Today, Bethesda Softworks released a teaser for MachineGames and LucasFilm Games’ upcoming, collaborative project — a new Indiana Jones game.
Revealed on Twitter, the teaser trailer was accompanied by the following :
“A new Indian Jones game with an original story is in development from our studio, MachineGames, and will be executive produced by Todd Howard, in collaboration with LucasFilm Games. It’ll be some time before we have more to reveal, but we’re very excited to share today’s news.”
While Bethesda yet isn’t ready to detail this all-new entry in Indy’s esteemed archaeological career, I’ve spent the past 45 minutes since the trailer dropped pouring over it, trying to piece together exactly what the story will look like.
First things first, it looks like Indiana’s upcoming adventure will take place sometime in 1937, as the date on the plane ticket to Rome suggests.
More notably, it appears to be a ticket for Oct. 21, 1937, which would mean Indian was flying into the Italian capital a mere week before the 15th anniversary of the March on Rome.
This anniversary was particularly of note for Indiana Jones fans, given his rather strong dislike for Nazis, and it just so happened that high-ranking Nazi officials such as Rudolf Hess and Viktor Lutze attended the ceremony on Oct. 28, 1937 to symbolize Italy and Germany’s new alliance. This had followed Mussolini’s visit to Germany in September 1937, and was a precursor to Hitler’s visit to Italy in May 1938 which would ultimately pave the way towards the forging of the Axis alliance in World War II.
Indiana’s letter in the typewriter — though incredibly hard to read any more than a few words — also does appear to say “I will be exploring/excavating(?) in Rome on the second line up from the bottom that’s visible if you pause the teaser at 18 seconds.
It would also go a ways to explaining why Indiana’s got a bunch of maps of the Vatican City laid out on his desk, with the Sistine Chapel clearly noted on it, too.
But why is Indy flying over to Rome, other than to do what we can only assume is whip some Nazi ass? Well, it appears as though MachineGames and LucasFilm Games’ upcoming title will focus around the mysteries of the Ancient Stone Circles found across Europe.
A book on the table at the very beginning of the teaser is titled ‘Ancient Circles: Jubilee’ and is apparently written by none other than Mr. Todd Howard himself? A coincidence? Surely not.
Another book on the topic of ‘Forbidden Stones’ also suggests that this could be the case, perhaps trying to link in the ‘mysterious’ and ‘supernatural’ undertones of the Indiana Jones franchise to these stone circles found across Europe.
Their locations range from Britain to France; from Portugal all the way to the Horn of Africa. Several can be found in the south of France on the Causse de Blandas in the Pyrenees, and in the Alps, too.
Why these stone circles were constructed remains a bit of an archaeological mystery. Some believe they were used to mark territory, others believe they were used as some part of a social ritual to honor the dead. At England’s most popular one, Stonehenge, evidence of burials and cremations could be found, as they could at others.
However, given the plane ticket to Rome, I’d suggest it means we could be visiting a stone circle found in the Val d’Aosta, Italy on at the Piccolo San Bernardo hill.
Sadly, the stone circle at Piccolo San Bernardo itself was damaged significantly during the Second World War. Again, that plane ticket’s date of October 1937 suggests Indiana might be venturing out to the stone circle to investigate its origins prior to the destruction caused by the war.
Outside of that, there’re few other clues as to what MachineGames’ upcoming Indiana Jones might entail. Right at the very end by the whip on the table, you can see a box of rocks or stones in the very upper left of the shot, but this could just be typical archaeology stuff. Although, given the other clues pertaining to stone circles, it could be a further affirmation of my suspicions.
There are a few photos at the very end by the camera in the screenshot above, too, but we can’t make out what they could be referring to. Perhaps a hidden cave within the Alps, close to Piccolo San Bernardo Circle? It’s too soon to tell with any certainty.
In any case, I’m mightily excited at the prospect of embarking on a mysterious, history-based adventure with Indiana Jones… and of course to whip some Nazi ass.
If you’ve managed to spot any other clues, or can help decipher the blurry text from the typewriter letter, be sure to comment down below and help us uncover more of the clues in the teaser!
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