‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle‘has brought Indy back to the video game with a first-person adventure developed by MachineGamesset in 1937 between the events of ‘Raiders of the lost ark‘ and ‘The last crusade‘, which recovers the tone of classic adventure cinema and transfers it to an experience with exploration, puzzles, stealth, hand-to-hand combat and historical locations. On the occasion of its arrival on Switch 2, we have been able to speak with Axel Torveniuscreative director of the game, about the difficulty of recreating a young Harrison Ford, the balance between historical rigor and pulp fantasy, the changes introduced in the portable version and the future of Indiana Jones within the video game.
whip and hat
Indiana Jones is a very popular character, with a very specific way of moving, talking and getting into trouble. What was the most difficult thing about translating it into a playable experience without it ending up looking like a simple imitation?
“What wasn’t complicated when adapting Indiana Jones into a video game experience?” he replied: “One of the biggest difficulties was finding the tone when recreating a young Harrison Ford. His appearance as Indiana Jones in the eighties. This involves getting the voice right, achieving a correct resemblance, reproducing their way of moving and their gestures. We were very lucky to have Troy Baker like our Indiana Jones. He is an incredible talent and his performance made the whole process so much easier. I think we ended up with a very high-quality representation of the character, capable of making the player fully immersed in the game. The player really feels like he is Indiana Jones.”
What elements absolutely had to be in the game for the team to feel that the character was faithfully represented?
“So many different aspects!” reveals Torvenius. “There was never a single element that made the magic work. Still, there are several aspects that we can consider fundamental. Making sure that Indiana Jones looks and sounds like Indiana Jonesof course, but there were also iconic features that we had to include, such as the hat, the jacket, the whip and the revolver. Also his way of life, how he reacts to the threat of danger, what kind of phrases he says, his style of hand-to-hand combat. All of those pieces build the character of Indiana Jones and were our main goals to make it feel like you’re playing as Indy.”
That said, getting Indiana Jones right in isolation wasn’t enough to create a great adventure experience.
“No. We had to make sure everything felt like a real adventure, so that meant investigation, action, spectacular scenes and create a world that players could feel like they were inside. Tour forgotten temples, lift each stone and bring to light the secrets hidden underground.”
The locations have a very powerful presence, with places like the Vatican, Egypt and Sukhothai. How did you balance historical rigor, pulp fantasy, and the demands of the game?
“It was an extremely interesting task,” says Torvenius. “From the beginning we set out to create an accurate representation of what those places would have been like in the 1930s. Two good examples are Ziggurat of Urwhich appears later in the game, and some of the abandoned temples of Sukhothai. If you visit these places today, they are restored and prepared for tourism, but in the 1930s they looked completely different. “We did a lot of research to find original black and white photographs of those places, from archives of the time, to be able to recreate something that would be true to that period.”
But at the same time, he admits that those piles of abandoned ruins, as they were then, were perhaps not the most attractive places to explore in a modern adventure game.
“That’s why there’s this interesting balance, where we try to preserve the sense of historical rigor, but also allow the player to delve deeper and discover secret chambers hidden under those ancient structures. We always try to remember that we are not making a historical simulatoralthough we seek to be precise, but an intense adventure within the world of Indiana Jones.”
Is there a specific area that changed a lot during development compared to the first version you imagined?
“There were a few initial locations that we had ideas for that never made it past paper, but most stayed pretty close to how we designed them during pre-production,” he says. “Some areas tThey ended up being a little bigger than expected.and we had some difficulties with the map of Sukhothaibecause it was flooded and we had to figure out how players would navigate those areas by boat, going up and down as they moved through them. But, in terms of tone and vision, these aspects did not change much from the initial approach.”
Where is the line between paying homage to classic adventure cinema and building a new story with its own identity?
“It’s a tricky line, knowing where to cross it and where not to. In the beginning we spent a lot of time analyzing all the existing Indiana Jones content we could. We knew early on that we wanted Base the game on ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ regarding the vital moment in which Indiana Jones was, since the game takes place a year after that movie,” he points out.
