As one of the major titles to emerge from Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle proved a critical hit on Xbox Series X, S and PC in late 2024 – and now, four months later, it arrives on PlayStation 5 consoles. To cut to the chase, this translation to PS5 and PS5 Pro is a success all round. It compares well to Series X in particular, with developer MachineGames realising an authentic take on the Indiana Jones films using its Motor engine – a customised branch of ID Tech 7, which itself powered the likes of 2020’s Doom Eternal. It’s impressive stuff: from the near 1:1 recreation of Raiders of the Lost Ark’s opening scene to the sprawling Vatican city, each level plays host to all manner of whip-cracking, stealth, puzzling and sleuthing. And once again, we get ray traced global illumination – RTGI – into the bargain on PS5 consoles, allowing for more accurate indirect lighting and shading at 60 frames per second. So how does the experience match up to Series X? And what about PS5 Pro?
The Great Circle broadly has parity feature-wise with the Series X release though it’s worth noting that PS5 adds adaptive trigger support on its DualSense controller. As a result, melee combat, pulling the trigger on a gun, or using the whip, come with varying levels of feedback. Beyond that, the visual setup is remarkably straightforward: MachineGames optimises PS5 purely around a 60fps experience with RTGI as the de facto means of lighting its environments. There is no graphics mode toggle, nor any alternative 30fps option pushing higher fidelity settings, but the upshot is that we get a polished single means of playing the game.
Looking at the platform comparisons, there are mixed fortunes here, but in general terms, most of the core visual settings see Series X, PS5 and Pro matched. Texture quality, shadow resolution, and world detail draw across the forest all run at the same settings between the consoles. Likewise, the quality of the RTGI also translates to both PS5 machines. In effect, this setting limits the objects within the scene affected by the ray traced diffuse lighting pass, and continues to operate below PC presets. It’s a concession to hit a 60fps target on consoles while keeping RTGI in place, but the result is still impressive overall. Otherwise, volumetric quality is also matched between base PS5 and Series X – though it appears we get a higher setting on PS5 Pro – the net benefit being there’s marginally less aliasing along the streaks of light spilling through the college windows, though again it falls short of PC’s best volumetric setting.
In every other respect, there is parity between the three. Frustratingly this also extends to the game’s occasional rough points on Series X, notably in the presentation of shadows. Even four months on from release, there’s a lingering issue with shadow filtering on Xbox, which stays in place on the PS5 consoles as well. In short, shadow maps lining the floors of the college will abruptly step up in detail based on your proximity to it – and this update occurs in set, metre-length increments to make matters more obvious. It’s a shame that shadow filtering is such a distraction and it’s really the only blemish on what’s otherwise a well presented package. There is also a small discrepancy in brightness on Series X, owing to its default setting being five clicks higher by default – but that’s the full extent of the difference.