I think in the wake of Telltale Games’ Back to the Future announcement some people had forgotten that the company was also working on a Jurassic Park game. Announced last year before E3 kicked off, Telltale Games and Universal Pictures didn’t say much of the new Jurassic Park game other than one was in the works. But now with Telltale working on the BTTF games, which should be over by May or June at the latest, some details have finally crept in on the Jurassic Park game that’s currently in development.
Revealed in the latest of Game Informer, the first tidbits we have on Telltale’s Jurassic Park game are encouraging but there are a few things that are somewhat disappointing. With there being three Jurassic Park films, two books that are somewhat vastly different from the films that were made and the prospect of really cool spin-off opportunities, some had wondered when the new JP game would take place. Well keeping in tune with everyone’s favorite installment of the Jurassic Park series, the JP game will be set directly after the events of the first Jurassic Park film. Sadly, none of the characters from the film such as Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) or Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) will make an appearance in the game and it wasn’t confirmed if we could expect to see John Hammond, the man behind Jurassic Park, to pop up as well. The character that players assume the role of in the game is a Jurassic Park employee who I assume finds themselves wanting to get off the island as fast as possible so they don’t become dinosaur chow.
The gameplay in Jurassic Park won’t exactly be in tune with Telltale other projects such as Back to the Future as the game will indeed be reminiscent of Heavy Rain i.e. the action scenes heavily involve Quick Time Events. The game will make players think a bit as there will be puzzles but other gameplay mechanics weren’t divulged so it’s unknown if players will be able to roam around the abandoned and dinosaur infested InGen facilities and explore things or if they’ll be put on a very linear path filled with QTE scenarios.
Unlike the Back to the Future games, Telltale apparently isn’t taking a stylistic approach to Jurassic Park as the game utilizes a realistic art style. Early reports peg the game as not being a complete visual masterpiece, but apparently the look of the game is adequate given the size of the game and Telltale’s development team. As long as the dinosaurs look convincing and are roughly on the same quality as Jurassic: The Hunted I’ll be a happy camper.
Just like Telltale’s Back to the Future games, the Jurassic Park project will be split across five episodes with the first set for release this Spring. Aside from the obvious release on the PC and Mac, it wasn’t stated which consoles it would be released on but if BTTF is any indication a PSN release should be a lock while Xbox 360 owners may be left crying once more.
It’s nice that we finally have some details on Telltale’s Jurassic Park game, but I just hope that the gameplay is compelling and merely won’t consist of a series of rooms strung together with one or two puzzles and four QTEs. I’m also a bit worried about the QTEs as well as they could either prove to be amazing or fall completely flat if not implemented properly along with making replay sessions a bit boring. It’s a bummer that we won’t see any of the main movie cast pop up, but maybe Telltale will throw gamers a bone and insert a character cameo for the finale episode of the game. Even if Jurassic Park doesn’t turn out to be a masterpiece, I’m just happy the franchise is getting another shot in the video game arena and we’re finally getting another game featuring dinosaurs.
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