Jurassic Park: The Game

"Universal and game developer Telltale are teaming up to create a new Jurassic Park game unlike anything you've ever seen before!"

Jurassic Park: The Game is an episodic downloadable, third-person adventure game; set canonically sometime after the system failure of the park in Steven Spielberg's film. It will feature a brand new set of characters, as well as existing secondary ones that will provide the story of the park's demise and the escaping adventures of remaining authorized and unauthorized personnel on Isla Nublar.

The game was released on November 15th, 2011 for PC/Mac and Consoles The Xbox version will receive a retail disc. All launch copies contain all four episodes as a package.

Plot
One of the tidbits was that the game would go about trying to resolve some of the plots and events of the film, with one example being the fate of Dennis Nedry's Barbasol can, containing the dinosaur embryos he tried to smuggle off the island.

The following information are classified spoilers, if you haven't played the game yet please be warned.

The game begins with a mysterious woman running in the jungle. She is clearly injured and constantly scanning the area for an unseen threat. Eventually it is revealed that she is chased by creatures with glowing eyes and is chased off of a cliff. Barely surviving the fall, she ends up next to a road in which a vehicle is barreling down the road and the scene ends leaving the survival of the woman questionable.

It then skips back to earlier in the day with a father and a daughter overlooking the jungles. The characters are revealed to be Park Veterinarian Gerry Harding and his teenage daughter Jess. They are scanning the area for dinosaurs, which are shown to be Triceratops. In order to make the boat on time to get Jess back to the mainland on time, they are seen preceeding back to the Visitor's Center, but not before Gerry has to tend to a sick Triceratops.

...Under Construction...

A more detailed description of each of the four episodes can be found in Jurassic Park: The Game/Episodes.

Humans
These are the main characters of the game

For a complete list of all featured and mentioned human characters, see List of characters in Jurassic Park: The Game.

Dinosaurs/Creatures in Exhibits

 * Dilophosaurus
 * Troodon (Species IG74726f6f646f6e)
 * Velociraptor
 * The Big One (severed leg only)
 * Scarred Raptor Leader
 * Triceratops
 * Lady Margaret
 * Bakhita
 * Tyrannosaurus rex
 * Parasaurolophus
 * Tylosaurus
 * Herrerasaurus
 * Pteranodon
 * Compsognathus
 * Gallimimus (map only)
 * Brachiosaurus (heard only)
 * Utahraptor (journal only)
 * Deinonychus (journal only)
 * Torosaurus (journal only)

Vehicles
Cars Boats Aircraft Other
 * Jeep 12
 * Jeep 14
 * Jeep 18
 * Explorer 02
 * C-3208
 * Anne B (mentioned only)
 * InGen Mercenary Helicopter
 * N293G
 * Bone Shaker Crane
 * Forklift

Locations
For a complete list of all game locations: The game version of Isla Nublar

The game takes place on its version of Isla Nublar. In order of appearance:

Buildings

 * Parasaurolophus Maintenance Building
 * Triceratops Maintenance Building
 * Visitor Center
 * Gallimimus Gift Shop
 * Les Gigantes
 * Isla Nublar Field Lab
 * Geothermal Power Plant

Structures

 * East Docks
 * North Docks
 * Bone Shaker
 * Maintenance Tunnels
 * Isla Nublar Heliport

Paddocks/Enclosures

 * Triceratops Paddock
 * Parasaurolophus Paddock
 * Marine Facility
 * Compsognathus Paddock
 * Herrerasaur Paddock
 * Tyrannosaur Paddock
 * Dilophosaur Paddock
 * Quarantine pens
 * Raptor Pen
 * Aviary (InGen Field Guide only)

Places

 * Cliff
 * Nedry's Clearing
 * Isla Nublar Caves

Gameplay
Telltale set out to make the mechanics of the game into something different from past attempts, citing an inspiration from the Playstation's hit game Heavy Rain, which features a context sensitive foundation with emphasis on exploring and making choices rather than shooting or creating. An example of this is shown with character interactions with objects such as a blaring horn in a Jeep to maneuvering around dinosaurs which can end up with a death sequence for the character (Reverting to a reset option, rewarding the player to test/explore). This was mainly done because the creators believed Jurassic Park was more of an "escape and explore" type movie. They were adamant about not making it a shooter, as they felt that this would go against the themes of the movie. Their primary goal was to recreate the "feel" and the atmosphere of the original movie.

