For a few days we’ve seen reviews for the new Indiana Jones. Most have been saying that this was the surprise of the year and Indy is back. We decided to give the game a try and see if it’s true.

The game looks really good and they’ve recreated some iconic areas from the movies. There was some pop in, but it wasn’t too drastic. We played in the cinematic mode which does give a good feel.

The voicing is pretty good, but I have questions. In early trailers Troy Baker sounded very similar to Harrison Ford, and you had to pay closer attention to know it wasn’t Ford. In the full game, you can easily tell it’s Troy Baker doing a Harrison Ford impression. It’s fine but not nearly as good as the early trailers. I’m wondering if they used some type of AI or pitch correcting tool to get the voices close. Another thing is certain characters reactions to surprise or fear, feels forced. They use a lot of sounds and scores from the movies which is a nice touch.  Sound wise, I can’t say there was anything bad, everything seemed pretty high quality.

Gameplay wise, it’s been getting praised and I’m not sure why. The gameplay is mostly centered around stealth and exploring, but theres issues. The game tries too hard to try to be cinematic, it will randomly go from first person to third person. It does it climbing,, in cutscenes, or doing something cinematic. It’s jarring but there are some points where it can be immersive in first person. They also make basic activities more tedious because the game wants to be ”immersive “. To open a door you have to press a button and turn the thumbstick.

The stealth is just basic fill up a meter and you’re detected. Wolfenstein: The New Order’s was decent and more believable. It’s weird as all the reviewers are bringing up the fact Machine Games made Wolfenstein, but haven’t compared the stealth. One or two reviewers I saw, tried saying the game felt like Dishonored.

Then theres the fighting part of the game that is also an issue. All these reviewers are again reminding people that several people at Machine Games made the Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. That game started really good but the second half became a slog. One of the issues with it was its fighting, it was very basic and felt awkward to use. They’ve basically ported that fighting system to the game.

Story wise, I haven’t finished it, but it seems ok. A possessed man breaks into the university Indy teaches at, beats him up, and steals an artifact, beginning another globe trotting adventure from Vatican City to Egypt. Seems like a typical Indy movie, and thats not bad.

The puzzles are simple and had me wondering how did Indy not see it. In the very first puzzle you have to figure out what the thief took. You pick up pieces off the floor and put them in the right part of the exhibit. The issue was it makes things feel contrived. The piece that was stolen was one Indy remembers really well, that he just bought back from the desert a month ago. 

There’s a lot of hypocrisy regarding the love of this game. Xbox fans have criticized other games as walking simulators and one and done. In the Great Circle, most of what you’re doing is walking around picking up collectables and solving puzzles, with some combat. Other people I talked to that played it, called it an interactive movie. Thats another criticism the Xbox community has specifically for Sony games, but not this one.

Is Indiana Jones a bad game? No, but it is not this great action adventure, and I’m not the only one saying it. One of Xbox’s biggest fans and defenders, said something similar. It makes some of these high scores make more sense.