Vatican City

Lore & Background

Vatican City is depicted as a city under the direct control of Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts, who are collaborating with Nazi German archaeologist and occultist Emmerich Voss. The narrative reveals that a tribe of giants known as the "Nephilim Order" has been covertly working for the Roman Catholic Church to protect the secret of the "Great Circle." During his infiltration, Indiana Jones discovers that a stolen cat mummy contains a special stone related to this power. He learns that Voss eventually steals these stones from the Order and flees, forcing Jones and Gina to stow away on Voss's zeppelin to pursue him. The location is also tied to Father Orlando Ricci in the downloadable content *The Order of Giants*, where Ricci researches a legendary figure called the Nameless Crusader whose armor was hidden under a palace built by Pope Paul IV.

In Their Own Story

Upon returning to Marshall College, Indiana Jones is knocked unconscious by a giant man named Locus, who steals a cat mummy and leaves behind a medallion with a Vatican Secret Archive symbol. This drives Jones to infiltrate Vatican City in 1937, where he finds the city controlled by Mussolini's Blackshirts working alongside Emmerich Voss. There, he teams up with reporter Ginetta "Gina" Lombardi, who is searching for her missing sister, Laura. Together they uncover the existence of the Nephilim Order, a group of giants protecting the Great Circle's secrets for the Church. After Voss steals the stones from the Order and escapes on his zeppelin, Jones and Gina give chase. The DLC *The Order of Giants* expands this setting, showing Jones locating armor and a key in a secret chamber under Pope Paul IV's palace to help Ricci find a piece of a carved stone cylinder, all while evading Mussolini's Blackshirts who are also hunting for the artifacts.

Reader's Guide

Players approach Vatican City as a large, explorable sandbox location rather than a linear corridor. The area supports multiple routes to objectives, encouraging stealth tactics such as crouching and hiding behind cover to avoid enemy lines of sight. Disguises can be worn to access restricted areas, though high-level enemies may see through them if Jones commits crimes like stealing or acting menacingly. In this zone, players can photograph objects of interest, open safes and chests, and collect relics to earn Adventure Points for unlocking perks from Adventure Books. Combat involves using makeshift weapons like shovels or wrenches, utilizing the whip to target enemy limbs, and managing stamina which regenerates slowly when resting. The environment also features optional puzzles where repeatedly photographing a puzzle provides hints for solving it.

Did You Know?

• Vatican City is one of three major sandbox locations in the game, alongside Giza and Sukhothai.
• The city is under the control of Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts who are working with Nazi archaeologist Emmerich Voss.
• A giant named Locus steals a cat mummy from Marshall College bearing a symbol that leads Jones to infiltrate the Vatican.
• In the *The Order of Giants* DLC, Father Orlando Ricci tasks Jones with finding armor hidden under a palace built by Pope Paul IV.
• Players can use disguises in Vatican City, but committing crimes will cause them to fail.