Last December, the most famous archaeologist in pop culture treated himself to new adventures in video games. An exercise he hadn't done for over 15 years, after the release of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings in 2009. And, the only thing we could say, at the time of the game's release on Xbox Series X/S and PC, was that we missed Indy and that his return was much more successful in video games than in cinemas.
Four months later, the adventurer of the lost ark is making a new comeback, but this time on PS5. He will therefore have the difficult task of succeeding a certain Nathan Drake (with the Uncharted license), who is clearly considered by players as the Indiana Jones of the PlayStation. Will Indy be up to the task? Should we fall for this Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle on PS5? We'll take stock right away. Yes, for the incredible adventure We already said it in our test in December on Xbox, and the conclusion hasn't changed (since it's exactly the same game). Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle is a true success in the "Action-Adventure" genre. A true adventure game, which takes us on a journey and remains extremely faithful to the first three films of Steven Spielberg's trilogy in the 80s. Remember that this game takes place between the first and third films. We are plunged into 1937 with a young Indiana Jones who will once again do battle with the Nazis. This time, it seems that the Vatican is also linked to a terrible threat looming over the planet. Everyone seems to be looking for the 17 sacred stones that would allow the use of the Ancient Circle.
This powerful artifact could, if it falls into the wrong hands, destroy our World. So we put on our leather coat, our hat, grab our whip and head to Egypt, Rome, the Himalayas or even China for a journey worthy of our hero.
Yes, for Indiana Jones, the real Indiana Jones
As mentioned previously, the PlayStation already has its great adventure game. Thanks to Naughty Dog, PS3 and PS4 players were able to have their own Indiana Jones with Uncharted and Nathan Drake. And, the franchise has become so strong, popular, and high-quality, that it's not easy to stand up to it.
Lara Croft and the latest Tomb Raider trilogy, which is heavily inspired by Uncharted, can attest to this and will never have managed to reach the level of Naughty Dog. So, inevitably, we wonder if Indy will succeed where Lara Croft failed. And, yes, it succeeds.
With the latest Tomb Raider trilogy, Crystal Dynamics wanted to improve and modernize its formula by drawing heavily on the Uncharted license, notably adding epic moments quite similar to the famous "Uncharted moments" on PlayStation.
With Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle, the Machines Games teams didn't fall into the trap of wanting to make Uncharted or Tomb Raider. The studio offered us Indiana Jones, in the direct tradition of the films and managed to keep its own style. And that's exactly what we wanted.
The story takes place in 1937, at the time of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The scenario therefore takes place one year after the first film, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1936) and one year before the third, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1938). And it's quite amazing to see how much we feel like we're living a new Indy adventure at this time.
We already find the young face of Harrison Ford, still as classy and charismatic. The French voice of Richard Darbois, which enhances the adventure. The game focuses on infiltration, exploration, adventure and puts aside the long gunfight sessions. We are in a more realistic game where we are not going to commit genocide, with puzzles and a mystical plot similar to the stories we could see in the movies.
The icing on the cake is that we are treated to an exceptional soundtrack that makes our hair stand on end with each cutscene.
Yes, for the technical aspects and for the PS5 Pro improvements
The game was already flawless on Xbox Series X/S. The same will be true on PS5, with, in addition, some new features and improvements. First of all, the game benefits from PS5 Pro optimization, allowing for a visual improvement and Native 4K, 60 FPS for better fluidity, a better Ray Tracing effect and improved loading times.
The test having been carried out on PS5 Standard, we cannot attest to the effectiveness of its improvements promised by Sony, Bethesda and Machine Games.
On the other hand, we can confirm that the game runs perfectly well in performance mode and that the title benefits from haptic feedback on the DualSense and adaptive triggers, allowing for a little more immersion even if, again, we find that the haptic feedback is not used enough like most other PS5 games.
No, for the infiltration and combat sides which are not convincing
This was already one of the criticisms that could be made of the game on Xbox, and it is still the case on PS5. The infiltration is not a great success, notably because of a poorly balanced AI, often off the wall and which manages to spot us in improbable or even impossible situations.
The other black point is the combat, particularly the hand-to-hand combat which is far from being exciting and precise. Dodging is still quite random and stamina management is not really optimal. So, fortunately, all the combat phases can largely be dodged and the mandatory sequences are not the main parts of the game. But, it is still quite frustrating.
Finally, we can also note the choice of the first-person view (FPS) which is a bias of the studio and which could inevitably disturb some, especially for those used to adventure games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted.
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