Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a 2024 first-person action-adventure game developed by Machine Games and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released for PC and Xbox Series X/S consoles on December 9, 2024. 
Set in 1937, between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, players control adventuring archaeologist Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr., who is roused by a late-night break-in at Marshall College. After a mysterious intruder makes off with a seemingly unimportant artifact, Jones finds himself on another globe-trotting adventure. His latest quest puts him on the trail of a powerful force connected to the "Great Circle", a ring of sacred sites that form a perfect circle around the globe. 
 
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=Overview=
Similar to the combat system once seen in Condemned: Criminal Origins and Condemned 2, most combat in the Great Circle revolves around melee combat, but firearms also can be used. Handguns will be stored in Indy's inventory depending on his outfit, while long guns and handguns acquired from foes only come with a single magazine, and cannot be reloaded; these restrictions lead to the expected absurdities, with rare sequences featuring an abundance of ammunition, the player will be supplied accordingly not in the form of magazines, but with spare guns. Firearms can also be used as improvised clubs for melee combat, but will break after some use and stored weapons will require a repair kit to fix. Indy does not use iron sights when aiming any of the firearms and cannot hip fire, with "aiming" simply displaying the crosshair. All guns also produce a rather excessive amount of smoke when firing, much more than would be expected from firearms using modern smokeless powder cartridges. 
Enemies can reload firearms (which is fully animated) though an oversight means that an enemy disarmed mid-animation will have their weapon promptly grow a new empty magazine.
=Handguns=
Handguns are the only firearms that Indy can store and reload. When Indy is wearing his regular outfit, he has the Smith & Wesson Mk II Hand Ejector and when disguised as an enemy soldier he will use either the Beretta M1934 or Luger depending on the disguise (with civilian and Blackshirt disguises having Indy carry a concealed melee weapon instead).
Enemy officers (and some soldiers) use handguns. Indy cannot store or reload enemy handguns, but he can still pick them up as temporary weapons.
==Beretta M1934==
The Beretta M1934 is carried by Royal Italian Army soldiers and Blackshirts. It holds seven rounds and is referred to as the "Model 1934". On empty reloads, its slide correctly shuts into battery after the magazine is removed.
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==Luger P 08==
Wehrmacht soldiers and Emmerich Voss use the Luger P 08.
A Japanese pilot is also seen using the Luger, like the Type 92 below, it is presumably standing in for a Japanese sidearm.
thumb|none|600px|Firing the Luger P 08.
==Smith & Wesson Mk II Hand Ejector==
Indiana Jones uses the Smith & Wesson Mk II Hand Ejector as his signature sidearm. It is Indy's default sidearm in the game while wearing his regular outfit. In the introductory gameplay segment that recreates the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Peruvian guide Barranca draws a S&W on Indy; its barrel has been mocked up with a Remington 1875's triangular ejector rod support, rather than featuring a proper 1875 like in the film. The Hand Ejector is used in single-action only and Indy always reloads it one round at a time.
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thumb|none|600px|Indy checks the cylinder of his Mk II Hand Ejector in the opening flashback to Raiders of the Lost Ark, it is notably the only firearm with a check animation by attempting to reload when full, no other handgun or long gun has this extra animation.
=Submachine Guns=
==Beretta M1918/30==
The Beretta M1918/30 is carried by Italian soldiers, and referred to as simply "M1918/30". Curiously, despite being modeled with its integrated folding bayonet, the M1918/30 is still used the same way as the game's other weapons in melee mode (i.e. grabbed by the forend and swung as a club).
It can be found with either a 12 or 25-round magazine.
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thumb|none|600px|Blocking with the 12-round magazine version.
==Haenel MP 28/II==
German soldiers use the Haenel MP 28/II, which is correctly designated as "MP 28/II" (they even carry them with the correct early style pouches). It is worth noting that the MP 40 that was used in The Last Crusade did not enter production until 1940, with the earlier MP 28/II (which also appeared in the same movie) being one of the few pre-war German submachine guns available for use alongside with the Bergmann MP 35/I.