“The biggest difficulty is that video game development does not have the luxury of cinema, where each moment is structured frame by frame. We believe in the freedom of the player and allow him to move freely. The player can always run to that corner, look behind the other part of the temple or climb that wall. We want the players to move your way and live your adventureand we want to make sure that even when they’re climbing over a wall they’re not touching or searching the edge of the map, they can do it, but they still feel like Indiana Jones and the world continues to feel coherent within the context of the rest of the game.”
The version for Nintendo Switch 2
‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’ arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 on May 12. What has it meant for the studio to adapt an adventure of this scale to a different hardware architecture?
Axel Torvenius explains to us that all different formats bring their own problems and opportunities. “Nothing has been sacrificed in terms of content in the Switch 2 version of the game. The title runs at a locked 30fps at all timesand the playable experience is the same as in the PC and console versions.” He admits that “There are always difficulties when launching any game, especially one of this magnitude, but it has been fun to bring it to a new format and the engineers at MachineGames have done a brilliant job with the playable experience. You will have a great Indiana Jones adventure no matter which format you play.”
What image or performance aspects were prioritized during the development of the Switch 2 version?
“It was important to us that the content be exactly the same in the Switch 2 version, so that new and returning players have the same high-quality experience as everyone else, regardless of the platform. That was our top priority,” he explains. “It was also important so that everyone had a stable playable experienceso we locked the game at 30 fps so we could continue to display consistently high-quality graphics like other versions of the game.”
The lighting, interiors and the feeling of discovery are very relevant within the experience. What part was the trickiest to port to the Switch 2 hardware?
Axel Torvenius is “very pleased with how well the navigation and platforming of some of the more complicated environments translate to the smaller screen when playing in handheld mode. There was never a need to rethink the visual guidelines or core mechanics in getting the player to understand what to do on the smaller screen.”
Is there any specific element of this version that surprised you because of how well it works in portable mode?
“One of the great things about working on different platforms is the opportunities they offer. As game developers, we always welcome different difficulties, so It’s been great to implement Switch 2’s gyroscope motion controls and the mouse functionality of the Joy-Con 2 in the game. It’s a new way to experience ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’ and it works really well when it comes to navigating environments, sharpening your aim or examining an object.”
For many Nintendo players, this will be their first time with the game. What would you tell them before delving into this version of ‘The Great Circle’?
“An adventure awaits you!” he says. “I think it’s the same with anyone who starts the game. If you like Indiana Jones, you are about to live the definitive Indy adventure. If you are not familiar with Indiana Jones, you have ahead of you a high-quality narrative experience to enjoy for many hours. The great thing about the game coming to Switch 2 is that now you can enjoy it when you’re going on your own adventures. It can be at a bus stop or going up a hill, you take out your Switch and enjoy Indiana Jones wherever you are.”
The future of the series
The game has shown that Indiana Jones can work incredibly well in this area. Do you think this opens up more possibilities for future adventures with the character?
“We’ve loved working with Indiana Jones here at MachineGames. It’s been a really exciting journey. Right now, though, we’re focused on getting the game ready for release.”
After spending so much time working with Indy, what personality traits do you value more now than before starting the project?
Axel Torvenius highlights “his determination, obsession with things and the fact that, in the end, he always knows what is right, even when it goes against his original goal, really define him. He can start with a very specific desire to pursue something or solve a mystery, but that soon turns into curiosity and investigationin a genuine impulse to set things right and prevent evil from carrying out its plans. I think those very positive human qualities are something that you can discover more and more as you work with the character.”
We close the talk with Axel Torvenius, leaving behind temples, whips and impossible ruins, but thanking him for a very generous conversation about how MachineGames has brought Indiana Jones to its new version for the Nintendo hybrid. ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’ It is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and also arrives on Switch 2 this May 12.