Few things are iconic and distinct when assessing what defines Dr. Henry Jones—known colloquially as Indiana Jones. For instance, he has an affinity for his fedora, so much so that he’s willing to lose an arm to retrieve it before it’s lost behind a Peruvian slab of stone forever. Also, whenever possible,Indy also has a whip equippedas both a means of mid-ranged defensive combat and a means of impromptu traversal, which is highly unconventional. Indy’s not afraid to draw a revolver and shoot someone, especially inIndiana Jones and the Great Circle, and MachineGames’ action-adventure game thoroughly illustrates every one of the character’s defining traits with quite a number of satisfying developments.
The fedora is honored wonderfully inIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Lucky Hat skill, for example, while Indy’s whip can be upgraded to knock out unsuspecting foes or disarm them.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circlewas MachineGames’ opportunity to truly flesh out individual facets of the protagonist like these, and one it triples down on unabashedly is Indy’s ophidiophobia. Indeed, what initially appears to be a gimmick stretched too thin culminates in a colossally unprecedented and terrifying surprise lurking in Sukhothai.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Snake References Begin as Cute Jabs
Players’ possible first brush with a snake inIndiana Jones and the Great Circleactually takes place in its openingRaiders of the Lost Arkprologue, but it’s not on the beaten path. Instead, this is a hidden blink-and-miss-it Easter egg with a snake quickly slithering out of view with Indy calming himself down after having witnessed it.
InIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Gizeh, players eventually come across Osiris, Nawal’s pet snake whom Indy struggles to feed while Nawal and Gina converse. If this was the only story-related snake reference it might’ve been sufficient, but Indy is tormented further in Sukhothai when he’s told to confront his fears and reach into the so-called “Jar of Terror” that seemingly has a snake within. Rather, to the amusement of those around him, Indy withdraws a length of pork intestines.
At this point,Indiana Jones and the Great Circleappears to harp on Indy’s fear far too heavily, which trivializes snake imagery and renders it unimpactful. The cherry on top of this exploited and abused motif is when a relatively small snake lands on Indy’s shoulder as he and Gina emerge from watery ruins blanketed in overgrowth and take their boat onto a lake. Here, the tiny snake’s playful scare is followed instantly by a real, mythologically enormous snake making its presence known and plunging its hulking mass into the lake players are on.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Validates Indy’s Fears with a Giant Snake Boss Fight
It isn’t entirely clear how big this snake is, let alone that it’s truly a snake at all, until players must dive into the lake with their newly purchased rebreather. Navigating tiny crawl spaces underwater and swimming frantically between them, Indy is tasked with somehow circumventing a massive serpent while not suddenly being struck down in a panic attack as he surely would be.
This is a superb iteration of Indy’s vulnerability thatIndiana Jones and the Great Circledramatizes to an absurdly theatrical and horrific scale, and its timing couldn’t be more perfect as it arrives right as the snake gimmick had grown overly stale with multiple humorous pokes at Indy’s expense. This sequence goes on for a while, too, with players avoiding open water as much as possible before ultimately having to defend themselves from the humongous beast and hurl spare spears into its snarling mouth in one ofIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s few legitimate boss fights.
