The release of MachineGames’Indiana Jones and the Great Circleis just around the corner, and it aims to provide players with one of the most accurate and detailedIndiana Jonesgaming experiences ever made.Indiana Jones and the Great Circletakes place betweenthe events ofRaiders of the Lost ArkandThe Last Crusade, meaning players will not only be in for a trip down memory lane but also anIndiana Jonesstory they have never been told before.
Game Rant recently had the chance to interviewIndiana Jones and the Great Circledesign director Jens Andersson about the philosophy behind the game’s development and what players can expect. During the interview, Andersson emphasized MachineGames' desire to ensure players have an authenticIndiana Jonesexperience, which boils all the way down to the game’s exploration, combat, puzzles, and, of course, Indiana Jones himself.The following interview transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Creating an Authentic Indiana Jones Video Game Experience
Q: Can you talk about designing a game that will surprise people who have found you through Wolfenstein and those types of games?
A:It’s a new experience, right? I think it’s a new experience for MachineGames. One thing that makes me happy with this project is that it’s quite unique overall as an adventure-first game in 2024. We had to figure out what the scope would be. All the way from the starting point, we needed to verify we made a game that fit the character and wasn’t a shooter. It takes a little bit of time for a studio to course-correct like we’re not doing double-shot gun kills anymore, so figuring out what’s right for Indiana Jones—from the get-go, we wanted you to be Indiana Jones—what does that mean?
Well, it means that the gun is not the first thing you should pull, and I feel that that’s something we’ve succeeded quite well with. You don’t generally want to use guns. The option is there for you, but it’s more fun and smarter to play without one. I also have to say that, while MachineGames is known for theWolfensteinstuff, a lot of the people on the team, myself included, go back even further toChronicles of RiddickandThe Darkness. All of these games have tapped into some of these features, like puzzles, which is something that we’ve never done before. Buthand-to-hand combatexisted inChronicles of Riddickand then inThe Darknessas well, so it’s a mix of features that fit anIndiana Jonesgame.
Q: In terms of coming intoIndiana Jones, what would you say that the team focused on as far as what the most essential part ofIndiana Jonesis?
A:Well, it’s the character, right? How does it feel to play Indiana Jones? And there are so many elements to that. It’s this beloved character, and he has the whip, of course. That’s one of the central features we knew we needed to get right through animation and simulation in combat and traversal, stealth, and puzzles. It’s all the different elements that need to come together—the charm, the humor.
We started with the story and got a story down that feels like anIndiana Jonesstory. It also helped when we worked withLucasfilm Games, who are the experts onIndiana Jones, for the story, because that enabled us to have a good discussion of what the game would be like. Once we had that down, we started thinking, “Well, we have the story, but what do you actually do here in this location?” Like, you are in the Vatican, what do you do? Well, disguise is a good idea, so it fits into the IP, it fits into the game, and it fits into the story.
Q: How much freedom was there in your collaboration with Lucasfilm Games? What kind of input did you get from them as far as the freedom that you had or not? Did they have ideas of where to set it or did you come up with ideas?
A:The story came from us completely.Todd Howard came up with the ideaof making a game about the Circle, but as I mentioned, we started with the story. a couple of months into development, we had the story done. Bringing that to Lucasfilm Games, they obviously had input, and we corrected things based on their feedback. It’s been really good collaborating with them because they know a lot of this stuff, and they’ve been working with this character and IP for a long time. We are massive fans, so our goals are very aligned. We wanted to make something that felt like anIndiana Jonesexperience, so it was really good because we could align on that early on and then just work out the details from there with their input.
Q: Was there anything you learned about Indiana Jones, maybe details about the character that aren’t obvious to the fans that have only seen the movies?
A:Not only that, but we also get to contribute to that. I remember not too long ago, we had to figure out how our game would take place at Marshall College. Marshall College appears in the movies. Where is that, exactly, because we needed to put a pin on the map? They weren’t really sure, so we figured that out together. Now it’s decided; now “this” is where Marshall College is. Examples like that mean that it’s not only theirs anymore, it’s ours collaboratively. We are collaborating on making more out ofIndiana Jonesthan it was. That’s our honor and privilege. Of course, we’ve learned a ton. We had to have this amazing digital archive ofeverythingIndiana Jones, and there’s so much information there.
