By Molly Lee
If you had the opportunity to beat up a fascist, would you do it and how would you do it? Would you do it with your bare fists, landing one blow at a time? Would you grab the nearest item, possibly a shower brush or a bottle, and smash their head in? Or would you use a whip to knock them out?
Unfortunately, you can’t do this in real life because it’s illegal.
But thanks to the Indiana Jones and The Great Circle game, you can make your dreams a reality.
The first-person videogame developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda puts you right in the shoes of famous archaeologist, Indiana Jones (Indy), rocking a fedora, leather jacket with a bullwhip in hand.
Set in 1937, the game follows Indy on the trail of a mysterious cult of giants. This all starts after a giant breaks into his college and steals a mummified cat relic from one of the exhibits.
Although, it’s a simple setup, it leads to a long adventure that spans across several locations, including Vatican City, Gizeh, Himalayas, Shanghai and more. You don’t need to travel the world in real life, you can just do it in this action-packed game.
Every single building and monument are masterfully designed to fully immerse you in the experience. Matched with the open-world style where you can play the main missions and side quests at your own pace, the game is fulfilling in every way.
There are a range of puzzles throughout which will make it hard to resist going to Google for the answers. But the sense of achievement when completing one fuels your foolish belief that you could be the next Indiana Jones.
It is disturbing and uncomfortable to see the Nazi uniforms and the swastika shown in the game. However, the developers do not glorify the fascists or condone their actions. Instead, they accurately portray them, showing the reality of history despite the fictional plotline. Plus, a bonus is that you get to beat them up and punish them for their actions in hundreds of different ways.
There’s also the occasional witty, sometimes cringey, joke made by Indy, including a line wondering if it’s really stealing if it’s from a Nazi. Sometimes the jokes fall a bit flat, like he’s trying too hard, but it’s easy to look past that.
This game is far from a relic that should be kept behind a glass pane in a museum, never to be touched again. Instead, it should be enjoyed by everyone.
