Earlier this year, Bethesda shocked the adventure game world when it announced that Wolfenstein developer Machine Games would be working on a brand new Indiana Jones adventure. The brief teaser trailer panned over a table featuring some of the famous adventurer's preferred gear, including books on myths, a compass, passport and, of course, his iconic whip.
Indiana Jones is an iconic hero of films, but he's also starred in some great adventure games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. The character has also inspired some of the most popular gaming franchises today, including Tomb Raider and Uncharted, so it makes sense that Bethesda would want to go back to the original globe-trotting hero to create a new adventure experience.
With a new Indiana Jones film on the distant horizon and virtually no details available on the new game, now is the perfect time for fans to speculate on what it could and should look like. After all, there is no shortage of great treasure hunting action games, so Indy's game will need to stand out. Here are four things fans would love to see in the fedora-wearing hero's epic adventure.
An Exciting Setting
Although tantalizingly little is known about the new Indiana Jones game as of yet, some fans pieced together evidence from the trailer that suggests the game will take place once again in the 1930s. Some have pointed out references to Rome and the Sistine Chapel on the table during the teaser. Wherever the new game is set, one thing is certain: Indiana will have to travel to at least one (if not many) exotic locales in search of a powerful treasure or lost relic.
The Indiana Jones films have been set in truly memorable locations. Whether he's trekking through Egypt in Raiders of the Lost Ark, exploring ancient temples in Temple of Doom, or having shootouts in medieval castles in The Last Crusade, Indy is always surrounded by interesting scenery. A new Indiana Jones game has to follow suit.
A New Relic to Discover
One of the best parts about any Indiana Jones narrative is the allure of the chase that Indy has to undergo to save a mystical relic from villains. Whether it's the Holy Ark of the Covenant, a biblical treasure that reportedly can topple whole cities, or the key to immortality in the Holy Grail, Indy will stop at nothing to save the world from these powerful objects falling into the wrong hands.
The new Indiana Jones game has to feature a new mysterious relic from an ancient civilization to drive the plot, and that relic has to be interesting. Fans want more Holy Grails and fewer Crystal Skulls. Whatever the relic is this time, it must be powerful enough the be a genuine threat in villainous hands, raising the stakes in a way that's worthy of another plot-driven globe-trotting adventure for our learned hero.
Third-Person Action
If there's one thing that the Uncharted and Tomb Raider games have proven, it is that action-adventure games need to be third-person experiences. Keeping the camera behind the character is an effective way to showcase the beautiful environments and allows for players to do the kind of traversal that an adventure game requires.
Indy will no doubt need to climb, shoot, brawl and perhaps drive his way through this new game. Although MachineGames and Bethesda are primarily know for making excellent first-person games, third-person is the best option here. Players need to see Indy's iconic leather jacket, signature fedora and trusty whip in high-definition animations. The best action-adventure games rely on spectacle and brilliant set pieces, so players need to be able to see Indy barely survive it all.
An Open-Ended Experience
One of the most exciting aspects of a Bethesda Indiana Jones game is the opportunity for the developers to create a more open-ended experience than fans are used to with the Uncharted and Tomb Raider series. Bethesda has long been associated with massive open-world RPG experiences, and an Indiana Jones game where players actually have to explore massive areas to find hidden temples and tombs full of dangerous treasures could be a match made in heaven.
Uncharted and Tomb Raider have both, over time, flirted with the idea of massive open-worlds. Uncharted 4 has huge open-areas explorable by jeep, and Tomb Raider's reboot features various large open maps. A new game that has Indiana Jones exploring a jungle in a mud-caked jeep, finding secrets and getting into trouble would be a real treat for fans.
