PixlBit

Welcome to Jurassic Park...The Game!

I must admit, as soon as I hear the first few beats of John William’s iconic “Welcome to Jurassic Park” theme, I can’t help but smile.  Jurassic Park stands as a landmark in movie making and is a milestone summer movie experience of my youth that has never been replicated and likely never will be. 

Many have tried to capitalize on the success of movie and its resulting sequels with video game tie ins, but these have largely failed to capture that awe inspiring feeling that filled audiences when they saw that first dinosaur take center stage on the big screen.  A shaky game history and a span of over 15 years since the movie’s original release haven’t done much to deter TellTale Games from taking a stab at the property.  And coming off the success of the Back to the Future episodic game, they may have the momentum to produce something worthy of the title Jurassic Park: The Game.

The game’s story takes place in parallel with the original movie and involves a father and daughter taking refuge from the storm that served as the catalyst for the dino mayhem that followed and the enigmatic bad guys that paid some big money for the contents of a certain can of Barbasol shaving cream. 

Taking on the role of the father/daughter duo, the player will guide them around using a control scheme that feels a lot like Heavy Rain – as you investigate portions of play areas, button commands will appear so that you can interact with the environment.  While this may work well for a game like Heavy Rain, I’m a bit concerned when you involve dinosaurs.  The movies have always heavily featured velociraptors, which are fast, agile and deadly – three things that could quickly ruin your day with a control scheme that’s slow on the pickup.  This also means that the action will almost completely rely on the use of quick time events; an idea that will no doubt not sit well with some gamers.

Being a downloadable game, it’s understandable if JP:TG doesn’t really stack up against other current generation AAA titles, but in a gaming landscape that is increasingly moving towards digital distribution I wonder how long developers will get a pass here.  The character and dinosaur models lack important detail and look robotic in motion.

Given the game’s dependence on QTEs it’s understandable that you’ll die in Jurassic Park.  In fact, you’ll likely die as often in TellTale’s game as you would in Dark Souls, and while the deaths are spectacular and fun to watch, you’re not as likely to gain the same sense of accomplishment when getting past a particularly tough area.  QTE deaths always feel cheap, no matter how humorous the resulting cinematic may be.

Red flags aside, Jurassic Park: The Game is at least shaping up to be an interesting and fresh take on the franchise.  Keep your eyes peeled for PixlBit’s review which will be released shortly after the game launches on November 15^th, 2011 on the PSN, Xbox 360, Mac and PC.