You’re standing in a dusty tomb, the air is thick enough to chew, and there’s a Nazi patrol right around the corner. You’ve got a whip, a revolver you’re barely supposed to use, and a fedora that stays on through sheer willpower. This isn't just another first-person shooter. It’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and honestly, the way people talk about it on Game Pass is a bit confusing.
Most folks assume that because it's a "Microsoft game" now, you just click download and you’re Indy. Well, sort of. But there are layers to this—like a trapped floor in a Peruvian temple—that can catch you off guard if you aren't paying attention to which tier of the service you're actually paying for.
The Game Pass Tier Trap
Let's get the big one out of the way. If you are sitting there with a standard Xbox Game Pass Standard subscription, you are going to be staring at a "Buy" button instead of a "Play" button.
Microsoft changed the rules recently.
Basically, the big "Day One" releases—the heavy hitters like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle—are now reserved for the Ultimate and PC Game Pass tiers. If you’re on the Standard console tier, you’re basically waiting in line behind the velvet rope. There is no official word on when "Standard" subscribers get the keys to the kingdom, but if history is any indication with titles like Starfield or Diablo IV, you might be waiting a long while.
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: You’re good. Play it on console, PC, or via the Cloud.
- PC Game Pass: You’re also good. Dig in.
- Xbox Game Pass Standard: No dice. You'll need to upgrade or buy the game outright.
Why This Isn't Just "Wolfenstein with a Whip"
MachineGames is behind this. You know them, the folks who made Wolfenstein and made shooting Nazis feel like a heavy metal concert. Because of that pedigree, everyone expected a shooter.
They were wrong.
The game is surprisingly focused on fisticuffs and puzzles. It’s first-person, yeah, but Indy isn't a super-soldier. If you try to play this like Call of Duty, you are going to die. A lot. The combat is "messy" in a way that feels intentional—you’re grabbing bottles off tables, smashing them over heads, and using the whip to trip guys up. It feels like the movies because Indy is always just barely winning his fights by the skin of his teeth.
The puzzles are the real star here. MachineGames built a camera mechanic that’s actually useful. You take photos of ancient carvings, and Indy scribbles notes in his journal. It’s not just flavor text; those notes are literally your guide to not getting crushed by a ceiling.
What about the "Great Circle" anyway?
The story sits right between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. It’s 1937. Indy is dealing with the fallout of his breakup with Marion Ravenwood. He’s obsessed with his work, maybe a little too much.
The "Great Circle" itself refers to a real-world archaeological mystery where various ancient sites—the Pyramids of Giza, the Sukhothai temples, the Vatican—all supposedly align in a perfect circle around the globe. It’s the perfect excuse for a globetrotting adventure that feels massive in scale.
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The Controversy of the Perspective
People complained about the first-person view. "Why can't I see the jacket?" they asked.
Honestly, after playing it, the first-person choice makes the scale of the environments hit differently. When you’re standing at the base of a massive Nazi battleship perched on a mountain in the Himalayas, looking up from Indy’s eyes feels way more intimidating than a third-person camera ever could.
The game does zip out to third-person for traversal, like when you’re climbing pipes or swinging across gaps with the whip. It’s a hybrid approach that works better than it sounds on paper.
Performance Reality Check
If you’re playing on Xbox Series S, expect a bit of a hit. The game is gorgeous—the ray-traced lighting in the Vatican catacombs is genuinely some of the best I've seen—but it’s demanding. On Series X, it targets 60fps, and for the most part, it stays there.
PC players have it the best, assuming you’ve got the hardware. If you're playing via Xbox Cloud Gaming, just make sure your ping isn't trash. Timing the parries in hand-to-hand combat is vital, and a half-second of lag will result in Indy taking a fist to the jaw.
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What You Should Do Right Now
If you’re looking to jump into Indiana Jones and the Great Circle via Game Pass, here is the smartest way to handle it:
- Check your subscription: Go to your account settings. If it says "Standard," you aren't getting in. Upgrade to Ultimate for a month if you just want to blast through the campaign.
- Download the "Order of Giants" DLC: If you're an Ultimate sub, check if the 2025 expansion is included or if you need the Premium Upgrade. It adds a massive chunk of story set in Rome that's arguably better than the base game's middle act.
- Don't skip the journal: It’s tempting to just follow the objective markers. Don't. The best parts of this game are the hidden "Adventure Points" you get for actually being an archaeologist—finding small relics and solving optional riddles.
- Listen to the voice: Troy Baker does the voice, and while he isn't Harrison Ford, he nails the "grumpy but brilliant" tone. Give it twenty minutes and you'll forget it's not the real guy.
The game is still a cornerstone of the Game Pass library in 2026, and it remains one of the few licensed games that actually understands why the source material was fun in the first place. It isn't about the kill count; it’s about the discovery.