Indiana Jones And The Great Circle: The Order Of Giants DLC Review

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It’s somewhat misleading to refer to The Order of Giants as “bite-sized,” given it runs for approximately four to five hours. In comparison to other parts of Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, though, this DLC certainly has a more concise feel.

The game shines brightest when it immerses you in vast, open-ended environments, such as the winding rivers of Sukhothai or the deserts surrounding the Giza pyramids. Wearing Indy’s iconic hat and navigating these intricate settings feels exhilarating. Every level is meticulously crafted to provide a sense of freedom for players, while seamlessly incorporating classic Indiana Jones elements into each setting.

It wasn’t unreasonable for me to assume the initial expansion would have a comparable structure to the original game, but I must admit, it’s a bit disheartening that The Order of Giants offers a more condensed playstyle. Despite maintaining its high-quality aspects, there are some essential elements seemingly absent from this experience.

If you’ve previously experienced The Great Circle game, you might be enticed to revisit Vatican City to incorporate fresh research into Indy’s journal. In this scenario, you encounter Father Ricci, a chatty priest with a talkative parrot, who is frantic about recovering a lost Roman artifact that once belonged to Pope Paul IV. This intriguing premise sets the stage for an exhilarating journey that takes you beyond Vatican City’s borders and into the heart of ancient Rome itself. In essence, your adventure leads you under the streets of the Eternal City where you will sift through narrow, dusty tombs, catacombs, and the Cloaca Maxima sewer system. You will tackle intricate puzzles, unearth hidden secrets, evade cultists, and, at times, clash with Mussolini’s Blackshirts, delivering punches to their faces.

According to the expansion’s title, The Order of Giants explores further the historical background of the Nephilim Order – a secretive society of giants born from angelic lineage. Although their significance in the events of The Great Circle is undeniable, much about the Nephilim remains enigmatic even by the end of the main game. In The Order of Giants, we don’t exactly uncover all their secrets, but we do get another intriguing glimpse into their elusive history, starting from Nero’s rule as Roman emperor and extending to the Crusades in the 11th century.

I found it engaging to piece together the story using clues, riddles, and Indy’s insights, notably its blend of real-world history with supernatural elements centered around Nephilim. The writing is crisp, and Troy Baker does an exceptional job portraying Indy again. However, I felt that the narrative could have fit better within the main story if I hadn’t already completed The Great Circle. To put it simply, it feels like a self-contained adventure with minimal connection to the overall plot, which is common for story-driven DLCs. If you’re new to The Great Circle, you might find it as an exciting diversion within the larger narrative, but for those who have completed the game, it could feel somewhat disconnected.

This game also aligns well with the Vatican map concept since you’ll mainly navigate through underground passages similar to those beneath the sacred city. The Order of Giants follows a linear path, but each location is richly decorated with secret passageways and hidden treasures, catering to explorers who delve into every corner. It’s filled with intriguing puzzles that stimulate your mind while providing a satisfying tactile experience as well. These range from deciphering an old tale to determine the rotation of various platforms, to manipulating a ball along a track by adding and removing parts to control its direction. The room-sized puzzles are some of the finest in the game, and the DLC’s flow ensures that no one aspect becomes too repetitive.

When you’re not tackling Roman puzzles, The Order of Giants provides a nice blend of platforming and fighting to keep things exciting. Both elements are mostly the same whether you’re using Indy’s whip to jump over gaps or throwing powerful punches to knock out enemies. However, there’s one part where you get explosives, but you’ll be relying on your fists and makeshift weapons for most combat situations. Pummeling opponents is still fun, but the smaller environments aren’t as suitable for the stealth elements seen in the main game, which reduces the Indiana Jones-like spontaneity a bit. Each location is beautifully atmospheric, but The Order of Giants doesn’t have the same grandeur or memorable set pieces as the main game, emphasizing how streamlined it is compared to the original.

Although it might not offer a broad range of content, The Order of Giants excels in creating some of the most imaginative and top-tier puzzles found within the game. Sadly, we were deprived of another vast area to traverse, but this remains an enjoyable mini-adventure that is steeped in lore and quintessentially Indiana Jones-like. First-time players of The Great Circle might find this diversion particularly rewarding, while donning the iconic fedora once more continues to be a satisfying experience (though I can’t seem to shake John Williams’ theme tune from my thoughts).

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2025-09-09 00:09