Although Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones does not appear to have any pets during his globe-trotting years, the third film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, establishes that Indy once had a dog named Indiana who he loved it very much. And Indy's love of dogs is one of the reasons he won't shoot any enemy dogs in Bethesda and MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
Speaking with IGN, MachineGames creative director Jens Andersson confirmed that Indy's encounters with the dogs belonging to the bad guys won't end the same way as in the developers' Wolfenstein games. Instead, Indy can scare the dogs by pointing his gun at them, rather than following through on the threat.
“[Indiana Jones] is a dog lover,” Andersson said. “It's obviously a little bit different from Wolfenstein too, where the dog is going to explode… It's a family IP in many ways. How can we do this well? Well, that's the kind of thing we do. We have dogs as enemies, but you don't really harm dogs. You scare them away. ยป
This is fortunate for the dogs, but less so for Doctor Jones. As noted in GameSpot's early hands-on experiences with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the game favors stealth over all-out action. Enemy dogs could prove to be another challenge for Indy to remain undetected by Nazi soldiers. He may not shoot dogs, but Indiana Jones never had a problem punching a Nazi in the face. As part of this game, Indy can also take out Nazis with sneak attacks and improvised weapons.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be released for Xbox Series X|S and PC on December 9. A PlayStation 5 port will follow in 2025.