For a series that has always dabbled in the supernatural, it’s amazing how people find it when they find it amazing Indiana Jones The film dips its toes into the other world. On the big screen alone, the series has dealt with theological, magical, and alien matters And even time travel Every dramatic climax. But while her latest epic – Clunky to play but great to watch Video game Indiana Jones and the Grand Circleout now – he certainly dabbles in all that too in his grand finale, and his best experiments with fantasy come just before that, rooted directly in Indy himself.
The great circleThe third act begins with Indy and his new ally, Italian journalist Gina Lombardi, traveling to Thailand and hunting down Nazi archaeologist Emmerich Voss as he hunts down the remaining artifacts to complete the titular circle. In search of the temples of the former Sukhothai Kingdom, Indy and Jenna team up with Pailin, the leader of a local rebel group, and her uncle Sunan to navigate the waters and forests around Siam – but before they do, they ask Indy to take part in a test. Dr. Jones places a jar in front of him, claiming it shows a person’s greatest fear, and braces himself: it will be snakes. He knows thatAnd you, the audience, know that. The great circle You know this, because at several moments in the game up to this point, it has invoked one of the film series’ most famous catchphrases to remind you of what excites Indy more than any fascist or supernatural event ever.
Indy puts his hand in the jar to find that Belen and Sinan have been playing with him, teasing the foreigner with other expected tropes of the alien culture. All there is is scraps to bolster your soup stock for dinner – and no snakes Nor the brains of monkeys can be found.
but The great circle It wants you to think this is the pinnacle of knowledge for Indiana Jones’ famous fear score, so it can surprise you with a twist soon after. After “facing his fears”, it turns out that the temple housing the final part of the Great Circle that Indy and Jenna venture into is guarded by none other than a snake. truly, truly Big snake. One that can easily, and actually tries several times, to capture the entirety of Indy in one bite. It can be said that the entire sequence is built around it The great circleThe best.
Not only is it an incredibly fun twist on genre fantasy elements Indiana Jones As the series played out – we’ve done plenty of creepy crawlies before, but we’ve never done unnaturally giant monstrosities, which is kind of a halfway step between… Indiana Jones‘Reality and its likes of melting flesh Ark of the Covenant Or the blood sacrifice that breaks the heart. Not only does it take what could have been a very slight nod to the films and bring something extra to the homage, it’s also the rare moment I found it in my play The great circle It mechanically clicked for me, adding friction to playing a very ordinary human professor in extraordinary circumstances.
As I said in my review, I found it The great circle I’m at its best when I’m not actively playing it specifically, but swimming through the submerged ruins of Sukhothai was the rare exception. Suddenly, all the frustrations I had were in the way The great circle The narrative felt really well in control: you hear Indy breathing heavily as he panics more as he tries to escape the snake. You hear its muffled underwater screams the first few times it swims as you swim from hiding place to hiding place, instant death or temporary relief heralded only by the tense hissing click of this monstrous snake the moment it hits the water, growing louder and louder. And when it comes to actually fighting the snake, trapped while you’re on a small patch of ruin surrounded by ancient spears, the game replaces chaotic fist-fighting with a game of tense patience – constantly spinning around in this small space, wracking yourself in tension, waiting for the snake to emerge from the water and land a blow. , so you can turn around and throw the spear at his mouth.
There was a strange sense of simplicity to everything: I’ve played boss fights in video games before, and I know you have to do something 3-4 times and then it’s done, and I knew there were only so many spears to hand . I couldn’t tell if it would always be the case that no matter how much I turned watching the water the snake would rise up and attack. only outside my peripheral vision, but it sure took 3-4 takes to send it away. So I kept turning slowly, ready to lunge at the next spear I needed to throw. Indy kept breathing heavily as we waited for the sound of the snake’s head emerging from the water. I wasn’t fighting the controls for a moment, I was fighting Indy’s fear in that moment, his worst nightmare ever coming to life, and helping him get through it with every throw.
Indiana Jones and the Grand Circle It’s a far cry from the first game and, perhaps despite itself, effectively makes you feel scared through the friction of its controls. But in bridging many of the elements of what is made Indiana Jones As a series that works on one moment more than that – building beyond the homage and bridging the series’ supernatural, surreal gap with the very real fears of its human protagonist – it made for a shining moment in an experience that left me largely underwhelmed.
Want more io9 news? Check when to expect the latest marvel, star warsand Star Trek Releases, what’s next for DC Universe in film and televisionAnd everything you want to know about the future Doctor Who.