So long as players are steeped inIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s hearty helping of exploration and collectible-hunting, the Vatican and Gizeh can slow to a crawl. Because these two regions have huge maps and are received back-to-back, it can be quite some time beforeIndiana Jones and the Great Circlehas another profoundly cinematic action sequence while players are busy with their noses in their maps as they attempt to hunt down relics, notes, medicine bottles, and Adventure Books. It isn’t until players are prepared to depart from Gizeh that the game truly takes a hard pivot and becomes a high-octane adrenaline rush.
The Himalayas are perhaps as stark of a locale segue that the game could have taken after visiting Egypt, and it’s also a relief as it boasts a much smaller map to maneuver.
Here, players can simply bask inhow superbIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s graphical fidelity and performance are, especially with excellent snow tracking tech. Seeing Harrison Ford’s likeness as Indiana Jones wearing a parka and a fur-lined hat while trekking through mountainous snow in a brutal blizzard recalls the same imagery of Han Solo on Hoth inThe Empire Strikes Backand, in tandem with the game’sRaiders of the Lost Arkprologue, no other stretch of gameplay makes a more compelling argument for a standalone Han SoloStar Warsgame.
A Han Solo Game Should Take Notes from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Prologue and Himalayas
Indiana Jones and the Great Circlewas technically not the only game released in 2024 to wield Harrison Ford’s likeness asa carbonite-frozen Han Solo appears inStar Wars Outlaws. Still, while a standalone Han Solo game has always been somewhat of a no-brainer given how it could rely on a safety net of nostalgia and iconography, MachineGames’ reverence forIndiana Jones’ source material and its depiction of Dr. Henry Jones Jr. demonstrates that the studio fully understands the character and has written him phenomenally for a game that can easily span upwards of 40–50 hours.
Moreover,Indiana Jones and the Great Circleboldly chooses to depict the opening ofRaiders of the Lost Arkas a playable prologue that elevates the source material in MachineGames’ signature first-person perspective.
Much later in the game, Indy visits the Himalayas with Gina Lombardi and players who adoreStar Warswill likely be reminded of when Han Solo searches Hoth’s gelid landscape for Luke Skywalker. It would be incredible to see a Han Solo game rendered with the same striking fidelity asIndiana Jones and the Great Circleif one was ever in the works, and being able to experienceThe Empire Strikes Back’s Hoth sequence in a playable prologue would be exceedingly nostalgic with players igniting Luke’s lightsaber in first-person and being prompted to slice open the belly of a tauntaun.
How a Han Solo Star Wars Game Could Adapt Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Disguises
On paper, Indiana Jones is not an exhilarating character. He’s not an athlete or a gymnast, and yet he manages to scrape by in some bewilderingly daring circumstances via his fists and luck. If this was what MachineGames relied on wholly,Indiana Jones and the Great Circlewould’ve been a slog with slow climbing animations being the icing on a bland cake.
That’s whyIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s disguise featureis remarkable—new disguises in each setting allow for greater immersion as Indy adapts to severe weather conditions while also allowing him to blend in with the environment and its fascist or Nazi occupations. A Han Solo game could have the tremendous advantage of piloting the Millennium Falcon in space-faring dogfights and pursuits, but otherwise it would rely on the same principles of gunplay (swapping Indy’s revolver for Han’s DL-44), melee combat, and simple traversal as Han Solo isn’t known for superhuman exploits either.
A disguise system could work similarly brilliantly for Han Solo, where he could immersively dondisguises such as a stormtrooper suit with an equipped E-11 blaster rifle. Likewise, it would be neat to see Han wear appropriate outfits for certain locales like the forest moon of Endor. The sky would be the limit with which planets and disguises Han might wear, not unlikeIndiana Jones and the Great Circle.