It can be found with either a 20 or 32-round magazine during normal gameplay though during a rail-shooting sequence it uses 32-round magazines that hold 48-rounds (which is apparently supposed to represent a 50-round magazine).
thumb|none|600px|Indy holding the MP 28/II with a 32-round magazine. It is held by its magazine in lieu of the handguard, a technique not recommended for submachine guns with this design, but we can assume that Indy rather understandably lacks experience with the MP 28 series.
thumb|none|600px|Holding a 20-round MP 28/II.
thumb|none|600px|Indy holds the MP 28/II in the melee mode while another MP 28/II lays near its recently disarmed owner.
thumb|none|600px|German troops hold Indy at gunpoint with the MP 28/II while using the handguard, notably unlike Indy, German and Italian troops actually use the handguard consistently throughout the game.
=Shotguns=
==Winchester Model 1897 "Trench Gun"==
German and Italian soldiers incorrectly use the Winchester Model 1897 "Trench Gun", despite most European powers not issuing shotguns in combat roles at this point in history, though an in-universe document mentions they were specifically authorized by Voss. Unlike most weapons in the game which have mostly correct real-world names, the Model 1897 is simply referred to as "Shotgun" and "Trench Sweeper" in the Gun Approval document. It holds six rounds, which implies that its chamber and magazine tube was loaded prior to Indy picking one up. 
Enemies with the shotgun uniquely drop both their shotgun and a pistol when defeated and it cannot be whipped out of their hands unlike other firearms.
thumb|none|600px|Indy holds a Trench Gun in Egypt. The heat shield is rather oddly proportioned and modeled, being too short in length and hovering above the barrel rather than being flush with it.
thumb|none|600px|Melee mode with the Trench Gun.
thumb|none|600px|A broken Trench Gun.
=Rifles=
==Carcano M91/24==
The Carcano M91/24 is the standard rifle for Italian soldiers, under the shortened name of "Carcano" and correctly holds six rounds.
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thumb|none|600px|Holding the Carcano M91/24 in melee mode.
==Karabiner 98k==
The Karabiner 98k is used by German troops and incorrectly holds six rounds in its magazine instead of five. It appears under its real-world name.
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==Mosin Nagant M91/30==
A Mosin Nagant M91/30 in a sniper configuration is seen on the "Button Man" upgrade book.
=Mounted Guns=
==DShK 1938==
An original-model DShK 1938 is mounted on a Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 biplane that is commandeered by Indiana Jones in Shanghai. It is anachronistic for the game's 1938 setting. In reality, the very idea of ​​installing heavy weapons firing a very powerful cartridge on a single-engine biplane is rather ill-advised, and the Po-2 was equipped with the ShKAS or Degtyaryov DA.
 
==2 cm FlaK 30==
Several 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft guns are seen in Shanghai.
==2 cm FlaKVierling 38==
A 2 cm FlaKVierling 38 is seen on a frozen Nazi cruiser (which appears to be based on the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser).
==Type 92==
A Type 92 light machine gun is mounted on what appears to be a Japanese Aichi D3A Type 99 Carrier Bomber.
The Type 92 also makes an appearance earlier in Gizeh, these are used by Wehrmacht forces and are presumably stand-ins for the MG 34, considering they are only seen at a distance.
thumb|none|400px|Type 92 - 7.7x58mm Arisaka 
=Grenades and Explosives=
==Dynamite==
Dynamite bundles appear as the only usable explosive weapon, they can be detonated either by gunfire or using a lighter (or a lit torch or oil lamp before Indy has the lighter) to light the fuse.
==Model 17 Eierhandgranate / Model 39 Eihandgranate hybrid==
Gina Lombardi gives Emmerich Voss a grenade with the pin pulled, which appears to be a fusion of the Model 17 Eierhandgranate and the Model 39 Eihandgranate.
thumb|none|160px|Eihandgranate Modell 39
Category:Video Game
Category:Indiana Jones