Although Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones doesn’t seem to have any pets during his globetrotting years, the third film–Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade–established that Indy once had a dog named Indiana that he loved very much. And Indy’s love for dogs is one reason why he won’t be shooting any enemy canines in Bethesda and MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
While speaking with IGN, MachineGames Creative Director Jens Andersson confirmed that Indy’s encounters with dogs owned by the bad guys won’t end the same way they did in the developers’ Wolfenstein games. Instead, Indy can scare off the dogs by pointing his weapon at them, rather than actually following through on the threat.
“[Indiana Jones] is a dog person,” said Andersson. “This is obviously a little bit different than Wolfenstein as well, where the dog will explode… It’s a family-friendly IP in many ways. How do we do that well? Well, these are the kind of things that we do. We have dogs as enemies, but you don’t really hurt the dogs. You scare them away.”
That’s fortunate for the canines, but less so for Doctor Jones. As noted in GameSpot’s early hands-on experience with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the game favors stealth over all-out action. The enemy dogs may prove to be another challenge for Indy to remain undetected by Nazi soldiers. He may not shoot the dogs, but Indiana Jones has never had a problem punching a Nazi in the face. As part of this game, Indy can also take out Nazis with stealth attacks and improvised weapons.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will hit Xbox Series X|S and PC on December 9. A PlayStation 5 port will follow in 2025.