Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Hands-on Preview – Hands-on Preview
For the Nazi-puncher on the go.
When Indiana Jones and the Great Circle released at the end of 2024 as an Xbox and PC exclusive, I absolutely devoured it. But I would have never guessed that in a year and a half I’d be playing it on the Switch 2. This edition of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle seems to be every bit the stunning combo of stealth, immersive sim, and exploration that the original release was. There are of course some technical compromises, but the overall package is extremely impressive based on what I’ve played thus far.
The thing that impresses me most about this game is the way that it truly feels like Indiana Jones. And I don’t mean that it feels like you’re watching a movie in the way that something like Uncharted does. I mean that the source material has so clearly motivated every game design decision, not just the cinematics. This doesn’t feel like a game based on Indiana Jones; it just feels like Indiana Jones. I’ll be able to get into more detail in my full review, but I don’t think I’ve ever played a game adaptation of a movie IP that retained its identity as well as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
For this preview, I was able to play up through the end of the first major area, the Vatican. After a very structured opening spread across a flashback to Raiders of the Lost Ark and an encounter at the college where Dr. Jones teaches, the experience opens up to this first exploration area. The Vatican does a nice job of familiarizing you with the general gameplay loop. When you first arrive you’ll need to sneak your way past fascists. You know how to throw a punch and can one-shot an unsuspecting enemy with whatever you find lying around, but if they spot you and gang up, your odds get a lot worse. After navigating past guards to meet your contact, you’ll gain a disguise that lets you move freely for the most part. But even then, certain areas are restricted and select enemies may see through your disguise if you hang around too long.
This area is quite large and packed with way more to do than just your primary questline. Puzzles and hidden chambers abound and it is easy to lose track of what you’re actually supposed to be doing by becoming distracted wandering down a random street and picking up a sidequest. I’ve spent hours climbing over rooftops, taking pictures of stray cats, and punching fascists for purely gameplay–and not at all therapeutic–reasons.
The Switch 2 version specifically has generally impressed me thus far. The one consistent issue I’ve noted is a regular stutter that is usually timed with autosaves. I suspect the issue here is actually moving between chunks of these very detailed environments. Spending an extended period of time in a single location like an underground tomb, or sneaking through a camp, seems to run quite well. But running across the map to get to your next objective incurs some noticeable hiccups. That being said, the opening hours of the game have held up well visually. There have been a couple moments where a texture on a significant object has been simplified to the point of being almost comical, but on the flip side there are also moments where everything looks remarkably comparable to the original Xbox Series X version.
Of course I still have a lot more of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to get through. Knowing where this game goes from having played it at launch, I’m well aware that a lot of the most demanding moments are yet ahead of me. But my first impressions are very positive. It helps that we’re starting with an excellent game, but the Switch 2 version overall is holding up better than it has any right to. This is a game that picked up a lot of technical awards and compared to its performance on Steam Deck, the Switch 2 version seems to be a winner. Check back closer to launch for my full review but for now, I’m pretty optimistic about how Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is shaping up.
