Board Thread:Video Games/@comment-109.175.232.192-20150613015459

So I got this today as both a JP fan and a fan of the lego games in general and I have to say I am enjoying it but I do feel the campaigns are somewhat short on each movie. At the time of writing I've only played up to the Jurassic Park III level where we first meet Eric Kirby after he saves Dr Grant from the raptors so with only about 14% of the game complete I still have a lot of stuff to get into yet but I will keep you updated as I go further through.

So to start off, the campaigns. The campaign for JP is good you begin playing as Robert Muldoon and Jophery whilst moving the Big One into her paddock in a classic puzzle solving level where we have to link up the generators and repair the track to move the Big One up towards the paddock before Jophery opens the gate, we then switch to Dr Grant and Dr Sattler in Montana digging up raptor skeletons before John Hammond turns up. You then watch the cutscene that brings you to Isla Nublar and it appears the lego team love Dr Malcolm's iconic laugh. You then get to drive one of the JP jeeps towards the visitor centre to embark on the tour (the tour cars you can also drive along the rails) stopping off to see the brachiosaurs on the way. You then get into the second mission of sorts where you first help the sickly triceratops which is playable. Then you have to help Lex and Tim during the T Rex breakout and save Dr Malcolm and his dying fly act from Rexy as Muldoon and Ellie. The later parts of the story are really enjoyable (not that the first parts aren't) as you get into the nitty gritty of the dinosaurs breakouts even fighting dilophosaurus on the way and you get a lego version of Nedry's infamous "Ah Ah Ah." The mini games you get on the level where Lex tries to turn the power on though fairly simple are entertaining and a great feature to the game and as the game progresses you get a real sense of teamwork being necessary which I didn't get much of in the T Rex breakout mission with Malcolm since I played as Dr Grant whose digging ability is necessary but everything can be done by Grant at this point which was a bit of a shame but Malcolm still lures Rexy away which is always cool.

This leads me to my favourite part of the game so far (mainly for nostalgic reasons) when the Velociraptors corner Dr Grant, Ellie, Lex and Tim you get to switch between Ellie, Lex and Rexy herself in the showdown with the Big One with the Rexy gameplay being the most important on the level, so yes you get to be the T Rex which you also get to play as chasing a raptor over each film campaigns credits. The campaign for JP is about 5 to 6 missions which is about normal for lego games. TLW:JP then begins at your leisure and you start off helping Eddie prepare the vehicles for the trip to Isla Sorna, when you get to the island you are confronted by Compy's which seem to spawn in endless waves with not much let up between waves making some areas a bit of an annoyance but nothing problematic. You then help Sarah against the Stegosaurus where Nick takes pictures of her to deplete her health in a pretty decent boss battle. You then watch the InGen team arrive and capture dinosaurs which you as Nick and Sarah break free getting to play as a Pachycephalosaurus, Stegosaurus and Triceratops in the mission.

The T Rex's then attack the trailer where as Malcolm you climb up Eddie's rope and as Eddie you try to help keep the trailer on the cliff before the T Rex's return. You briefly team up with Roland and InGen whilst getting to the next level which begins with you fleeing the T Rex as Nick or Sarah after they attack the campsite and Dr Burke is scarred by a harmless snake which leaves the T Rex just as puzzled as the humans but follows him away regardless. You then have to make it through the Long Grass to get to the Operations Centre in one of the best missions so far with the velociraptors attacking you in a similar way to Muldoon and Ellie earlier on in the game but this level and its imediate successor as you attempt to "get to the chopper" are filled with suspense which is brilliant and the game really does excell at this point.

You finish off in San Diego firstly trying to stop the worker from opening the cargo hold and then you flee the T Rex in Dr Malcolm's car through the streets of San Diego. JPIII starts with you on the island trying to shut Amanda Kirby up whilst she uses a megaphone to call for Eric before having to flee the Spinosaurus whilst he destroys the plane. You then continue into the jungel where you have the Spinosaurus fight the T Rex where you once again switch between the humans and the T Rex as it fights the Spinosaurus though arguably this fight, especially as you know the outcome, seems a bit less fun than the first one as Rexy but maybe that's just me though it has left me anticipating the I Rex fight in the JW missions. You then salvage the parachute for Billy which is used to glide from some platforms to others before then going through the genetics lab and being attacked by the raptors. This is the point I am up to in the campaign now as the next mission we first meet Eric Kirby who saves Dr Grant from the raptors.

The campaign on a whole is really good the levels are fun though I do feel that they flew by but maybe that's partly down to the last lego game I played was Lego Marvel which had a campaign that followed on continuously as one complete story opposed to several so it made the campaign feel incredibly long but I cannot fault the levels in any way especially the missions where you find yourself running from Velociraptors.

Freeplay. This is something I haven't really gone into much but every area is accesible on each part of the islands (they are split into two sections per each film that takes place on the relevant island) and from what I have done you can go into the visitor centre in JP and inside you can find a dinosaur customisation screen in a lab that is more similar to those you see in JW and another screen is located here but I cannot remember exactly what it was so I'll get back to you on that. Located near the Isla Nublar helicopter as you head off towards JP there is a vehicle spawner where you can call any vehicle you have unlocked and there are also dinosaur once that are similar to this mechanic located around the park which is a pretty cool feature. The dinosaur customisation is very detailed as you can change the dinosaurs head, body, tail, colour and markings as well as the colour of the markings I do hope we get a dinosaur creation option in the JW park so we can create hybrids though I've not seen any indication so far but I haven't got to JW yet.

As for the dinosaurs you can play as so far I have been able to play as Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus, Stegosaurus, T Rex (though only during battles and credits so far) and Velociraptor the latter I think may possibly be a preorder bonus but I can't be sure as it allows me to play as Blue, Delat, Echo, Charlie and a normal JP raptor. The gameplay for Pachycephalosaurus and triceratops are quite similar with a charging attack but they are very enjoyable, stegosaurus I like but its attack abilities are quite slow and you have to position yourself correctly to get a hit but the hits are extremely powerful as you can create a mini shockwave that takes out human enemies in a single hit, T Rex is fun but it is a simple button mashing sequence in the fights so though you are in control you aren't moving the T Rex around but I don't see why we wouldn't get it for freeplay so I'lll keep you updated. The Velociraptors I like their primary attack were they pounce on attackers though their tail attack is similar to the stegosaurus and they aren't as fast as I expected but they are quicker than humans.

All in all from what I've experianced so far it is an enjoyable game, the dinosaur gameplay is great fun and the additional humour common to the lego games is entertaining specifically when invlving raptors and the first appearance of the Pteranodon at the end of TLW:JP. You also get some decent information in loading screens featuring a lego created version of different areas in the films and Mr DNA. As a fan of lego games I recommend it but don't expect it to be massively different from previous lego game mechanics. If you aren't a fan of lego games though I would probably tell you to pass even though it is JP and probably wait for the Ark survival game next year. I think it was worth its value though and I would probably give it an eight out of ten at the moment though this could change depending on what else I have yet to experiance but so far I am enjoying it a good deal and I can't wait to see what the JW section has to offer. 