Quick thoughts on: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants

It’s been almost a year since the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. A game that I liked a lot, but also felt like it was a bit too long and too ambitious and in the end didn’t quite scratch the same itch as the classic The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. And as the time went by, I found myself rarely remembering the title, which was a bit sad to realize. Nonetheless, it was and still is a unique game for modern gaming market, so I was still looking forward for its only announced DLC – The Order of Giants. This DLC is finally out and… it’s fine. And also somewhat pointless.

What’s cute about the DLC is that it starts out by trying to fit in with the already established structure of the game. The beginning part of it takes place within the existing location, but in the part of it that was quite prominent but blocked off previously, hinting at the fact that the developers were probably planning on using this location for the DLC from the start. Or that maybe it even began life as a quest planned for the game that was cut quite early in the development process. Either way, the DLC tries to bring most of the experiences from the core game into its own loop and also to integrate elements and unlockable equipment you find across your main adventure. As such, you get stealth, hand to hand combat (with few moments where you can try using guns instead), exploration and puzzle solving and some climbing and other kinds of acrobatics.

However, the end result of it all ends up feeling very superficial and not particularly engaging. The story has hints of something that could be cool, but never really embraces it. The titular Order isn’t explored as much as you might think from the title and their importance in the main game. And the progression through levels is rather awkward, with the location you will spend most time with being a sewer. It’s an ancient sewer of Rome, so it’s not your classic “mandatory sewer level”, but it’s still not that interesting. While some puzzles and optional exploration ranges from quite fun to odd and messy.

It’s not a bad addition to The Great Circle as much as it just feels unnecessary. Like an old vertical slice from before the whole game and its plot took shape MachineGames polished up into released content. If you liked the main game, this is alright too. But it’s not much of a reason to revisit the game on its own.