Q: As far as how Indiana Jones is represented in the game personality-wise, were there unique opportunities there to explore Indiana Jones in ways that you wouldn’t see in a movie?
A:Well, this game takes place betweenRaiders of the Lost ArkandThe Last Crusade. In the movie timeline, there is a gap that we are kind of filling in, but we also know that there’s stuff that happened between those movies. He, for some reason, started working for a different university. That was never really explained. Well, we’re building on that and expanding on that; why and what happened there. We’re filling in his character in that sense, and we contribute to the authentic story of the character in a good way. You saw the note about Marion in the journal, for example, and we saw the result of that in the final movie. There are elements of that as well to fill out and build on, and explain a little bit more of the story of his life.
Nailing Down Locations, Exploration, Puzzles, and Combat Befitting Indiana Jones
Q: In terms of designing the levels or the experiences that you have—I played Marshall College, then the Vatican, and now I’m in Giza—did you go for a combination of these larger areas or is Giza this central area? Are there “pockets” that are maybe more linear with rooms to explore and alternate paths?
A:The game shifts between these linear sections, like the introduction of the Vatican, and the bigger areas of Giza. There are a number of bigger areas like you saw Sukhothai in the video there, which is just as big as Giza. The Vatican is pretty big too. In between those chapters, there’s the moretraditional MachineGames experienceof linear sections, more roller coaster rides, and crafted experiences. It’s a little bit of a different structure than we’ve done before, and because of that, we change how the players sort of play through the game.
If you finish a story, you’re able to keep playing, you can keep going back to these different locations, and there’s a lot of optional content there. We expect players to miss a lot of stuff the first time around, and we don’t necessarily want them to have to replay all the linear sections. You can jump back to these chapters and keep playing with your updated inventory and basically 100% the game on a single save.
Q: In terms of designing stealth, there’s complexity there that you maybe don’t see on the surface because you think, “Okay, the path I took is the path to take.” Can you talk about designing these opportunities that I’ve seen where I realize I’ve gone to the end, I start to go back, and I realize there were other opportunities to my way forward?
A:We want to make this game very accessible. We want players to be able to make their way through without getting stuck. That’s especially tricky in an adventure game like this. We do our utmost to have a clear path for the players so they know where they should go if they want to play along. At the same time, we really want to encourage exploration because that’s soIndiana Jones-like, to go off the beaten path and be rewarded for it.
With those two tracks, we try to run in parallel and then also allow this kind of backtracking mentality. Sure, if you don’t want to scour every corner, you can come back later. We’ll make sure you can find your way back. I think it’s worked out very nicely in the game so far. It’s a little bit different from theWolfensteingamesbecause of that, but I really enjoy that sense of mystery around every corner.
Q: I imagine it’s really fun to design puzzles, and I imagine it’s also challenging. You see it in the movies, and you get to do them. Can you talk a bit about that?
A:It’s very interesting actually because it’s such a natural part of the IP. At the same time, he doesn’t spend a lot of time solving puzzles. When you look at those puzzles in the movie, X marks the spot on the floor. That’s not a great video game puzzle necessarily. Puzzles were a new thing for us in this game. Of all the games we’ve been working on together, none of those have really had any puzzles, so it took us a while to figure out what that meant and what types of puzzles we would have.
We knew we wanted it to be a big component of the game, and what we ended up with was a wide variety of puzzles, like big puzzles along the golden path that you need to solve. With these, we have a really robust hint system and a very epic feel to it in some ways. But those are not going to be the hardest puzzles in the game because we need to make sure players will get through them without getting stuck. Even though you can ask for hints, we can still push it further than most games can.
