Bethesda and Machine Games' action-adventure Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is shaping up to be one of the most impressive games of all time, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of the classic films. The PC version particularly stands out due to its upgrade to full ray tracing (RT), which takes the game's already impressive graphics to a new level.
Shadows, lighting and reflections benefit significantly from this, meaning that the display often quickly approaches offline rendering. Despite the associated high hardware requirements, the game can be played well in 1440p even on mid-range graphics cards such as an RTX 4070. What's particularly impressive is that problems like popping shadow cascades are completely eliminated by RT, resulting in more realistic and detailed shadows. Digital Foundry took a closer look at the update with full ray tracing.
Impressive results
Full ray tracing eliminates many of the standard version's visual problems, such as blocky shadows and aliasing. It provides precise, soft shadows that become sharper or more diffuse depending on the distance from the subject. Small details such as leaves, branches and even tiny objects benefit enormously as shadows are now calculated per pixel. This makes the materials appear more realistic and, according to Digital Foundry, the game gains significant visual depth. Particularly noteworthy is the improved display of glass, in which static cube maps are replaced by ray tracing reflections. This ensures correctly aligned and detailed reflections that make the world appear more alive.
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Another focus of the RT upgrade is on indirect lighting. The standard version uses screen space reflections and cube maps, which work but often result in unnatural or flat material representations. Path tracing precisely calculates multiple light reflections, allowing materials such as polished wood, marble and metal to regain their realistic texture and reflections. This offers impressive visual quality to even simple scenes. There is a clear difference, especially with metals: instead of appearing flat and dark, they reflect themselves and the environment, making them visually more distinguishable.
The advantages of diffuse lighting are particularly noteworthy for the technology experts. While standard RTGI is based on a grid structure with light rays emanating from a central perspective, path tracing works per pixel and eliminates errors such as light leaks. The increased precision is particularly noticeable in dense environments such as the jungle, where the lighting appears more natural and creates more contrast. Compared to the Xbox Series X, which includes fewer objects in the calculations, the PC version with full RT seems like a new generation. However, some weaknesses remain: direct lighting and shadows from light sources other than the sun still use rasterization, which occasionally leads to artifacts.
According to Digital Foundry, water surfaces and hair pose further limitations. Reflections in bodies of water are still based on screen space reflections and often look wrong. Curiously, Indy's hair does not appear in reflections or appears visually incongruous. Textures such as fabrics also do not show the correct light transmission, although the vegetation is perfectly implemented. The integration of Nvidia Ray Reconstruction could simultaneously solve these problems and improve performance. Still, the game scales well: on an RTX 4070 at 1440p in DLSS quality mode, most scenes run smoothly at 60 fps, even in demanding areas like the jungle.
Aside from these weaknesses, Digital Foundry believes the RT upgrade is a milestone for the game's presentation. While a completely uncompromising experience requires high hardware requirements, the game also offers impressive presentation on mid-range graphics cards. Improvements such as more realistic shadows, high-quality reflections and more precise lighting make Indiana Jones and the Great Circle a visually outstanding title for tech experts. While some issues such as cutscene animations at 30 fps still remain, the overall package shows the potential of full ray tracing on modern PCs, making the game a clear recommendation for fans of impressive graphics.
