Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 vs Xbox Review – A Treasure Worth the Upgrade?
When Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was first launched, it surprised many people—myself included—by being not only a great game but one that truly understood the heart of the franchise. A few months later, it’s now on the PS5, giving PlayStation gamers a taste of the adventure and how it holds up on new hardware.
This review will focus on the differences between the Xbox Series X|S version of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, as the gameplay is essentially the same as in our initial review.
Let’s dive in and see what’s changed, what’s improved, and why this version might be the best way to experience Indy’s latest outing on consoles.
The Adventure Returns: Indiana Jones Finds a New Home on PS5
What can I say that I didn’t already say about this when it first came out last year and I reviewed it? Much of my opinions remain the same, which, for those who don’t want to read through, were overwhelmingly positive for the most part. I did have some issues, such as the stealth play being light in mechanics and some general polishing, the latter seeing improvements with multiple patches released since then. But overall, MachineGames left me feeling pretty good about the future of Indiana Jones games, as the Great Circle was an exceptional experience, a must-play for any fans out there. Being on PS5 now, the sealed doors open to a broader audience.
As someone who mainly plays PlayStation, I’ll put this in the most praise-worthy way I can think of that a majority of PlayStation fans can relate to: MachineGames does to Indiana Jones what Insomniac Games did for Spider-Man, in that they perfectly captured the very spirit of the character, along with everything else we love about the franchise. Yes, I know, this is a first-person game where many probably would have preferred it to be in third-person. But as I said in my original review, MachineGames are best known for their experience at making incredible first-person shooters.
And honestly? That’s what makes this game so impressive. MachineGames didn’t try to reinvent Indiana Jones — they just understood him. The heart, the charm, the scrappy brawls, the ancient mysteries, the constant feeling that you’re one bad decision away from getting crushed by a boulder — it’s all here, and it works.
Yeah, some people might’ve wanted a third-person Indy game, and I get that. But the first-person perspective isn’t some gimmick here — it’s a choice (by the studio) that manages to pull you right into Indy’s world. You’re not just watching Indiana Jones. You are Indiana Jones. Swinging that whip, throwing those punches, dust flying in your face while barely surviving by the skin of your teeth.
This isn’t just a love letter to the movies. It’s an adventure that respects the legacy while carving out its own identity. MachineGames knew precisely what made Indiana Jones special, and they let you feel it firsthand. They didn’t just make an Indiana Jones game; they made THE Indiana Jones game that fans have been waiting for. Just like Insomniac with Spider-Man, they didn’t just understand the assignment — they absolutely nailed it.
Again, there are some faults, but at the end of the day, it’s an incredible must-play experience that I highly recommend everyone to play.
So, with that out of the way, I wanted to dive deeper into the PS5 version (standard and Pro) to see what exactly is new and improved and how it stacks up against the other versions. So, first, let’s see what’s new with this version of the game.
Built From the Ground Up to Utilize the DualSense
In May 2024, I looked at the first four exclusive Xbox titles to jump to PlayStation. My goal? To see whether Xbox would prove PlayStation wrong about supporting PlayStation exclusive features. You see, in the year prior, PlayStation was in a heated court battle over Xbox purchasing Activision -Blizzard, and one of their primary concern was that the publisher/console manufacturer would deliberately make inferior ports and ignore console-specific features, such as those found on the DualSense controller. Although not all of them proved extraordinary, Xbox did prove that their studios were dedicated to making the best version of a game on its respective platform, with Hi-Fi Rush being one of the finer examples of using the controller.
I’m glad to report that, while it does leave room for many improvements, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has various adaptive and haptic features.
On the adaptive trigger side, you can expect the usual, such as R2 having a stop midway to replicate the feeling of pulling a gun’s trigger. Melee combat also has a bit of adaptive to it, letting you feel the force of a punch when it makes contact with an enemy. Like I said, it’s the usual stuff you’d expect to see out of the adaptive triggers, though it’s still great to see the studio added them.
What’s more impressive is the game’s haptics. While admittedly there are some areas I wish had some feedback (which are also absent on Xbox and PC), it’s clear from what is there that the audio team put in a solid amount of work. As I mentioned in my previous look at Xbox games on PlayStation, Xbox Studios isn’t simply taking the rumble experience found on the Xbox platform and “porting” it over. Far from it, and that’s the case with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, as the rumble experience has been rebuilt from the ground up to create a more “immersive” experience.