Then we have all these smaller things throughout the world called “mysteries.” There’s a bunch of them. Just small side quests, if you will, and they could be anything. Whether you have to rack your brain about it or be very observant about the environment or having to use your whip to traverse. There’s just a load of stuff. Basically, where we ended up from a design point of view is that we don’t really have any strict rules for what and what isn’t a puzzle in this game. The thing we like is that it’s up to the player to discover them, so it gives this kind of sense of mystery to the world that fits well withtheIndiana JonesIP.
Q: For history buffs or fans who come toIndiana Jonesbecause they want to be archaeologists, can you talk about designing stuff that actually fits in history?
A:Absolutely. With this game taking place in 1937, there was an immense amount of research that everyone put into recreating it. It’s almost a shame because a lot of those locations that you see in the game are actual locations. I remember we had an issue with some traversal section and I asked, “Can’t we put a thing here so you can climb?” “No, it’s not going to be realistic then.” I was baffled because I didn’t understand what they meant, so they pulled up a real photo, and it looked like a 1:1 representation of the location. That’s a real place. Looking at the photos, especially photos from 1937, it’s amazing how similar it is.
Of course, we’re making tweaks to make it fit the gameplay. Similarly, with Sukhothai, it’s all touristy if you look at that place now, but if you go back to 1937, it’s overgrown with ruins and things like that you see in the game. There’s a lot of research that has gone into finding these real-world locations, how they looked in 1937, and then applying game design. My favorite part is these instances where, for example, in front of the Sphinx, there’s this big stone tablet called the Dream Stele. It exists in real life. It’s part of the main narrative and there’s a secret to it, so if people go there after playing this game, I want them to have the feeling like, “I know what to do here.” Of course, they won’t be allowed to go up to it.
Q: You mentioned earlier this MachineGames roller coaster ride. Can you talk about striking that balance between moment-to-moment adventure gameplay? A lot of what I’ve seen so far has been getting acquainted withIndiana Jones' ins and outs, but what players can expect as far as MachineGames has done some pretty spectacular things working in thatIndiana Jonestoolbox.
A:I’m not sure how much detail I can go into. What you see in the video are some snippets of that kind of stuff. Lots of trap rooms because that fitsIndiana Joneswell, puzzles that go wrong, the whole place gets flooded or caves in, and you need to escape. We care a lot about pacing. We can have a long retro section where you’re just exploring a dungeon, and then we need to change the pace. There are just so many components to this game, with puzzles, infiltration, and combat. There are a lot of things to get through in the pacing all over again.
The game changes throughout the experience. It’s a big game, and it keeps changing and keeps going forward with this really great story. To be honest, it’s going to be thebest story that MachineGames has ever made. Sure, you can just beeline it if you want, but we expect many players to not, and they should be rewarded for it.
Q: It definitely does focus on hand-to-hand combat, the use of the whip. There are guns. I was surprised that there was more than just Indy’s pistol. I could pick up guns from the soldiers. Can you talk about the balancing act of not leaning too heavily into being a shooter but still having threats that are imposing that you’re able to’t just run up and punch them?
A:It’s actually really fascinating because this was early on in the project. It was one of those things that we were like, “How are we going to pull this off?” Player agency is really important for us, so if enemies have guns and you take them out, the gun needs to be there, you need to be able to pick it up. How do we make that not unbalanced? And we designed all these complex systems, but in the end, we didn’t need too much.
It’s really dangerous to start shootingbecause people start shooting back, and people generally don’t want to. It’s also what we’ve ended up seeing because the other systems have matured to the point where it’s just more fun to pick up a banjo and hit someone rather than the gun. That’s still one of my favorites. Thanks to all the systems and the abilities, we are empowering the player asIndiana Jones, and it’s not as big of a problem as we thought it would be.
Yeah, I was surprised that I took out an enemy, and there was a gun.
A:Did you pick it up?
I did pick it up. I used it. It got me in a bunch of trouble. You put some red barrels there to kind of tease players.
A:That is definitely something we do a lot in this game. Like, there’s a stick of dynamite there.
Yeah, you could definitely do something with that.
A:Yeah, you could, but it’s probably a bad idea. That works so great in this game, I think.
