Indiana Jones and the Great Circle by Bethesda and MachineGames was excellent in execution. Not only was it really fun as an Indy game, but it also presented the Indiana Jones franchise in a fun and unique way. More, even, than the series’s latest movies. The Order of Giants DLC continues The Great Circle as a side adventure, where we get to explore more of Rome as the mystery of the ancient order and race of Nephilim is explored in a new light.
This new journey takes place during the first major area of The Great Circle, the Vatican. As Indy is exploring the holy city-state, a young priest entices our historian with a tantalizing mystery. One that is hidden below the streets of Rome and goes back hundreds of years. Naturally, Indy is intrigued by this new historical discovery. So we are led away from the heart of Catholicism, deep into Fascist-controlled Rome. There, we discover something darker about the Nephilim order.
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The Order of Giants feels out of place in the overall game’s narrative.
The Order of Giants feels out of place. It takes place during the Vatican chapter, but doesn’t really fit there, given the base game’s story. At this point in the story, we know very little about the Nephilim. We’ve barely learned about their existence. Yet, the DLC acts as if you know all there is to know about this race of immortal giants. Every discovery adds to their history as a group that’s closely tied to the Roman Catholic Church.
In other words, if you’re just now starting The Great Circle, don’t start The Order of Giants right when it becomes available. Play it after you beat the base game. Even then, the DLC has a bigger issue. The base game excelled at both showing and telling in its narrative.
You learned information as Indy learned it. Revelations and explanations of the red-string connections flowed great through catchy cutscenes and Indy’s inner monologue. The DLC’s story isn’t just bland. It just does a lot of telling instead of showing.
Particularly, The Order of Giants focuses on a side-story of the Nephilim that has a cult strangely tied to it. The cult, especially, is something that feels very tacked on. It’s there to give us a new opponent to punch while exploring the new tombs and areas.
The Order of Giants doesn’t add much new to the gameplay.
The overall impact of the story is quite minimal, although it initially appears to be something that could shake our understanding of the Vatican’s involvement in this adventure. And by the end, you don’t really learn much more about the Nephilim. Only that they were just more involved in Rome and the Vatican’s history than we thought.
The gameplay itself isn’t much better. There’s nothing new added. No new costumes, no new mechanics, only a new weapon that was only used during the DLC’s final boss fight. Not adding anything new to the gameplay isn’t a bad thing. The Great Circle was a blast because of how much fun Indy was to play. However, considering its short length, the DLC’s impact on the overall game feels quite lacking.
Rome, as an area, is notably lacking. The explorable ruins also feel strangely out of place as part of Rome’s history. There’s so much ancient architecture that modern Rome is built upon. That alone would have been so much fun to explore, instead of what we got. Plus, when you do actually get access to some streets, you are quickly whisked away into the sewers, where you’ll spend a significant part of your time.
The new puzzles are some of the game’s best.
Its final setpiece, the Colosseum, isn’t as grand as it could have been. You really only utilize a small circle in it instead of the whole structure. However, the new temples are unique enough with some fun platforming elements that do let them stand out on their own when compared to the base game’s temples and ruins.
Yet the new puzzles added are excellent, yet simple. They do a great job of letting you figure things out at your own pace. The statues puzzle, particularly, is fun with a nice time crunch on top of thinking on your feet about connecting dots. Plus, there’s nothing repeated from the base game. It’s all new. But if you don’t like puzzles, you’re not going to have a great time with the DLC.
Platforming portions are minimal in The Order of Giants, and combat feels like an afterthought. One room in particular, late in the DLC, feels like a quota was needed for the “bad guys Indy needs to fight.” With all the upgrades from the base game, nothing was ever a challenge. I just went into this room that had dozens of cultists and started swinging. Within a minute, they were all on the ground, moaning in pain.
The Order of Giants feels like a mish-mash of ideas that were cut from the base game.
The Order of Giants had a chance to do something fun with one of the most interesting aspects of The Great Circle‘s story, but it missed the mark. The DLC was fun as an excuse to play more of MachineGames’s excellent game. But it quickly began to feel like a mish-mash of ideas that were left on the cutting room floor.
The Order of Giants’ story has a minimal impact on the overall Great Circle narrative. While it has some of the game’s best puzzles, that alone isn’t enough to carry the weight of a lackluster jaunt through Rome.
