Review: Jurassic Park
By: Jeff Rivera
Jurassic Park is one of those franchises that several developers and publishers have tried hard to make work. From the NES up to current consoles, we've had a bunch of Jurassic Park games that range from side-scrolling action titles, to top down adventures, to point and click adventures. Heck, there's even two Jurassic Park pinball machines out there. When Telltale Games took up the Jurassic Park license, I think most people finally could agree that the franchise was in the proper hands to do the license justice. Keep reading to see if Telltale Games managed to make our return trip to Isla Nublar an enjoyable one.
Telltale's Jurassic Park offers and experience that parallels the happenings of the Jurassic Park film. There are even some references to popular characters in the film, and some minor cameos. At the outset, you're controlling Nima, a woman hired to help recover Nedry's Barbasol can full of dinosaur embryos. Upon arrival, Nima and the man who hired her, Miles, find themselves in the midst of the major storm that caused evacuations on Isla Nublar. Dennis Nedry has already brought down the security systems, and dinosaurs have begun to take the island over. It's not long after finding the canister that all hell begins to break loose.
The story jumps between Nima and Miles to several other characters that are introduced throughout the four episodes, and the storytelling is nothing short of amazing. Telltale does a great job of pacing the storyline and keeping a good amount of tension throughout the adventure. Fans of the Jurassic Park franchise are definitely going to be happy with the story here.
Gameplay is handled in a way that's new for adventure games, but I'm not convinced that it's going to catch on. Long sections of the game are handled through quick time events (QTEs), where the player must react to the input prompts that appear on the screen. Occasionally the action will slow and you're left to explore your surroundings, but you'll be constrained to the area where the game has directed you. It almost feels as if Jurassic Park is a bit of a ride as your path is predetermined right from the get go. It is a bit of a letdown that in a place as compelling as Isla Nublar that you're not free to roam around. After you do get to explore an area, you're quickly thrown back on the QTE rails during an action sequence, and this pattern repeats throughout the adventure.
The choice to put the game on rails ultimately holds the game back. There's still a great story unfolding in Jurassic Park, and some of the action sequences are a lot of fun, but the itch to explore and find some freedom never goes away. If Telltale revisits the Jurassic Park franchise in the future, here's hoping we get to stomp around the island under our own control for a bit.
Playing through the game on the PC, the game holds up well in the presentation department. There are some oddities where the music will drop in harsh fashion as one scene shifts to the next, or you'll get the random hiccup here and there in performance, but overall the experience is presented cleanly and it's always faithful to the source material. As stated before, Jurassic Park fans will be quite happy with the story as well as how the game is presented.
For the price of entry, Jurassic Park is a great diversion, held back only by its strong adherence to rails. There's a good story, great characters, nice action, clever writing, and some nice visuals. I can't help but wonder if the game could have truly been something special had Telltale Games gone a more traditional route allowing for more exploration and discovery.
If you'e a big fan of the Jurassic Park franchise, you'll probably enjoy this game, despite the funneled pathing and lack of exploration. The story and presentation are simply the best we've ever seen in a Jurassic Park video game, even if the gameplay falls a little flat. Jurassic Park is a good game, and I'd be happy to see Telltale Games get one more shot with the franchise.
3 Stars out of 5
