The latest whip-cracking Xbox adventure is getting even better.
A new update for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is rolling out, with MachineGames and Bethesda Softworks sharing details on Tuesday. Per the patch notes, this update fixes a few bugs, including a couple of blockers that could potentially keep players from progressing. There's also some platform-specific improvements, with DLSS problems smoothed out on PC.
Meanwhile, Xbox Series X|S console users can look forward to improved ray tracing with more accurate lighting that's no longer as unintentionally bright in places as it was before. You can check out the full patch notes for Update 2 below:
General
- Fixed an issue where users Game Slot may be reported as being damaged, or may appear to be completely missing, when no actual problem had occurred.
Gameplay
- Fixed an issue where player may be unable to equip Indy’s whip.
- Fixed an issue where a player may end up with Indy’s camera permanently equipped.
- Fixed an issue where player may drop and lose their camera if they use the quick-equip (“key item”) prompt to equip their camera while they are inspecting another nearby pick-up item.
Graphics
- Fix to prevent “Double vision” getting stuck on screen when Indy has almost drowned. To players who have already encountered this issue, repeating the near-drown should clear the issue.
- Some further improvements to reduce “stutter” from duplicated frames during cutscenes.
Missions and Quests (some mild spoilers)
- Fixed an issue where Gina may not approach the secret entrance to the Vatican Treasure Chamber, blocking the mission from progressing.
- Fixed an issue where Gina may go to pick the lock to the exit from the Vatican Treasure Chamber as soon as you enter the room, meaning you may miss some very important story developments.
- Fixed a big hole in the floor collision around the edge of the wall around the Ziggurat in Sukhothai that the player could fall through.
PC only
- Fixed an issue where Nvidia DLSS may cause performance problems when enabled.
- Fixed an issue where Nvidia Frame Generation wasn’t activated properly if HDR is in use.
- Fixed an issue where Nvidia Low Latency Mode could cause performance problems when used with Frame Generation.
- Fixed an issue where global illumination may be completely disabled when playing with below minimum VRAM graphics cards.
- Fixed an issue where Lighting may be over bright in interior spaces if Path Tracing (Full Ray Tracing) is set to Medium or High Quality.
- Known Issue: Nvidia Frame Generation may be temporarily disabled if HDR is activated for the first time. To work around this issue, disable and then re-enable DLSS. This only needs to be done once.
Xbox only
- Improvements to Global Illumination on Xbox, to fix issues where shadowed areas had appeared brighter than expected.
A great game gets better
I'm glad to see MachineGames is staying on top of things and not slowing down in updating Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, as I'm sure a number of players will be picking it up for the first time over the holidays, especially with the current Xbox Series X sale going on.
I'm also happy the team is improving global illumination further on consoles. I know it's controversial, but I appreciate the heck out of a studio building a game around requiring ray tracing, and the benefits to the lighting (even at lower settings) are amazing.
In my review of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, I wrote that "With fun exploration, dangerous puzzles, and a few twists up its sleeves, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is sure to satisfy the cravings of anyone eager for an old-school adventure."
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate/PC Game Pass. It's also coming to PlayStation 5 at some point in Spring 2025.
