I couldn’t tell you the first time that I ever watched “Jurassic Park”, but I can tell you that I’ve watched it more times than I can count. The idea of co-existing with creatures that lived millions of years ago is both exciting and scary all at the same time. “Jurassic Park: The Game” certainly captures these larger than life creatures, but not everyone will appreciate the application of the gameplay mechanics.
Jurassic Park: The Game (PC, Mac, iOS, PSN, XBox 360)
The main menu allows the player to begin an episode, load a saved game, and adjust game settings. The single player campaign is played out over four episodes, all of which are available from the start. It’s worth noting that, since some of you are undoubtedly familiar with how “Back to the Future: The Game” and “The Walking Dead” were laid out…one episode per month on average. The options menu allows the player to adjust screen resolution, turn on subtitles, set various graphics settings like graphics quality and texture quality, and change the sound levels. Not a lot of options, but the options menu covers all of the basics.
The setting is Isla Nublar, during the tragic events of the first Jurassic Park movie. A new cast of characters is introduced just before Dennis Nedry puts his plan into motion to disable the park’s security systems. I won’t spoil the story further, but suffice it to say that you’ll be taking control of various characters and be trying to see to their safety. While the game does save every so often, it won’t let you manually save. This may result in you having to repeat certain parts you’ve already done, depending on where you quit the game last.
The game, to sum it up, is an interactive story that is broken up into investigative seek and find / point and clicks and quick-time events. One moment, you’ll be searching for that one object in the environment so that you can proceed to the next scene while in another moment, you’ll be hitting keystrokes at the right time to avoid death. In either case, you’ll sometimes be introduced to puzzles that require a little thought to complete. When the action is lull, you might have to figure out how to move a triceratops out of the way by clicking various objects in the environment in a particular order. When faced with danger, you might have to navigate the environment with quick-time events while manipulating the right object in the environment to allow you to progress. Some of the puzzles allow you the freedom to explore different screens, but the overall story arc is linear.
Scenes like this make me happy…frustrating quick-time events, not so much.
“Jurassic Park: The Game” has an excellent story, coupled with fantastic scenes that make you feel like you’re actually in a “Jurassic Park” movie. The game, if I could even call it that, falls short in the execution. I don’t mind quick-time events as the primary method of getting through a story, but some of them are downright unfair. I wanted to experience a story, not have to take ibuprofen to get my fingers to cooperate fast enough to survive some fairly nasty action sequences. “The Walking Dead” introduced some quick-time events but they weren’t nearly as complex or drawn out as these. I do think the game is a good one, but it certainly won’t appeal to everybody. Some will love it, and some will hate it. To that end, it’s best to catch it during a sale, if it all possible.
Final Verdict: 7/10
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You can find the game on Steam, here:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/201830/
You can view video play sessions here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxCn-ntqknQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a75J731HiFg
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