The gameplay consists of interactive point-and-click exploration, allowing the player to inspect objects in the environment without controlling any particular character, and of quick-time events, in which the player must press the right keys in order to direct the characters' movements. Mistakes result in a lower medal ranking or even character deaths.

See Jurassic Park: The Game Walkthrough to find out how to get through the game.

Crew

 * Kevin Boyle - Executive Producer
 * Joe Pinney - Designer/Writer
 * Mark Daren - Designer/Writer
 * Daniel Herrera - Director (Episode I)
 * Andrew Langley - Director (Episode III)

Campaign
Through screenshots, there are various "missions" that the player will progress thorough in the game. But one in particular is shown in a demo presentation (As recorded below by Giant Bomb) by Telltale's game showcase event on February 17th. Telltale originally planned 5 "episodes" for the game. This was later reduced to 4 episodes total.

Reveal
"Jurassic Park: The Game" was originally announced on June 8th, 2010 along with a Back to the Future title in a partnership deal with Universal Studios. Not much was revealed until the January issue of Game Informer, in which it was a feature story. The official reveal showed off Telltale's goals of the game and additional information.

Release
Telltale Games offered a pre-order on their site that featured a $29.99 ($5 off incentive, from the retail $34.99) price for all five episodes (delivered monthly starting April). Included was also a Collector's Edition DVD at the end and special forum access to production art, game designer chats, and more.

The game was to be released on PC/Mac in April, while a Console release is for the Fall. Telltale announced on April 25th in this letter, that the PC/Mac version would be delayed till Fall due to additions/changes to the game. All pre-orderers prior to April 24th will receive a full refund and a free game voucher towards any Telltale game/season including Jurassic Park: The Game.

The game has since been announced for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 releasing simultaneously with the PC/Mac versions. As part of the deal with Microsoft to publish games on the Xbox Arcade, Telltale will release an exclusive retail disc version of the game for the Xbox 360 containing all 4 episodes. The Wii version was eventually canceled.

It was released on November 15th for all platforms, retail disc or digital depending on the platform. The game was shipped for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, along with a deluxe edition in limited supply that had additional information.

Reception
The game was met with mixed reception - mostly average or above average reviews, with a handful of favorable and unfavorable ones. Reviewers praised the game's storyline but criticized its gamplay, framerate glitches and graphics. The game has been described as more of an "interactive movie" than an actual game. This aspect of the game has been seen as both a positive and negative feature, depending on which review you read.

PC Gamer gave the game a negative 41/100, criticizing the gameplay which the reviewer felt only served as a prompt for the game's cutscenes. The website 1Up was similarly negative, giving the game a D+ and commenting that it "barely requires your presence" and that it "offers the interactivity of a DVD menu screen".

IGN gave the game a score of 5.5 or "mediocre", because the reviewer felt that the gameplay made for a passive experience that didn't allow him to connect with the characters on a deep level, making them seem like caricatures to him. He thought that everything about the game was decidedly average - not bad, but not great either. He also felt that the dinosaurs were rather downplayed compared to the film due to the fact that the T. rex, which had kept in pace with a vehicle in the film, was outran by Jess in the game, and how a Velociraptor was able to be overcome by a human with a knife.

Gamespot users gave more favorable reviews of 7.0 (based off 20 reviews) for the Xbox 360 version and a 6.6 (out of 16 reviews) for the PS3 version. N00bAlert was similarly more positive, giving the game a 7 out of 10 and commenting, "...when you approach Jurassic Park more like an interactive movie than a modern game, it really is a lot of fun."