The opening hour shows plenty of this, with several improvements to existing and newly created feedback cues. Whereas the Xbox/PC version of the game kept most of the vibrational cues strictly to some player actions, most being jumping, weapons, and using the whip, with some cinematics having more intense moments, the PS5 version not only expands upon them to make them more distinct due to the voice coil motor in the DualSense, but also adds a variety of new cues not present in another versions.
Here’s a list of new haptic/HD rumble cues I found in the opening hour:
Movement
- Water – When jumping into water, the controller will emulate a splashing effect. The same happens when walking over a small puddle; vibration will have a splashier feeling.
- Doors – Opening doors that are locked have a click effect when you insert keys and turn them.
- Hanging and moving on ledges – You can now feel Indiana Jones’s hands on everything he picks up to move along a ledge.
- Ropes and Repelling – As with ledges, you can feel Indiana Jones grabbing and climbing a rope while freely hanging. When he’s climbing up a rope on the side of a building, you can feel each of his steps as his feet make contact with the building.
- Ziplines – Not only is there a rubbing sensation from the zipline coming into contact with whatever Indy uses to ride it, but the haptics will also emulate the feeling of wind.
- Swinging also produces a bit of a wind feeling.
General Gameplay and Cutscenes
- Puzzles – Anything that involves something sliding or moving now offers feedback to emulate that feeling.
- Gadgets – Things like a camera will produce zoom-in and zoom-out effects. The lighter will produce a click.
- Cutscenes—This is where players will notice most of the differences, as several cutscenes now feature unique haptics. Here are some examples, and these are all from the intro.
- When you enter the cave and cut away at the spiderwebs, a feeling of wind passing by can be felt through the controller.
- The scene with the spiders. Someone at MachineGames not only wanted to make sure they got this scene right from the movies, but they also wanted to ensure you could now feel them. Even if it’s for a quick second, as Indy wipes them off the other character’s back, you can feel them falling on Indy’s feet.
- After this scene, when Indy lifts his hand into the light, the controller will emulate a tingly feeling, followed by a swinging and rumbling of the trap springing. The controller will then emulate a sliding effect as Indy pushes the trap back into place.
- The next scene has Indy using his whip to swing across a gap. The Xbox/PC version gives feedback when you use the whip, a quick vibrational jolt. The PS5 version adds a bit more feeling to it, though it also adds the sense of swinging (some emulated wind) that isn’t in the Xbox version.
- When Indy comes to the booby trapped room with all the pressure plates, and uses a stick to push the plates down, you can feel the plates rubbing against the stone floor as it slides down into place.
- When Indy springs the trap after lifting the Idol, there’s now feedback of the place falling apart. When the giant rock begins to roll, there’s a rolling feeling.
- When you first encounter Locus in the academy, he’s pretty intimidating due to his height. To add more to this, the intensity of his footsteps has been increased—a small but effective change.
Combat
- Guns have unique feedback and trigger effects.
- All melee weapons and pickups produce unique sounds when picked up and struck with. Examples of things I tested by hitting a wall: Strings on a guitar vibrate the controller to emulate that. Hitting a metal shovel against a wall has a metallic clink, and a wooden baton has a wobbling effect.
Again, this is just from the opening hour of the game. The Xbox/PC version vibrational cue, in all honesty, could probably be counted off one hand alone. There isn’t much feedback on those platforms beyond the ones on the gameplay itself, which the PS5 also has (and enhances).
Now, this isn’t me trying to say, “Yeah, the PS5 version is much better.” I like haptic feedback, and I love it when a studio utilizes it well. But at the end of the day, it is just rumble, and the game is incredible regardless of your platform. However, I think this shows Xbox Studios’ continued commitment to utilizing features and hardware on other platforms despite their systems not featuring them. When parity was pushed so hard in the past by the company, it’s nice to see them pull back on that. MachineGames could have just as easily not supported these features, but they didn’t, and they went in and programmed things not found in other versions of the game.
