’s to distract a guard or knock him out with big blows from a rolling pin (yes).
In short, Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle seems more faithful than ever to the source material, to our great pleasure. The developers at MachineGames have spoken of “their biggest project” to date, which suggests a lifespan of around twenty hours. We can’t wait to play it.
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