Gamespy wrote an above-average review, giving the game a 3/5 "fair" rating. High praise was given to the game's complicated story and characters, but the game's glitches and choppy framerate were criticized.

Several gaming sites did give the game highly positive reviews, however. A list can be found here. In spite of the many average/negative reviews, Telltale was pleased that almost all of the reviewers at least recognized and appreciated what Telltale was trying to do in making this game - convincingly recreate the Jurassic Park atmosphere and experience. A list of reviews with such praise can be found here.

Jurassic Park Legacy gave the game a 9.9/10, praising the story and attention to detail and saying that it would greatly appeal to fans of the series even if it didn't appeal to mainstream critics. They took some issue with Dr. Harding's slightly revised appearance and some minor liberties with the island's map, but overall decided that it would fit in nicely as film canon.

It currently holds a "Mixed" 55 rating on Metacritic from professional critics. The average user rating score is 3.5 due to a controversy - see below.

When all critic reviews are added up, the weighted average rating for the game is roughly 62%.

It is important to note that Telltale is a very small-scale studio operating on a low budget, so many of the game's flaws, such as graphics and framerate, are at least justified. This was one of their most ambitious projects to date.

Internet Movie Database: The game received an average of 7.0, being one of the most positive reviews.

Controversy
There was a small controversy with the user score shortly after the game's release, as a handful of Telltale employees had written 10/10 favorable reviews in an attempt to help the game's user score, perhaps predicting that it would be met with tepid reception. The game held a 10.0 user score for a short while, reflecting the employees' ratings. Users quickly saw through this due to the fact that they had been written with proper grammar and that the names of the reviewers matched the names of Telltale employees.

The employees' reviews were then taken off the site and a multitude of users, outraged and disgusted at the employees' self-promotion, gave 0/10 ratings for the game to spite Telltale, to the point that the average user score went down to 3.5/10. As the ratings did not reflect their actual opinion of the game, the user score is not an accurate indicator of how well the game appealed to the public.

Telltale released a statement justifying the employees' actions, stating that although they had acted rashly, they had been proud of their work and that it would be understandable for them to want to see a good score for it.

This controversy has unfortunately resulted in a relatively negative stain on Telltale's reputation - and for the game. It is now a recurring joke across gaming forums to accuse a user who likes the game of being a Telltale employee.

Trivia

 * This is the first Jurassic Park video game since the licensed games for Jurassic Park III.
 * It is the first JP game:
 * Made by TellTale Game
 * Made for Xbox 360, PS3, Mac, and iPad.
 * Where the makers took pointers from fans
 * Point and click type game.
 * It is a part of a resurgence of Jurassic Park merchandise which included the Hasbro Toys 'R' Us Jurassic Park toy line of 2009 and the new Jurassic Park comics.
 * The T.rex's roar in the Teaser Trailer was not the Jurassic Park T-Rex roar used in the movie. The roar, in fact, is used by a T-Rex in another Dinosaur game series, Dino Crisis. It was later fixed in the IGN Action Trailer.
 * The game has been delayed to include, "new game mechanics and a sense of terror" moving the PC/Mac version to Fall along with the Console release.
 * This is the first game to have a venomous dinosaur (other than Dilophosaurus) appear in Jurassic Park (it's revealed to be the Troodons).
 * The game also revealed new info on Nublar, including:
 * All animals were created at Site B and transported to Nublar.
 * Humans lived on Nublar, then evicted by the Costa Rican Government, then Hammond bought the island.
 * The Marine Facility was not mentioned on the tour because it was meant to be part of "Phase B" after opening.
 * The Velociraptors had tampered DNA; Dr. Sorkin explained that the raptors DNA was messed up by Dr. Wu during the cloning process and in reality were supposed to be as big as they are in real life (ahe even mentions they look just like Deinonychus)! This disproves the theory held by some Jurassic Park fans prior to the game's release that the Velociraptors were simply misclassified Deinonychuses.
 * Compsognathus, Herrerasaurus, Troodons, and a Mosasaur were on Isla Nublar. However, it was already known that Herrerasaurus was native to the island due to the brochure map from the first film.
 * A Roller Coaster was being built.

