izigame.me

This is an early review but holy cow it's hard to express how perfect this game is. I've only played the first two missions so it could have issues that I haven't seen yet but it's been non-stop green flags so far. First off it's a technical marvel. I'll go as far as to say it's the best optimized game I've ever seen! For a game with life like graphics the way it runs is insane. I'm using a 7900 xtx and I have every setting turned to Supreme which is max, above ultra, native 1440, and I'm getting 120 fps with no frame gen no nothing. That is one thing but my 99%fps is right around 110 with almost 0 fluctuations. I've never seen anything like it especially on release. it seems the "Full RT' they mentioned in the spec sheet didn't show any Intel or AMD cards for a reason they arn't an option in the settings. So I assume RTX cards are the only ones that'll see those options. However you wouldn't guess there's more RT features from the look of the game. The GI, AO, and shadows are immaculate as is; there is still hardware RT (you actually can't even run the game without a card with hardware RT cores.) So technically overall it's astounding and I can't wait to see Digital Foundry's vid on it. I know they will sing its praises just as much if not more. It does everything you can ask and doesn't host some of the main tech issues of most modern games. No stutter, no frame drops, no shimmering, no texture pop in, no nothing. The game itself is so well done and feels so truly Indiana Jones. From the first two missions alone I feel confident in saying this is the best and most true Indy story we've seen since The Last Crusade. The vibe is just so perfect, the VAs, the art style, everything. Also the gameplay is something I was weary of when we first got details but man I was wrong. It not only is way more Indy than the Indy inspired games like Tombraider and Uncharted (I love both those series and they're both some of my fav games ever, to be clear) but it feels good and is a lot of fun. So those games are third person shooters and that's great but it's not very Indy. If we were third person shooting and killing hundreds of guys it would just feel wrong and create this huge disconnect making the cutscenes and gameplay feel like two totally separate disconnect experiences. The gameplay they went with perfectly represents Indy. You feel like you're actually in his shoes. It has a big focus on puzzles and exploring this environment. With actual combat you are primarily an opportunist more than anything which is exactly how Indy has always handled situations. Then when you do have to fight you primarily brawl and use the environment to give you an advantage. In more desperate situations you can fall back on your revolver. Also you of course have your whip that's used for traversal, puzzles, and for combat.
Overall I'm so happy and impressed with this game so far and I implore all Indy fans to play it. Then non-Indy fans please try it too. Gameplay wise it's most like something like Dishonored but more grounded. So anyone that likes story focused, puzzle, adventures, with solid and fun combat please give it a chance. I guarantee you'll become a fan of the character. When I finish the game I'm gonna come back and give revised review based on how it holds up or improves over time and what I think of the story. After playing over 6 hours it more than holds up. It really opens up and most of the game is massive levels with a ton of freedom. Also a surprising amount of side content. I ended up moving on cause I wanna see the story then I'll do a more extensive 2nd playthrough but there was like idk 10 side missions I could of done. Also technical wise once the game opens up and you have giant areas with loads of NPCs the gpu performance is largly unfazed but the CPU performance becomes extensive. I have a 5800x3d and it's getting maxed out when you're in the largest areas with like 20+ NPCs on screen. It struggles to maintain 120fps, never drops far below but it definitely wavers. I changed the cap to 100 in those areas and it was steady there. So just a heads up if you don't have a great cpu and you're going for triple digit frames. 60 should be 0 issue
Finished it and I gotta say this a masterpiece. It has easily become one of my all time favorite games. It never has a slump, which is rare, those no section where I don't look forward to it on my next playthrough. On the technical side there is one such section though that doesn't have the same level of perfection. The Rain forest section is the only one that maxes out my GPU and caused me to lower the fps cap but that wasn't the issue. That section is very large and you have a boat to travel around it with. While driving the boat there's a good amount of pop in happening. I assume it's something fixable; especially because there's not much else for them to focus on fixing. So getting a patch out that at least improves that seems feasible. Back to the game though it's something special. Just as an Indy story it's incredible and a confidently say it's my third favorite outing of the character. Right behind Raiders and Crusade. I say that as someone who loves Temple and return to it frequently. The game is just that good. Then solely as a game it's fantastic. The finale is second to only Crusade and not only is a good ending story wise and just cinematically but gameplay wise. I was curious going into it how'd they'd handle it but they nailed it. It focuses on one of the best mechanics in the game and it makes sense. I know that probably makes no sense if you haven't beat the game but I'm trying to be vague to not spoil it.
I really hope this games sells well so that Machine Games considers making a sequel. The franchise is essentially over if not. The movies just won't work without Harrison and I don't have high hopes of another dev coming along and matching this level of quality and understanding of the world. Fingers crossed, I would happily play many more Indy adventures in this format