Indiana Jones Trailer Breakdown: Background, Timeline & Easter Eggs Explained

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Indiana Jones is back, in video game form! I know, I know, we can’t believe it either. Led by MachineGames (Wolfenstein: The New Order) and the new Lucasfilm Games, an untitled Indiana Jones project is officially in the works.The game was announced on January 12 via a short teaser from Bethesda, where it was also revealed that Bethesda Game Studio director Todd Howard is reportedly executive producer of this exciting new adventure. In an interview with Wired, Lucasfilm’s vice president of franchise content and strategy James Waugh said the game was a “passion project” for Howard. “He came with a point of view and a story that he really believes in.”

That’s the extent of our official knowledge of this game, but, like any good Indiana Jones mystery, there’s always more to the story. As part of the game’s announcement blog, the copy notes that so few details have been revealed so far that the cryptic teaser “may contain clues.”

We pored over the short trailer with a fine comb, and sure enough, there are a lot of little details you might have missed. Let’s talk about the most interesting discoveries.

Part of the game takes place in October 1937

The main thing we can spot in the trailer is Indy’s passport and his travel ticket. The note mentions that he embarked on a “Night Service in Rome” on October 21, 1937. The entry fields of the passport suggest that he went there under the guise of a “Research / Education” trip, related to his daytime job teaching archeology at Marshall College (you can see a cup of coffee with the “MC” symbol on his desk). However, one can also assume from the fact that he takes his whip and his gun that this vacation will not be strictly academic.

Indiana Jones visits the Vatican

Another concrete detail in the trailer is a massive map of Vatican City, the independent city-state of the Holy See. Indy appears to be studying this area extensively, marking areas of interest like the Belvedere Court, which also happens to be the site of the Vatican Apostolic Library. The Vat is littered with texts and historical objects, which would be of primary interest to our protagonist in the myth hunt.

Indy also put a question mark on the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope during the Pius XI era, and the location of the famous window where he delivers blessings. I’m not sure exactly what his intentions are, but an audience with the head of the Catholic Church may be out of the question. We can also see arrows pointing west from St. Peter’s Square, suggesting that this may be the intended entry point for Indy. Not exactly subtle!

The typed note

Blink and you’ll miss it, but some of the writing on the “MachineGames” branded typewriter is readable. It seems Indy has a contact at the Vatican. Here’s what we have so far:

“Father X”

“Let me start … thank you for taking your time to help me … with this written request … I will be arriving in Rome … I have been informed that your contact will be waiting”

We would need a better quality trailer than the compressed Twitter video we’re working with to hook the whole thing up. We asked Bethesda about this but they were unable to provide direct feed due to a deal with Lucasfilm. Until then, if you have any ideas, feel free to share them in the comments below.

Prepare to strike some fascists

To quote the inimitable Indiana Jones … “Nazis. I hate these guys. A 1930s setting for the game puts us in the heart of the Third Reich and the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Benito Mussolini is also in Rome at this point, overseeing Fascist Italy, just before the official consolidation of the Axis powers of WWII under the Steel Pact in 1939. Due to the emphasis on the Vatican City, the game could also address Nazi persecution. the Catholic Church during this period.

Considering Indy’s propensity for anti-fascism, it would make sense for us to fight the Nazis and Fascists while decoding myths and collecting artifacts. It’s also a very familiar subject for MachineGames, who have spent the past decade working on the Wolfenstein games.

The story takes place between Raiders and The Last Crusade, “at the height” of Jones’ career

When it comes to movies, this time period means we’re between Raiders of the Lost Ark (1936) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1938). Jones recovered the golden idol from Peru and traveled to Egypt to thwart the Nazis. As a result, the Ark of the Covenant is now in storage, and the US government is aware of the activities of Jones, who just paid it to retrieve it.

We can see a folder with redacted channels on his desk in the trailer, so this operation can also be a collaboration with the government. The site mentions that the game is set “at the height of the famous adventurer’s career,” so it all makes sense.

We can also visit Egypt, Peru and Mesopotamia

Stepping away from Italy for a moment, there are a number of references to other places Indy could be heading in this new adventure. The first thing we see in the trailer is a stack of books. None of the author names lead to anything on Google (except Todd Howard, of course) but the subject is an interesting one.

The book “Myths That Made Us” at the beginning has a slogan on the back, which reads “Vol. 1 Mesopotamia ”. Mesopotamia was a fairly large region of Western Asia, encompassing Babylon, Palmyra as well as parts of modern-day Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. One of the most famous Mesopotamian myths is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which happens to be one of the oldest surviving examples of ancient literature. Indy could very well be looking for artifacts or tablets related to this myth, or maybe the mystery has something to do with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the ancient wonders of the world.

The books note that Indy also studies ancient circles and forbidden stones. The tagline for the Forbidden Stones book reads: “A Treatise on Corrupted Jewels and the Essence of Ancient Curses,” which provides some additional details on what Indy might be looking for in Mesopotamia.

Then in the lower left corner we can see a little note written by Indy, which says “Pyramids Giza Necropolis”, referring to the Giza pyramid complex in Cairo, the last ancient wonder of the world. The yellow pages to the north of this note offer a sketch of the Peruvian “Forbidden Idol” recovered from Raiders and a drawing of a Ziggurat, a common structure found in ancient Mesopotamia. Indy wrote “Ziggurat Clue?” nearby, so he’s definitely studying it. Whether he’ll visit any of these locations in the game is still up, but it’s still good food for thought.

Indiana Jones Project Platforms Untitled and Release Date

Beyond all of the Easter Eggs we found in the trailer, those who are excited for the game may wonder what platforms it will land on in the future. Since Microsoft has acquired Bethesda (and by proxy, MachineGames), we can assume it will land on PC and Xbox consoles. Whether this is exclusive to these platforms is a whole other question.

As for a potential release date, the teaser suggests the game is in the early stages of development. MachineGames tweeted shortly after the announcement, noting that the studio is hiring, the team is growing and preparing to deliver this ambitious project, a “completely original story” within the intellectual property of Indiana Jones.

The only other thing we need to do is the next Indiana Jones 5 movie, which is set to release in July 2022 and start filming in Spring 2021. Again, we have no idea, but the game might want to complete. the film. Release.

Beyond that, there’s really nothing more we can glean from the 30-second trailer that Bethesda sneaked at us. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as more information arrives.

Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.



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