Easter Eggs

 * Woody Woodpecker, a well known cartoon character, appears briefly if you look at the crashed helicopter's tail as a vinyl deco-art.
 * A map of the novel version of Isla Sorna can be seen in the aquarium during episode 4.

Novel/Movie Canon
The game has nods to both novel and movie canon, including:

Novel

 * The Isla Nublar Aviary may exist in the game due to the pteranodons on the island.
 * The Costa Rica Napalm Bombing is mentioned by Billy Yoder. Apparently, B-52s did the deed.
 * More velociraptors.
 * Hammond having a much more arrogant attitude than what is shown in the first film.
 * More employees stuck on the island.
 * Gerry Harding's design is novel-esc.
 * Dilophosaurs have snake-skin patterns, a novel notion.
 * The Geothermal Power Plant, which was orginally described as a "power plant" in the novels.

Movie

 * The T.rex comes after attacking the group from the tyrannosaur paddock.
 * Group fleeing in helicopter.
 * Nedry's "You didn't say the magic word" program activating when someone tries to access security without his password.
 * Peter Ludlow is mentioned by Dr. Sorkin when she calls to cancel the bombing during episode 4.
 * The velociraptors being able to open doors.
 * The fences can be heard turning back on after the characters wake up in the Maintenance Shed.
 * Sorkin's journal reveals that Arnold's first name is Ray, as opposed to the novel where it is John.

Unused Scenes
In several trailers, some scenes were seen but not used, including:
 * Nedry getting mauled.
 * Power failing for the first time.
 * Miles Chadwick (with a different voice actor) calling Dodgson and asking him where Nedry was.

Goofs

 * In several scenes, the mouth movements/facial expressions don't match the dialogue.
 * In one scene, Gerry addresses his first daughter as Sara, but the next time, she's addressed as Sarah.
 * How can the characters outrace the T. rex if it can run up to 32 MPH?
 * No matter what Vehicle you pick in the game, the Explorer that rescues you and takes you to the Visitor Center is EXP 02 which was offline in the game.
 * At one point, Gerry asks Nima if she was one of the visitors Hammond had sent, despite the fact that we know from the movie he had already met the visitors while he was looking after the sick Triceratops.

Allusions

 * Miles says "Hey! I got Dodgson! I got Dodgson on the line!", a parody of what Nedry said about Dodgson in the first movie "DODGSON, DODGSON WE GOT DODGSON HERE!"
 * Dr. Harding tells Jess to "JUMP!" in similar context to that of Dr. Grant to Tim.
 * The part with Dr. Sorkin sending a car to save the survivors parodies the infamous goof of the first movie where Nedry is talking to a Anne B crewman on a video file.
 * Dr. Harding reiterates Dr. Grant's famous quote about the T. rex.
 * D-Caf says Ray Arnolds quote "Hang on to your butts!"

Videos
Video:Jurassic Park: The Game - Behind the Scenes Trailer|Jurassic Park: The Game - Behind the Scenes Trailer Video:Jurassic Park: The Game Action Montage|Jurassic Park: The Game Action Montage Video:Telltale Jurassic Park The Game Pre-Order Trailer|Jurassic Park: The Game Pre-Order Trailer Video:Jurassic Park - E3 2011: IGN Live Commentary|Jurassic Park - E3 2011: IGN Live Commentary Video:Jurassic Park: Dino Death Montage|IGN's Dino Death Montage

External List

 * Official Jurassic Park: The Game Site
 * Game Informer - "An Unlikely Developer Steps Into The Maw of a Troubled License
 * Giant Bomb's Quick Look Road Show: Jurassic Park
 * castleville cheats

Jurassic Park (Telltale)