The reality is that this is probably a positive for Xbox, as leaked court documents from last year indicated that the company was working on a new Xbox controller that would feature precision haptic feedback, much like the ones in the DualSense. Supporting the DualSense now will probably mean that the new controller (if it’s still coming) will already have a back catalogue of games to support it. But that’s a subject for another day.
I will say that there are some missed opportunities that I would have loved to see MachineGames play with, such as in the intro, where Indy is trying to match the weight of a bag of sand to replace the idol. It would have been cool to be able to feel the sand pouring out on one side of the controller. There are other instances where I thought some haptics would come into play, but they didn’t. There’s definitely room for more, though overall, I’m liking what I’m seeing or, huh, feeling.
Now, let’s move on to the next things: visuals and performance.
How the PS5 and PS5 Pro Stack Up
By default, the PlayStation 5 version of the game comes with the High-Resolution textures pack installed, which is optional on the Xbox and Windows versions (not Steam). It’s just something worth pointing out if anyone is wondering why other platforms have it but not PlayStation, and it’s because it’s already included in the initial download and installation. For those unaware of what this does, it essentially increases the resolution of textures to make them far more straightforward. I’ll come back to this in a bit.
Now, regarding PS5 Pro enhancements, the PlayStation Blog announced that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would support native 4K on the PS5 Pro. There are no modes much like in other games where you get to select between quality or performance, and on the PS5 Pro, that usually means native resolution with ray tracing at 30fpsor PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) at 60fps, but in this case, there’s nothing to select from. That’s because, regardless of your platform, MachineGames has ensured that Indiana Jones runs at a 60fps, with some ray trace features. This includes the base PS5 and, yes, even the Xbox Series S, 60fps, with ray tracing, though on that platform specifically, the resolution has been dropped down a lot to make it work. It’s still an incredible feat. to pull off, given that ray tracing has become so demanding recently, and to see all platforms have it, and at 60fps, tells you a lot about the optimization level.
The PS5 Pro also has “advanced ray tracing.” However, spotting the advanced features was a bit tough, though I believe they are related to overall lighting and ray-traced shadows. Some of that you’ll see in the comparisons below.
As for the claims of being native 4K on the PS5 Pro, although I’m not 100% certain if the Pro version of Indiana Jones is running at native 4K, from my initial viewing and calculations (via the staircase method), there’s little reason not to think this is the case. It may be dynamic in some instances, but as far as I can tell, the resolution is nearly indistinguishable from a 4K image. There’s a sharper and cleaner look to it compared to the base PS5, though I believe the HD texture resolution pack is also coming into play here, with a higher resolution for them too.
Now, let’s look at a couple of shots between the PS5 and PS5 Pro. After showing them, I’ll give my brief thoughts and then do a bigger breakdown to spotlight the differences. So, let’s take a look at a few still shots.
Another thing: If you try to look for the differences hard, check around the faces, particularly the characters’ foreheads, noses, and beards. The backgrounds, too, you’ll notice differences there.
I used screenshots from the cinematics because that’s where you’ll see most of the significant differences, as outside of resolution, I had a hard time spotting those through moving environmental settings. That’s not to say they aren’t there; it’s just easier to show those differences in pre-rendered scenes.
So, here are some quick thoughts: If I wasn’t really “looking,” I’d say visually, the PS5 and PS5 Pro are pretty much the same based on the screenshots. It’s much harder to discern when it’s in motion, but I will say that I do prefer the PS5 Pro’s overall image quality, as it’s just one of those things where once you experience it, it just feels “off” going back to the original model. But overall, I’m pretty pleased with how MachineGames handled the same version of the game on both machines, as regardless of which model PS5 you play on, the game looks damn good.
Now, let’s break down some of the noticeable differences. Here, I’m using the same images, just zoomed in a lot more to get a closer look at the improvements the PS5 Pro model offers. In this first example, you can see how much clearer, as in less blurry, the PS5 Pro version is compared to the base model. Look at the pores on Indy’s head. Look around his eyes and beard, especially around his mouth, where you can make out each of his teeth, whereas on the base model, it looks more like a single white line rather than individual parts. Look at the background; both versions are still blurry, but you can make it out more on the PS5 Pro.
Here are two more zoomed-in examples. In the first image, look around the forehead again, and in the second, look around the areas around the cheek and nose. You can tell how much better the resolution is on the PS5 Pro.
