There are two iconic heroes in cinema history, both of them ruggedly handsome, daringly adventurous and played by Harrison Ford: Han Solo and Indiana Jones. The Hollywood star is those characters, and you’ll be seeing Ford’s visage in Indiana Jones and The Great Circle later this year. However, despite a promising debut at the Xbox Developer Direct, there is an audible component missing: Harrison Ford’s voice.
Harrison Ford’s line delivery sells you a lot of the cheesier moments of Indiana Jones, so it might be disappointing to learn that Ford’s vocal talent won’t grace this iteration of the character. During the Xbox Developer Direct, Ford’s likeness is splashed all over Machine Games’ shiny new Xbox game. This is young man Indy, as the story takes place between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade – just like our detective work theorized.
Surprisingly, Machine Games doesn’t comment on who is voicing Indiana Jones during the showcase. However, it has now been revealed that it’s all-round voice actor superstar Troy Baker who is taking over the mantle of Dr. Jones.
Entertainment Weekly confirms Baker’s role in The Great Circle, as lead game designer Jerk Gustafsson expresses that “he really brings forward that charm and sense of humor in such a good way.” According to Gustafsson, Baker is “very big Indiana Jones fan” and is incredibly “invested” in doing justice to the role. Alongside his work behind the microphone, Baker is also bringing the character to life through motion-capture too. “Troy is much more a part of the development team than we usually see just because he’s in those blocking sessions,” adds Gustasfsson.
De-aging technology was used for Harrison Ford’s final on-screen appearance as the character, utilizing it to show a youthful Ford, but his voice remained in line with his distinctly raspy, older vocalizations. However, he hasn’t voiced the character before in previous titles like The Emperor’s Tomb, and The Great Circle probably wasn’t on his agenda after retiring the character in last year’s Dial of Destiny.
Baker has large shoes to fill, and you’ll be able to find out if it is one of the best Xbox Game Pass games around sooner than you think, as Machine Games confirms a 2024 release. Before it arrives on Game Pass as a day one title, here’s why we think the best Indiana Jones movie could be a key influence on its story.