Many might wish that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle had a third-person option for the FPS-averse, and for one dubiously lucky Reddit user, that dream became a temporary reality.
“Game got stuck in 3rd person,” reads user theraineydaze’s post in the Indiana Jones subreddit. A gameplay clip goes on to show their Indy pacing and riding in a speedboat, not from the game’s usual first-person angle, but zoomed out to third person as if engaged in one of the game’s many action or idle sequences.
It hasn’t been stated outright, but my guess is that this accidental perspective shift must have occurred after loading into the game from the main menu. Seeing Indy in third-person for a few moments is the norm in this instance and a handful of others, but instead of swapping back to first-person after the player starts to move their character, theraineydaze’s camera must have gotten stuck.
Despite the occasional disconnect between Indy’s lower and upper body movements giving the glitch away, other members of the community commented their surprise at how smooth it looks. “Not as janky as you might expect considering you weren’t meant to see these animations this way,” writes Plathismo of how unexpectedly fine this bug looks and feels. “I mean, I still prefer 1st person. But that ain’t lookin’ bad at all,” offers Wooden-Lifeguard-636l.
Meanwhile, other commenters express a desire to see third-person mode implemented into the game officially. “Even the bugs want this as an option to the game,” jokes IceNysp, as another user ponders whether a third-person mod for The Great Circle could soon come of it. “It really sucks that the game has these jarring switches between first and third person,” one user says of its frequent perspective shifts. “I’m guessing it has to do with the small size of certain artifacts and collectibles. Indy would be in the way of seeing them.”
The interest in this curious little bug speaks to earlier player disgruntlement back when the first gameplay footage was revealed. The initial taste of Indy’s largely first-person adventure, in classic MachineGames style, seemed to disappoint many fans who might agree with user Big_Brilliant_5904 that the action-hero fantasy “doesn’t feel the same when you’re in first person.” For now, though, this third-person glitch is nothing more than a funny little bug. If you’d like to try and replicate it, though, be my guest.