Do a little research on the history of Jurassic Park games and you will come to find the same thing that I did in preparation for this article: it’s a spotty lineage at best. On top of that, their franchise hasn’t stuck its head into the gaming world in quite some time (minus the at best forgettable game of 2011 from Telltale. In light of this weekend’s release of Jurassic Park 3D, what’s a better time than now to mention that, somehow, a game in which you are running in constant terror from genetically engineered dinosaurs hasn’t made its way into the digital world of video games?
I can already hear you all yelling at me. Yes, I know that Turok was rebooted in 2008, but don’t you all remember how not awesome it was? The insta-kill knife button, the total dearth of actual freakin’ dinosaurs and the focus on meathead space marine clichés ad nausea? Turok seriously downplayed both the dinosaurs’ presence in the game and just how horrifying they can be when you aren’t an armed-to-the-teeth Native American badass with extensive military training.
Remember the scene at the end of the original Jurassic Park movie when everyone is retreating into the air ducts? Dr. Grant fires a shotgun a couple times at the window before retreating, the camera next focusing in on the jammed automatic shotgun. It is this idea that could really make for a good Jurassic Park game, one where I am prey through and through. I want to have to take perilous trips to remote power stations so I can turn the electric fence back on. I want to be as afraid of raptors as the cast is in the movies. More than almost anything, I want to come face to face with a T-Rex and mask myself by staying still.
What’s ironic is how many scenes like the ones I mentioned above have actually made an appearance in many of this generation’s best games, but under a different skin. Staying still to avoid a T-Rex could feel an awful lot like a certain memorable moment in Call of Duty 4’s “All Ghillied Up” mission. Anyone who played Alan Wake can attest to the many times they had to plunge into the darkness to power up a generator to avoid being devoured by the dark ones. What about the Gatherers from Amnesia? Hell, they had this guy hiding in a closet.
With me listing how every other game out there has done things that dinosaurs could do already, you’re probably wondering why we need a Jurassic Park game. Well, as the old adage goes: it’s not what you say, but how you say it. Sure, these other games all provided tense and terrifying moments, but not with dinosaurs.
A great Jurassic Park game could fill a massive gap this generation seems to have; survival horror. While it leans more towards a creature feature, escaping from a dino-infested island with nothing but your wits to guide you would be almost as terrifying and uncomfortable as an Uwe Boll movie marathon. With Dead Space probably on the way out, after the identity crisis that was Dead Space 3, it is time for a new monster to step into the ring.
In an era filled with reboots, HD reduxes and reimaginings, I think now is as good a time as any to start thinking about bringing back another classic. Like this article, whose writing was conveniently timed with the release of Jurassic Park 3D, I think it would also be awfully convenient to hear a developer give us some good, scientist-with-a-god-complex-related news.
What do you guys think? Would a Jurassic Park game be as great as I’m insisting it would be? What developer do you think would do a good job with the license? Sound off below in the comments!
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Dinosaurs would be great! Massive creatures moving about would need a large open world, however. Also, intelligent dino A.I. to not run into powered-up electric fences...alternative being an extremely linear game design with lots of hand-holding. A great and powerful Oz err I mean studio needs to take ownership of a reboot
Sega Genesis Jurassic Park FTW
COSIGN
naughty dog! :P
i'd love a survival horror game in JP.
I loved dino crisis 1/2... 3 was lame... too arcady
But i could definately see a great survival horror open world type game on an island.... with survival and escape being the point and having to get things from different areas on the island where different dinosaurs live... requiring different tactics to get whatever needed...
Yes a JP game could be awesome. I have been waiting for a truly great JP game since the first movie came out. Seeing what the next gen games and PC games can do just makes me realize even more how intense and awesome it would be. If they needed to have multi-player, they could do a survival mode where everyone starts in the middle of the island(make it massive) and either be the last survivor or make it off the island. People could go on their own (more silent and only deal with the choices they make) or team up and risk being more noisy (conversations over headsets would manifest in the game and draw attention) or having someone purposely put you in danger. VERY limited weapons. If you die, you're dead. You can either watch to see who wins/how people die (dinos, falls, electric fences, etc) or you can move on to a new game.
The Super Nintendo game was awesome for the time, combining FPS indoors with 3/4 perspective outside. It could be great as a campaign, running ID's Tech5 engine, if Bethesda would back it for a massive island, maybe getting chased by a T Rex in a gas jeep, dodging trees getting struck by lightning and running off the road in the mud. It would probably be best as a straight forward mission, maybe 10 hours tops, sold for $20. If it's too long, it would cost more to create than people would be willing to pay initial $60, but a movie based game, smaller quest with great effects, something fun, without a ton of walking around. RAGE would be a good example. Fallout 3 had gigantic behemoth mutants that would be about T-Rex scale. Eh, it's a great idea, but a gamble for a developer as movie based games usually don't do well, but The Walking Dead may have crossed that with the short episode for low price method, which would probably do real well for movie translations.
I loved the Sega Genesis JP game back from 1994. I also remember that The Lost World, for being a terrible movie, had a really fun arcade shooter from Sega. But otherwise, yes, JP is a franchise that has gone untouched in the video game realm despite being such an easy to sell title. Maybe if JP4 really comes in 2015, you'll get it. Though we would all rather be Alan Grant.