Hidden Gems: Jurassic Park: The Game

 

I had an article that was 90% complete when I got home last night but I decided to scrap it in favor of copping out yet again by talking about possibly the most mainstream property I’ve ever discussed.  I have my reasons so read on.

What is it?: Jurassic Park: The Game is a new downloadable title for PS3, PC and MAC (XBOX 360 gets a disc version).  It’s essentially Jurassic Park 1.5 as it follows the story of a group of characters left on the island both during and after the events of the original movie.  The main storyline involves Nima, a mercenary who is sent as backup to retrieve Nedry’s embryo filled shaving cream canister should he fail in his mission.  She heads into the island when the boat departs and it’s clear that something has gone wrong.  After meeting a particularly nasty group of dinosaurs she is rescued by the park veterinarian, Dr. Harding and his daughter.  After a close encounter with a T-Rex the three get caught on the island after all the important people escape and a rescue team is sent in to retrieve them and any other survivors.  Throughout the game you encounter all of our favorite dinos from the first movie and a few new ones that InGen kept as dirty little secrets.

 

Why is it a “Hidden” Gem?: Like a lot of gamers, I get my news and reviews from IGN.  I went online tonight after spending all week playing the game and was shocked that IGN gave it a 5.5.  Seriously?  I enjoyed this game way more than that so how the fuck can you give it a mediocre score?  Then I realized that this is in no way a gamer’s game.  It doesn’t offer a free roaming environment where you can run and shoot dinosaurs at all.  Instead it’s a moviegoers game as it presents an interactive new story in our beloved world of genetically engineered dinosaurs.  So it’s not a hidden gem in the traditional sense but it is one in that it exists in a medium that will turn a lot of potential fans off.  I’m here to tell you that that’s not the case.

 

Why is it Worth My Time?: Let me clarify what I said above.  This is a movie goer’s game.  That’s because it basically is a movie.  The game is almost entirely done in animated cut scenes that progress based on input from you.  This means that non gamers have nothing to fear from this guy as it even tells you what buttons to press on screen and all you have to do is press those in time and follow along with the story.  And what a story it is.  The story and the characters presented here are worlds better than what appeared in either of the film sequels.  Instead of the Lost World’s approach where they just through a bunch of people on a new island with the same dinosaurs and JP III’s approach where they put people on the same new island but with a new dinosaur,  JP: The Game opts to make a new story in the background of the original.  While it definitely relies on some new dinosaurs, a lot of the story has to do with the human element.  These characters turn on each other constantly and it ends up being a look at desperate people in a desperate situation as much as it is about people getting chased by dinosaurs.

 

I have to give this credit for going with all new characters well except for Dr. Harding if you count him.  These guys all have their strengths and almost every one of them has an “Oh shit” scene.  The best of the lot is probably Oscar, a mercenary on the rescue team that gives Muldoon a run for his money in bad assery.  We’re venturing into mild spoiler territory here but there’s a scene in the game where the dude stalks a raptor and fucking knife fights it one on one.  Yes, unfortunately they introduce another annoying teenager but it’s honestly not incredibly noticeable here.  The girl, whose name I’m blanking on, has some really great moments, including one of the best scare shots in the game.  In an added plus she actually saves the day with something believable, there’s no raptor-defeating gymnastics here.  Our two main characters are very good as well.  Dr. Harding is a very likeable dude who just wants to protect his daughter.  It also helps that he’s a dinosaur expert himself so he’s the perfect guy to lead us around the park.  The game even throws some curveballs at him though as he learns that InGen totally fucked him when giving him full disclosure on the park he was working for.  Even he has no idea what to do when encountering the new dinosaurs.  Nima is also a very sympathetic character even though she’s a mercenary working for the dreaded BioSyn.  She has a few lapses between good and evil but each time is clearly because said attitude will help her priorities, mainly her daughter.  Rounding out the cast we have Dr. Sorkin, one of the senior researchers of Jurassic Park.  Sorkin is kind of an animal rights freak who knows all about the various secret creatures around the park.  She’s also the one responsible for keeping many of them from being exterminated, which will prove problematic later.

 

Another thing that rules about this is how it throws out little connections to the movie.  When Nima finds Nedry’s body, it’s in exactly the same spot and the Dilophosaurus is still eating it.  The jeep is exactly where it was left and so is the Barbasol can.  Later, when Dr. Harding and his daughter head into the visitor’s center the morning after the power outage the camera lingers for a second to show the helicopter with all the important folks flying away.  When they enter the center, not only has everything crashed down like it did in the first movie, but there’s a severed raptor leg.  And wouldn’t you know it, the T-Rex is still at that magical T-Rex door and comes roaring through the center.  At the end of the game they even find a reference to Nedry.

 

In addition to throwing in some references they also completely expanded the island.  You go to a few places that are never mentioned in the original film and that gives it a refreshing feel.  Also, I mentioned new dinosaurs.  There are three here that have yet to appear in a Jurassic Park film.  One of them is mentioned in the original but the other two are completely new and they’re both excellent additions.  I won’t spoil either one, suffice to say that one of them is the main “villain” of the game as it continually stalks our heroes, making an incredibly terrifying noise as well.  All we see of it at the beginning are its glowing eyes in the darkness, which is really effective.  The second of these creatures is equally terrifying and is probably the biggest predator Jurassic Park has ever seen.

 

So now that I’ve described all the reasons that non-gamers should definitely check this one out, let’s get into the one thing game like about it: consequences.  Remember that old game Dragon’s Lair?  You’d take this stupid night out to save a big titted princess from a dragon and along the way your controls would be to choose a direction for him to go next.  This is kind of like that in that you constantly have to follow the on screen commands or your character will die.  You will probably die a lot, not because it’s hard but because there’s just something so morbidly satisfying about seeing a T-Rex swallow a teenage girl whole.  Other than that and a small bit of puzzle solving, you non-gamers have nothing to worry about.  Basically, if you’re a fan of Jurassic Park this is totally worth picking up once it gets a little cheaper.  Check it out.