Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Wears Its Thief Influences on Its Sleeve

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 14, 2024 5 Views 6 Min Read
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Wears Its Thief Influences on Its Sleeve



There have been quite a few Indiana Jones games over the years. Most of these games can be sorted into a sliding scale that ranges between puzzle games and action-adventure games. For instance, classic point-and-click LucasArts titles like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis belong to the puzzle side of the spectrum, while Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb is more action-focused, and the LEGO Indiana Jones games land right in the middle. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, however, offers a completely new type of Indy experience.




Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is home to a ton of puzzles and intense action set pieces, but the vast majority of its runtime is spent slowly exploring large open areas, sneaking around enemy patrols. In this regard, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle feels more inspired by Thief and Dishonored than Uncharted and Tomb Raider.

Indiana Jones Great Circle Encourage Exploration

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How Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Encourages Exploration

A good portion of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s gameplay has fans exploring various open environments, and it encourages that exploration well.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Takes Inspiration from Thief and Dishonored’s Immersive Sim Qualities

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Is Influenced by Thief and Dishonored’s Immersive Worlds

A major highlight of the classic 1998-2004 Thief series and its sort of spiritual successor series, Dishonored, is their immersive sim qualities. An immersive sim can be defined in many different ways, but a common feature is a highly-detailed world that feels extremely atmospheric.


Thief‘s medieval towns, for instance, feature realistic lighting and shadows cast by historical-inspired streetlamps, cobbled streets, and tall stained-glass windows. Dishonored‘s steampunk-inspired city of Dunwall is a little more fantastical, but it feels just as grounded thanks to the series’ strong art direction and logical architecture.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle features a similarly grounded world, with similar immersive sim qualities. Players are dropped into several real-world locations, all of which have been carefully crafted to look as life-like as possible. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle‘s lighting effects, sound design, and visuals all reinforce the realism of these locations, which in turn reinforces the player’s immersion in the moment-to-moment gameplay.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Builds On Thief and Dishonored’s Enemy AI and Physics Systems

Another common feature of an immersive sim is realistic enemy and NPC behavior. Both Thief and Dishonored see enemy guard patrols follow designated routes, and both see those guards react logically when one of their patrol suddenly goes missing. These games also tend to have strong physics systems, meaning that enemy bodies will react in a realistic way when struck.


Indiana Jones and the Great Circle puts its physics system at the forefront of its combat and platforming. Players can use Indy’s iconic whip to yank guards towards them, causing their character models to stumble realistically into any furniture or scenery objects in their path. Enemies will also fall to the ground realistically when knocked unconscious, adding some tangible weight to the game’s combat.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Borrows Thief and Dishonored’s Layered Approach to Stealth

Immersive sims like Thief and Dishonored are all about presenting the player with choices and allowing them to decide their own route to an objective. This is especially prevalent with these games’ stealth systems, which will often allow the player to enter locations and approach targets in a variety of different ways.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle follows suit here as well. Players are frequently dropped into a large open environment and tasked with reaching an objective on the other side. To get there, players can sneak through air vents, climb ledges, hop through open windows, and swing over enemies using their whip.


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