Q: Do you have any examples of things that have surprised you as far as what players do with all of these tools that you’ve given them? For example, you see it in the demo, but just the fact that you can turn on the electricity and you get the guys. That seems somewhat scripted.
A:We have adventure books and abilities, but there’s a pretty wide set of functionality that the player has to explore and discover on their own, and players switch things out because it’s fun. They discover new ways to tackle every scenario. It makes it very interesting. The scenarios change depending on how the player approaches the situation.
An Indiana Jones Experience for Every Kind of Gamer
Q: Let’s say I’ve done everything. Will I have unlocked all the books? Do I need to craft the Indiana Jones that I like to play as, or will I earn enough adventure points?
A:If you keep playing, you will be able to 100% the game. Go back and find everything, but it’s going to be hard to find everything and there’s going to be hard puzzles that prevent you from getting that adventure book. There’s some hand-holding, but for the harder stuff, you have to work for it.
Q: Is there a particular version of Indiana Jones that you like? More stealthy, more brawler?
A:It’s all situational. It’s what the opportunity allows. If they place a stick of dynamite there, I want to play with it. It’s very lighthearted, much like the movies, in terms of what is the opportunity of the situation. All our items are pretty destructible, so that fosters a sense of use whatever is at hand because I can’t keep it anyway. That works really well for this game and character.
Q: I imagine the whip is probably cool from a design perspective, but also very challenging. Can you talk a little bit about it because it’s such an iconic thing?
A:It’s the most iconic piece of equipment he has, except maybe the hat. We knew from the start that the whip needed to be very much a core feature in the game. Getting it right, though, has taken years. Maybe even more so because it’s a first-person game. You’re so up close and personal to it. You can see how it swings around.
I got a guy’s ankles and pulled him down. I was curious if you could do that, and you thought of that.
A:You know, it’s easy to come up with ideas, but there are so many moving pieces, especially because it needs to be a combination of simulation and animation. It needed to look like the movies, so there was a lot of time spent on that. There’s so much that goes into the physical feel of it and the audio. We actually went to visit thisSwedish bull whip championand had him show us how to use it. We recorded sounds. He’s a very fun guy. It meant trying to go all in on what it means to use the whip in the game and to find ways to use it in all parts of the gameplay as well, not only in combat but also in traversal and puzzles.
Q: Can you talk about the challenges of the transition to third person? I would imagine it’s something that you felt was important as far as communicating the traversal of Indiana Jones, but also it’s hard to get right, that fluid transition between first and third person.
A:It’s so important. It’s about portraying Indiana Jones and reminding the players that they are playing as Indiana Jones.Troy Baker does such a phenomenal performanceof both the voice acting and the physical acting. That helps, but we need to show him on screen once in a while. We have some experience with that from previous games all the way back toRiddickwhere we switched to third person, so we could build a little bit on that. In theWolfensteingames, there are subtle rules in terms of how we go back after a cinematic. You see that motion at the end of the cinematic carry-over into first person.
There’s a lot of experience that we have that we can build on. This game is higher fidelity, and you want to carry over the momentum, especially when you do whip swings and things like that, how the camera pulls out and goes back in, it can be such a rapid transition. A lot of work has been spent on trying to get that to feel just right, to take as many opportunities as we can to show this iconic character and then you’re back into it, and you have a voice line saying something Indy-like that sort of pats you on the back for doing something cool.
Q: Was there any sort of collaboration with Troy as far as his input? He’s such an incredible actor.
A:He’s such a multi-talented actor, our whole cast is. Troy is also a huge fan ofIndiana Jones. He went into this wanting to do his utmost, so he made himself available to us, and he has been so helpful in doing what we needed. We changed the project a lot. I don’t know how many shoots we did with him, but he took it very seriously by replicating the smirk of Harrison Ford and finding everything that makes Indiana Jones feel like Indiana Jones. Of course, he learned a ton doing that, so he used that knowledge as we did our shoots. It’s been a pleasure working with him on this stuff.
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