Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Could Do Wonders with a Young Indy Prequel DLC

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has already proven it can work wonders with Harrison Ford’s likeness and an imitation of his voice, and both could’ve veered into uncanny valley territory or been slightly off if not executed perfectly. Instead, while it’s clear that Harrison Ford isn’t voicing the character in Great Circle the impression is close enough that it isn’t alarming; once it’s been made aware that it’s in fact Troy Baker voicing Indy this time around, it’s much easier to hear the actor’s own subtle spin on the iconic archaeologist.

Plus, the great caveat of having first-person gameplay is that players won’t be able to spin the camera around and look at idle facial animations for Indy, meaning the facial capture and animations can be somewhat perfected in pre-rendered cutscenes. Knowing this is the approach Bethesda has gone with, it would be exciting for MachineGames to branch out into a relatively unseen chapter in Indy’s story through post-launch DLC, though one hurdle might impede it.

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Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Nails Its Harrison Ford Impression

Bethesda's Indiana Jones and The Great Circle has finally been unveiled, and fans will be pleased to see the game using Harrison Ford's likeness.

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By  Dan Amoroso

Bethesda’s Indiana Jones Needs a Young Indy DLC

The Last Crusade’s Prologue is One of Indiana Jones’ Most Epic Sequences

The prologue to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is perhaps one of the more memorable and exciting moments of the entire original trilogy, and arguably one of the best sequences franchise-wide. River Phoenix does a lot to make this prologue successful with an exceptional performance, portraying Henry Jones Jr. As a youthful, idealistic boy scout experiencing many of the iconic Indiana Jones tropes for the first time, such as lashing a whip or falling into a crate full of snakes catalyzing his ophidiophobia.

This prologue is relatively brief but it succinctly depicts Indy and why he seeks justice for the proper preservation of relics and artifacts, and another similar prologue story would be well-suited to an Indiana Jones and the Great Circle prequel DLC. It wouldn’t be expected for a prequel DLC to adapt Last Crusade’s prologue since the game isn’t an adaptation of any of the movies, either, but an original story taking place sometime after that prologue’s events would be incredibly exciting.

River Phoenix’s Likeness May Be an Obstacle for a Young Indy DLC

The one obstruction to such a DLC that springs forth is being able to procure the rights to River Phoenix’s likeness. Such an effort might not even be worthwhile for a DLC alone, seeing as how Bethesda would probably need to make arrangements with the actor’s family for acceptance. Having anyone but River Phoenix as the likeness now would create dissonance since Bethesda already splurged for Harrison Ford’s likeness, so not having who portrayed him as a boy would definitely create a discrepancy between the movies and these game adaptations.

Of course, Bethesda could compromise and have this prequel DLC only be in first-person with no third-person cutscenes in order to not show young Indy, but that might also be off-putting since cutscenes seem to play a big role in how Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s storytelling is achieved. Either way, a prequel DLC may not be necessary anymore considering how well Last Crusade’s prologue tells the story of Indy’s origins, but it’s something for MachineGames and Bethesda to consider, if for no other reason than to add another layer to Indiana Jones’ rich mythology from before the character’s three most iconic movies.

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle will arrive sometime in 2024 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.