It is quite possible that you, like us, keep forgetting about it. Indiana Jones and the Big Wheel is a first-person game. Every time we see any footage, it’s a disturbing moment to remember that this is not a remake Tomb Raider Or Unchartedbut instead puts us directly inside Dr. Jones’ head. This is compounded by so much of what we’ve seen in the trailers constantly jumping into cinematic third-person views, given how weird of an angle that is when trying to show off the game. But now we’ve seen ten minutes of gameplay footage, and it’s starting to make more sense.
At this year’s Gamescom, developer MachineGames, the force behind games like the 2014 one Wolfenstein: The New Order and its sequel, described what was shown earlier as highlighting their approach to “building a gripping narrative, full of twists and turns and exciting set pieces.” But today, we’d see enigmatic “gameplay.” They wanted to show “what it’s like to really play as Indiana Jones and experience his adventure, see through his eyes.” So it was perhaps unfortunate that it was immediately followed by even more shots of grave robbers smashing an old statue to retrieve a secret gadget, all via a staged third-person view.
This continued as Indy’s theft triggered traps, closing doors and filling the room with sand. But then a towering window finally comes into view and then, finally, we really see the world through the eyes of the one in the hat and we leap forward into a… programmed series of slips and slides as the temple collapses around him.
OK, I’m being mean, but I was set up. After that, we finally start seeing real footage of the game as it’s experienced, and it’s a much more controlled and thoughtful game than I expected. At times, it feels more like a first-person adventure, with Indy investigating scenes for clues, collecting items to examine, and trying to piece together where he needs to be. And where he needs to be is stopping evil rival Nazi explorer Emmerich Voss from finding a series of relics and returning them to his Führer.
It all begins when Voss breaks into the doctor’s university in Massachusetts and steals one of these mementos, and we begin trying to figure out what he’s up to. After the break-in, we see Indy collecting photos, going through papers, taking pictures to discover more details about various objects and areas, and arguing with Italian journalist Gina, who is only interested in accompanying him on his search for his sister.
But that’s not all that’s going on in the old ruins and academic halls. Another of the most gleefully recurring themes of what we’re shown is the bad guys getting hit in the back of the head with shovels. There seems to be a robust emphasis on improvisation, with objects lying around the world that can be grabbed and used as a one-time advantage. Those shovels, for example, shatter at the handle when they’re hit against an unsuspecting head, with Indy tossing the remains aside. The same goes for metal bars used to knock loose bricks out of walls, or sticks thrown across ravines into a rock face, then swung with Indy’s whip.
Of course, shovels weren’t the only means of combat. The real object was the fists, and the fights played out as a sort of boxing mini-game, with you and your opponent trading blows, attempting blocks, and generally butting heads. Such moments often began with Indiana using his whip to pull your buddy’s ankle to the ground, then engaging in some boxing to get him back, trading blows until one of you went down.
Speaking of Indy being at rock bottom, the best part of the footage we saw was our hero losing a fight and falling to the ground, but then with a skill — True Grit — that he acquired and added to his skill tree, he was able to make one last attempt to reach for his iconic hat and steel himself for one more try. It was so very, very Indiana Jones.
It’s also worth noting that Indy’s perspective isn’t stubbornly first-person. When he climbs, it changes to a third-person view, looking extremely How Tomb Raider game where Lara Croft scrambles over ledges and climbs vines. It’s almost as if… there could be a better perspective? But the persistence of “seeing through his eyes” takes over. It ends up being a combination of both as we experience greater challenges, climbing around huge obstacles to solve intricate puzzles. At one point, we saw Doc Jones pour wine into old bowls to reveal secret numbers, then find ways to a huge raised frieze of Christ and adjust levers to fit the code.
Honestly, watching the footage and realizing that this is a slower, more focused game than the crazy cutscenes we’ve seen before have suggested has made me look forward to playing it that much more. Sneaking into a room, blaming a ker-blaming villain with garden equipment, and then using a whip to knock a weapon out of another foe’s hand looks absolutely incredible, especially when that action is interspersed with exploration and puzzle-solving. As audio director Pete Ward says, “The whole point of this game is adventure,” with the desire for players to find their own uses for the tools the game offers.
I’m much more excited now to go back to 1937 after watching this footage to see how well this mix of approaches can come together, especially with the good news that Troy Baker’s Harrison Ford imitation holds up much better than I previously thought. This could… could… be something that really gets people excited. Although I still have no idea what’s so great about this circle.
.
