Customize Your Settings

There are some cool customization opportunities if you head over to the OPTIONS menu before leaping into gameplay. Under ‘HUD & Gameplay’ scroll down to ‘Special Outfits.’ There you’ll be able to customize Indy’s outfits (if you own any skins above the standard edition of ‘Great Circle) and also his whip (ie. Lion Tamer). Your updated options will be seen in future cut scenes. Pretty rad! Lastly, for folks looking to dial in the best visual experience, I recommend turning off Chromatic Aberration & Motion Blur along with setting Film Grain at “0.”

Utilize Your Surroundings

As a huge fan of the Hitman franchise, I was surprised how many aspects of that ‘47’ game experience apply to ‘Great Circle.’ By that I mean stashing beat up soldiers, throwing bottles to distract enemies and sneaking up from behind for an attack. I recommend constant searching for bottles or other chuckable items to minimize fighting sequences. Also, this ‘searching’ practice will help you find helpful artifacts - a key component to the game! And, let’s be honest, the best part about the gameplay experience is using your whip, right? Seems like the Developers have added all sorts of opportunities to climb up walls, swing, and yank items in the environment with that trusty whip! Slow and steady will win this race.. So, stay on the lookout!

Be On The Lookout… For Indicators!

As Indy moves around you’ll notice a lot of yellow indicators to help you find your way or locate an important artifact. Circles with a question mark help you accomplish the latest ‘to-do’ and the yellow diamond is the final step of the objective. Be sure to search for environmental indicators (white bullseye) let you interact with a particular object. Friendly NPCs will have a blue outline around their heads, enemies will have an orange outline that will quickly turn to red once you’ve been spotted.. Smack them around and the enemy will have a white outline around their head to let you know they’ve been taken out.

You Are A Professor Of Archeology.. Not An MMA Fighter!

It’s very tempting to run up to enemies and start throwing punches. Don’t do it! Not only will you lose health, you’ll ultimately deplete your bandage and consumables inventory. Also, your stamina decreases when sprinting or climbing. Sure, it regenerates automatically after a quick rest period but it’s best to outwit your enemies by minimizing expended energy. Just in case.. your health meter appears in the lower left corner of the screen. Keep an eye on this because when your health reaches zero, Indy get’s KO’d and you’ll end up restarting from your last checkpoint. Be sure to use bandages and other items to keep your health up!

Ok, Tough Guy! You Wanna Fight?

Here’s the scoop on hand-to-hand combat. Press LT and RT to help Indy throw punches. Hold LT and RT to charge up a power punch. If an enemy blocks your punch - it will deplete your stamina. Also be sure to block by holding LB and parry enemy attacks by tapping LB right before an enemy punch is about to land. Lastly, don’t forget to dodge by flicking the left analog stick along with the A button. You can also shove enemies by pushing down the right analog - perfect way to send those baddies off a ledge or into breakable scenery!

Holster That Weapon!

After spending a great deal of time playing ‘Great Circle,’ I’ve come to realize that guns should only be used when Indy finds himself in dire straits. Back to the stealth point.. use your whip as much as possible as noisy weapons often pose more risk than reward! Don’t unnecessarily alert enemies when you don’t have to - keep your energy and inventory on the up & up!

Fast Travel

Any Red Dead fans here? You know what I’m talking about! Interacting with street signs is a very helpful aspect to ‘Great Circle’ because it allows you to quickly travel around the level. Hold X while focusing on the sign pointing to the location you want to travel to. But here’s the kicker, you can only fast travel to locations you have already visited. Why should you care? Well, this could be particularly helpful for the completion gamer crowd - to find notes and other antiquities!

Satchel Do’s & Dont’s 

Another reason why I love ‘Great Circle’ is because the game’s inventory system reminds me a lot of Resident Evil’s storage & item utilization experience. Your satchel is where you store consumables, artifacts, disguises, keys and other helpful items that you will uncover during your journey. Press right on the D-Pad to open your satchel. After, you can inspect or use an item by pressing X. Some of the main items that you’ll end up stashing are bandages (press down on the D-Pad to cycle through your consumables & press Right Trigger to use em), bread (to boost your health - same process as the bandages) and also fruit. Now here’s the fun part, sometimes you can combine items in your satchel. An on-screen prompt will appear and you’ll be able to press right on the D-Pad to bring out the second item. This will help you solve puzzles, open doors - or even interact with certain characters!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words - And Adventure Points!

Since this game takes place nearly one hundred years ago, Indy obviously doesn’t have social media. But, when you play ‘Great Circle,’ utilize your modern day mindset and snap photos as much as possible with that trusty camera! Why? Well, once you can afford purchasing a camera in the Vatican, you can boost abilities by capturing special moments to boost your Adventure Points as well as clues for your latest quest. Be on the lookout for a camera icon pop-up and snap a photo! We’re talking landscapes, humans and even cats! Save some bullets and fire off the camera!

That’s it for now. Best of luck on your adventure, Dr. Jones!