It’s a significant resolution bump that brings out many otherwise blurred details that are sometimes non-visible on the base PS5. This is unsurprising, considering a beefier system should result in better visuals. Though, the question some may have is if it’s worth upgrading from a base to a PS5 Pro over this particular game. I wouldn’t say so, but plenty of other titles—some that show even more significant differences—add to those reasons. And as far as console platforms go, the PS5 Pro is easily the best place to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
What’s more surprising is how both versions compare to the Xbox Series X version. While it’s not shocking that the PS5 Pro outperforms it in many areas, it is astonishing that in some places, the base PS5 model seems to hold up pretty well to it, even looking better in some spots and worse in others. During my earlier analysis, I expected the Xbox Series X version to be slightly better than the PS5 and only come up a bit below the PS5 Pro—marginally better results than what we see above from my expectations. The reality? Well, I’ll let you have a look.
Before we start, I want to be clear: My Xbox Series X has the optional HD Texture Resolution pack installed.
As you can see, the base PS5 version has very similar lighting to the PS5 Pro version, and compared to the Xbox Series X version, it even has better texture resolution in some parts. It’s not everywhere, as the Xbox Series X has some areas where the image quality looks better and less blurry, which is more common with the background and around character faces. I wasn’t expecting these results, as I initially assumed the base PS5 would more closely resemble the Xbox Series X. Instead, it sits in an interesting middle ground—borrowing a few of the enhancements seen on the PS5 Pro while falling short in areas like background sharpness and cinematic clarity compared to the Series X.
Still, all three versions look spectacular in motion, and regardless of which platform you play on, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle runs incredibly smooth. There are plenty of Xbox Series X|S benchmarks out there to watch, and outside of small and rare instances where you hardly notice the dips, the frame rate is essentially a locked 60fps. It’s the same story on the PS5 and PS5 Pro, with practically zero dips in my full playthroughs.
PS5 Pro Frame Rate Testing #1
PS5 Pro Frame Rate Testing #2
Base PS5 Frame Rate Testing
Final Thoughts
I was already blown away when Indiana Jones and the Great Circle first dropped, but jumping back in on PS5 just made me appreciate it all over again. This isn’t just a great game — it’s a love letter to everything that makes Indiana Jones iconic. And credit where it’s due: MachineGames didn’t just bring it to PlayStation; they elevated it. From the smart use of the DualSense features to the razor-sharp optimization, they clearly didn’t treat this like a simple port. They treated it like an opportunity — and delivered in a big way.
That said, no matter what platform you play on, the magic is still there. The heart, the adventure, the scrappy charm — it all hits. The PS5 bells and whistles are awesome, but they’re just an extra layer on top of an already incredible foundation. MachineGames didn’t just nail the spirit of Indy — they proved they’re one of the most technically skilled and versatile studios out there, id Tech 7 proving just how much of a powerhouse and scalability it can be. As long as Machiner Games remains at the helm of the steering wheel, the future of Indiana Jones video games is in very good hands. This is the game that fans have been dreaming of, and I cannot wait to see where MachineGames takes the franchise next.
Score: 9/10
Pros:
- Good use of the Dualsense controller features, and overall, a solid
- Great Visual Optimization on All PS5 Models. Smooth Performance Across All Platforms. A fantastic showcase of the id Tech 7 Engine.
- A spectacular story that feels like an Indiana Jones adventure.
- An incredible cast of characters with excellent voice-acting performances.
- World exploration is fun, with plenty of history that can be learned from it.
- The visuals are stunning, and some of the exotic places you visit feel like they’ve been plucked right out of the set of the movies.
- Combat packs a punch, literally.
- Musical scores – I’m a sucker when I hear that Indiana Jones theme, and it gets used so perfectly here.
- A lot more polished that what it was during its original release, which every platform now is.
Cons:
- Stealth is pretty basic. It’s not terrible, but it could have been better.
- Platforming can at times feel really slow and janky.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review code was provided by the publisher. The platforms played on were PS5 and PS5 Pro. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
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My 2024 Game of the Year! Being an 80s kid, I loved every second of it. 1000/1000 achievement points. Can’t wait for the DLC!
Playing through it now and man! Loving it so much! 😀