TSJ Reviews Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
This won’t be an extremely detailed post because, One, I don’t want to give away spoilers, and Two, there are barely any negatives to this game.
Title: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Publisher: Bethesda
Director: Jerk Gustafsson, Axel Torvenius
Writer: Tommy Tordsson Bjork
Platform: Windows, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
Budget: Unknown
Length: 15 – 20 hours
Ratings: Gamespot 9/10; IGN 9/10; PC Gamer 86/100
Genre: Action, Adventure, First Person perspective
Similar games : Tomb Raider, Uncharted
The action picks up immediately during the prologue, which is the training tutorial, and the situation, place, and location in the timeline chosen by the developers was simply brilliant. I don’t want to give much away during this review, so I’ll leave it at that. Soon, after the tutorial, the story begins with the theft of an artifact from Indy’s university collection. The events in the game take place between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. Playing The Great Circle fits perfectly into continuity, during WW2, and there is a mystery to solve, a relic (or two … or three … or more) to recover, and much adventure during these quests. Playing this game felt like I was inside the movie, controlling Indy. It was an incredible experience. The music, the cut scenes, the settings … it all felt perfect. Especially the voice acting by Troy Baker, who nailed the character of Indiana Jones. He also performed the motion capture. He previously portrayed Joel, in the PlayStation game, The Last of Us.
The story’s villain is a Nazi archeologist featured on the poster: Emmerich Voss. He and Indy are after the same prize, and of course cross paths many times in this game. He is a good villain with some motivation. Sometimes there is a bit of forced humour with this character, but it’s easily overlooked.
The story returns to what made the original Indiana Jones trilogy great: religion. Each film featured a quest to recover artifacts related to different religions. Consider this: Raiders featured Judaism, Temple of Doom was Hinduism, and The Last Crusade Catholicism. Then came a great disconnect: Crystal Skull was about aliens, and The Dial of Destiny featured Archimedes and a mysterious device he created. This story, thankfully, brings things back to what made Indiana Jones compelling.
The game length was ideal (for me), at fifteen to twenty hours. There are many side quests, which you can choose to do, or you can finish the main story and do the side quests afterward. There are antagonists, love interests, hand-to-hand combat and gun battles, stealth (which is very important in this game), and epic visuals.
A love interest for Jones
I also want to point out that this is one of the final performances by Tony Todd, whose distinctive voice resonates with many genre fans. He was Candyman, of course, and also Worf’s brother, Kurn, in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was an iconic actor and his presence in all film/games/television will be missed.
Image from JoBlo
I don’t want to say much more about the game and give important details away, so I’m going to stop writing about the story and the many positives. But what are the cons?
The Cons
- I would have liked knowing what the object of the story was a bit earlier. It took roughly half the game before I discovered what “The Great Circle” was. If you think about Raiders of the Lost Ark, you find out quickly what the Ark is. In fact, it is one of the great scenes in movie history, which occurs in a church/classroom with agents from army intelligence describing to Indy (and the viewer) what Hitler was looking for … the film’s “MacGuffin.” The explanation, including archaic artwork in religious texts, with the accompanying score by John Williams, was pitch perfect. Iconic. Remember this?
- Finding my way to the next objective was a tad clumsy. I had to bring up the map in order for the target/goal to appear on the screen. But when I put the map away, the objective would disappear from the field of view. I found this mildly irritating, because I had to keep bringing the map up.
In Conclusion
Other than these two minor items, I can’t think of much else that could have been improved. It was a great adventure game, very compelling, nostalgic, and it places the gamer right in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie. It was immersive, which I appreciated. The entire experience of The Great Circle was spectacular. I subscribe to X-box’s GamePass, which is where I played it. That being said, I would have gladly paid for this one, and I can’t wait for the next instalment. Bring it on.
— TSJ’s Rating: 9/10
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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel
“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop
“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite
“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories
“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest
“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels
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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!
WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.
Book Cover & Jacket Copy:
AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!
A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …
Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.
Taunting him.
Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.
If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.
But the assassin could be anyone …
Watch your back, Mac.
A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:
The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007
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TSJ’s Awards
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THE WAR BENEATH: FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister
THE SAVAGE DEEPS: FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister
FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist
Praise for THE WAR BENEATH
“If you’re looking for a techno-thriller combining Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy and John Le Carré, The War Beneath will satisfy … a ripping good yarn, a genuine page-turner.” — Amazing Stories
“One very riveting, intelligent read!” — Readers’ Favorite
“If you like novels like The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising,
you will certainly enjoy The War Beneath.” — A Thrill A Week
“If you’re here for thrills, the book will deliver.” — The Cambridge Geek
“… an engaging world that is highly believable …” — The Future Fire
“This is a tense, gripping science fiction/thriller of which Tom Clancy might well be proud . . . When I say it is gripping, that is the simple truth.” — Ardath Mayhar
“… a thrill ride from beginning to end …” — SFcrowsnest
“… if you like Clancy and le Carré with a hint of Forsyth thrown in,
you’ll love The War Beneath.” — Colonel Jonathan P. Brazee (RET),
2017 Nebula Award & 2018 Dragon Award Finalist
“Fast-paced, good old-fashioned Cold War espionage … a great escape!” — The Minerva Reader
