Indiana Jones returns in first-person perspective – um, yay?

Indiana Jones is back! MachineGames, the studio behind the modern Wolfenstein series, is bringing the old archaeologist on a new adventure after years of development. It’ll be released this year on PC, Xbox and via Game Pass. We just don’t know when exactly.

The trailer was shown yesterday during the Developer Direct Livestream, which my colleagues Phil and Domi and I commented on live. Our initial reactions: somewhere between suspicious, disappointed and cautiously optimistic. Today, one night later, I’ve formed a clearer opinion.

Initial reactions: suspicious and disappointed

At first glance, choosing the Swedish studio seems a little strange. The action-packed first-person Nazi shooter doesn’t seem to have much in common with the iconic, running, jumping and puzzle-solving Fedora wearer. Except for the Nazis, of course. Todd Howard, Executive Producer and most recently known for his game Starfield, doesn’t want to hear about it.

«I’d had this idea for what it would be like, the story, what Indy was going after, what period of his life it was in, what kind of arc he was going to have,» Howard explains in the lengthy 13-minute behind-the-scenes, «and […] I thought who would be the best studio in the world to make this and it was my friends at MachineGames.»

Game Director Jerk Gustafsson takes the same line, making it clear right from the start that their Indiana Jones game really is a genuine MachineGames title. «You aren’t just playing as Indy,» he says meaningfully, «you are Indiana Jones». Then he adds exactly what I feared: «You will see through his eyes!»

First-person.

«Why so disappointed?» I ask myself. Well, firstly, I don’t like first-person games. Unless it’s really a first-person shooter. Just like the Wolfenstein series in fact. Indiana Jones isn’t exactly known for being squeamish with enemies in his films. He kills about 50 people per movie. But he also isn’t some kind of revolver wizard who shoots his way through rows of enemies. Indy mostly relies on his quick wit and his whip. Only very rarely does he pull out his pistol. Is MachineGames really the right studio for this?

I think wistfully of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted or Eidos’ Tomb Raider, two studios that were clearly inspired by Indiana Jones for their games. Wouldn’t they have been much better suited for an Indiana Jones game for this very reason – as a 3rd-person adventure game?

My initial anticipation is dampened, turning into slight disappointment. But then Howard and Gustafsson’s points slowly begin to bear fruit. And the more I watch the trailer, the more I begin to understand Howard’s vision.

On second thought, not so bad after all

It’s important to note that even in the gameplay scenes shown by MachineGames, Indy hardly ever uses his pistol. Instead, the creators promise that we always have the choice of how we want to eliminate our opponents. A very important tool – the whip. Whether as a diversion or a weapon to inflict damage on enemies or simply to cause them to stumble – the choice is ours.

The second important element – the puzzles. In the gameplay video, we see Indy exploring ancient ruins from a first-person perspective, wiping moss from walls and using gears to trigger complex mechanisms – only to almost fall into a deadly trap himself.

When I think of the rather hare-brained puzzles from Uncharted, limited by the 3rd person gameplay, I can see why first-person makes sense here. Besides, Naughty Dog just keeps throwing hordes of mindless goons at my head between thrillingly staged climbing passages. I proceed to simply kill them with a machine gun and grenade launcher. The more I think about it, the less sure I am whether Uncharted really is a good model for a successful Indiana Jones game.

Howard’s vision of Indiana Jones, on the other hand, reminds me strongly of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. It came out in 2004, was developed by Vivendi Universal Games and is still one of my favourite games to this day. Vivendi delivered a gripping stealth story, played from Riddick’s first-person perspective, but told in an incredibly cinematic way from occasional third-person, especially in cutscenes. Howard’s Indiana Jones seems to follow exactly the same pattern and has the same cinematic cutscenes – like Wolfenstein.

Hm. Suddenly choosing MachineGames as a developer makes more sense .

Especially when I watch the trailer above. I can feel that the employees at MachineGames understood the wit and humour of Indiana Jones. His bravado, but also his clumsiness, his innocent awkwardness. We love Indy because he isn’t an indestructible hero à la James Bond, who can do anything and succeeds at everything flawlessly. Even if Indy somehow manages to pull through in the end without losing a single bit of his coolness. Perhaps precisely because of his crazy stunts, which have found their way from the movies into the motion-capturing halls of MachineGames. That’s what makes us love the man with the whip and Fedora.

Looking forward: hope and good will

Alright then. The graphics in the trailer don’t scream next-gen quite as loudly as the absolutely stunning footage of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, which was also shown yesterday. That really flashed greatness for once. But I’ve digested the initial disappointment that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, its full name, is played from first-person.

I now even think that a third-person Indy adventure game would’ve been too much like Uncharted or Tomb Raider. Ironic, since Indiana Jones is actually the spiritual inspiration for Naughty Dog and Eidos’ games. By the way, Indy won’t be played and voiced by Harrison Ford, but by Troy Baker. He already played main character Joel in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. MachineGames, meanwhile, is seizing the opportunity to make an Indiana Jones game clearly distinct from the already well-worn third-person adventure genre.

I’m already looking forward to puzzles and exploring mystical ancient ruins. The locations range from ancient cities such as Rome to the jungles of Sukhothai and the deserts of Egypt to the snowy Himalayas. And composer Gordy Haab claims to have captured the essence of what made John Williams’ unmistakeable Indiana Jones score so special. Not a bad choice. Haab also wrote the music for both Star Wars Jedi games. And I don’t need to mention who wrote the music for the Star Wars films.

What do you think, is MachineGames the right choice for an Indiana Jones game? Or has the first-person perspective completely killed your enthusiasm? Let me know in the comments.