Lo schiocco della frusta rompe il silenzio nella sala, i nazisti arretrano spaventati e He, the quintessential Eighties hero si erge tra i nemici, dusty hat pulled down over his head, camicia slacciata e sguardo ruvido, di quelli che minacciano guai ed esaltano i fan: Indiana Jones is about to return to our gaming screens, and this time he intends to do it in style.
Dopo the splendors of the first historical trilogy, the one that managed to gather in just three films all the cornerstones of international pop culture, and the two limping sequels (but not as bad as some people unfairly described them) with our adventurer archaeologist grown old together with the actor who has always portrayed him, Harrison Ford, the world of entertainment was able to enjoy many video game adaptations on various platforms.
Fortune and glory, he told little Shorty in the second film in chronological order, and in Indy’s case we can say that both have been up and down, but everything is about to change: since Bethesda released the trailer for the next chapter of the saga, with the highly evocative title "Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle," the hype level has skyrocketed, as it hadn’t in a long time for a title strongly connected to a franchise from another medium, namely cinema.
We are in 1937, a pivotal year for the character because it falls practically halfway between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. The trailer itself is a visually spectacular experience and compresses into just over three minutes the philosophy behind the saga, bringing together everything that has helped make it great: Dr. Jones’s boldness and rebellious spirit in the face of the tyrants and villains of History, with a capital H, and the exotic settings in which the professor feels at home whenever he sets foot in a cursed temple or a forest dense with danger.
And then Marcus, the iconic assistant and sidekick who shared so many adventures with his colleague and, above all, friend. Video game characters as well-known and beloved as Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series and, even more so, the archetypal archaeological heroine, the much-loved and intrepid Lara Croft, owe a great deal (or perhaps it would be better to say everything) to Indiana Jones: game mechanics, puzzles to solve, and global settings to move through, often within plots that begin with the search for a mystical object and then expand into conspiracies involving world domination, with supernatural twists that have never been absent and that make everything much more distinctive and engaging.
The Italian dubbing is nothing short of professional and perfect, the pacing feels brisk and the sound design, needless to say, is legendary: even a hint of the soundtrack’s main theme is enough to fire up the spirits and make your hands itch, eager to grab the whip and go hunting for relics and Nazi scum. Indiana is a symbol, above all else.
Bethesda, and MachineGames, who had already made us cry out for a miracle with the new Wolfenstein games, seem to have done their homework very well: leaked screenshots and leaks tell of a development that is coherent and respectful of the franchise’s cornerstones, thus gameplay sections in which we will have to face our opponents with the timeless whip, with punches and a pistol, all seen through Indiana’s eyes and according to his view of the world: the choice of first-person, in fact, as the developers’ main gameplay mode has already proven successful even before having an official release date.
The degree of immersion increases exponentially and, let’s face it, solving the puzzles inside a temple unearthed from the oblivion of time, in the silence that hovers around us, amid clouds of dust and the weight of history on our shoulders as we look around with Indy’s gaze is priceless.
I know it, and you know it too.
Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most anticipated titles of the year.
Simon Larocca
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
Simon Larocca
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
TGMGrading
Grade your titles
Inspection, sub-grades, seal and display case: every grade comes with the method behind it, written down in full.
