Hmm, the "professional" reviews on the game sites are even worse than I thought. IGN 5.5, Gameinformer 5.5, gamespy 6/10. I expected something like 7/10.
I didnt played it yet, but its kinda sad that its seemingly not possible to make a really good JP-Game that not just hardcore-fans can enjoy and not have to wonder if my fanboyness will defeat the weaknesses of the game
Beat the game last night, (would have beat it sooner but a friend and i plaid it together) and i am very impressed with it. The graphics were great, it wasn't difficult to play but it wasn't super easy either. A few little bugs but nothing too extreme, for example it would lag a bit but it wasn't annoyingly obvious so i could still enjoy the game. Loved the story, it was really easy to get caught in it and have feelings for the characters. Also LOVED the Easter eggs i was able to find, always made my day.
I consider myself to be a hardcore gamer and I still think jurassic park is very enjoyable. However, telltale games are kind of a niche market and pro reviewers have to review based on the mainstream, high budget tastes of the general public. I think any JP fan would love this game and considering the resources telltale has to work with, I am impressed. Great job guys!
Well, I finished playing through "Jurassic Park: The Game" yesterday, so just wanted to express my thoughts. Overall, I enjoyed the game and thought it was worth the wait, and although it wasn't perfect, it was FAR better than the movie "Jurassic Park III":
Story & Characters
The strongest element of the game; I was pleasantly surprised at how much thought was put into the characters in particular, as their various backstories and agendas were explored - in fact, the human characters felt more fleshed out than most of those in the film series. I also enjoyed how there were long stretches of dialogue which didn't really have anything to do with dinosaurs or more action-oriented gameplay, but instead simply allowed the characters to be developed. And I REALLY liked how the scientists actually acted and TALKED like scientists, not shying away from throwing biological or genetic terminology around even though this most likely would risk alienating the average, idiot 5-year-old "I WAZZ BLOWZ DINOSUURS UPS REEEEL GOOD"! crowd of gamers. Personally, I didn't really buy Billy Yoder's transformation into murderous sociopath - even if he did cut a deal with Nima (which I didn't really buy either), there was no reason to kill the Hardings. Speaking of which, I felt Gerry & Jess were threatened a bit too often by the other characters - first Nima, then Sorkin, then Billy, which felt rather redundant by the end of the game. However, as mentioned above, I truly appreciated the constant scientific exchange between Gerry and Sorkin (a hallmark of both Spielberg and Crichton), as well as Gerry and Jess' relationship which seemed VERY reminiscent of Ian Malcolm & Kelly in TLW - as well as the relationship between Billy and Oscar, who seemed to be the JP Universe's answer to Han Solo and Chewie. I also felt that voice acting as surprisingly strong; you could really hear the emotion in the casts' voices much of the time, and there were moments where it felt more like an animated movie and less like a traditional video game. All in all, I appreciated the story-driven approach to the game: Telltale did the right thing in avoiding the "Turok"-type of run-and-gun approach that a more mainstream company may have pooped out with the JP license - instead, their work really feels like an interactive JP sequel from an alternate universe. True, the story wouldn't have worked for an actual film, (the last thing we need is ANOTHER story about people trying to get off of an island), but their mix of science and technology, academic and more militant characters, family dynamics and good old-fashioned scenes of people being eaten by dinosaurs made the game feel more faithful to Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton's visions than the third "Jurassic Park" movie, and the recent comic book series from IDW...leading us to:
Franchise Continuation
I was mostly happy with the game's consistent respect for the franchise and its fans; I got the impression that the developers at Telltale really cared for series and wanted to give us a worthwhile continuation (again, something not the case with IDW Publishing's largely hilarious recent comic book series). The game was deeply rooted in the JP lore, and there were constant references to the series beyond the obvious (mentions of Muldoon and Henry Wu, seeing the aftermath of Nedry's demise and the Visitor Center finale from the film)...as a die-hard TLW fan, I was gratified to see its existence was referenced in the game (mentions of Sarah Harding and Peter Ludlow, as well as the use of Carfentanil and Gerry's very Roland Tembo-inspired show-down with the Rex), as well as a couple of references to the novels, despite Telltale having the rights to only the films (a label marked "DX" when Gerry picks up the tranq rifle, and the eventual bombing of the island). However, as much as I enjoyed the game, I can't consider it canon as there are too many deviations from the original film. I liked the Troodon and Mosasaur, (more on that below), but didn't buy the justification for their presence on the island (InGen was keeping them secret...shades of the Spino and Pteranodons in JP3, here). Speaking of which, I have no idea why the Pteranodons were flying around free on Isla Nublar - had they escaped from their aviary? Also, I hated the whole sequence with the roller coaster as it just didn't ring true to the film - Hammond's rides were clearly not your average amusement park rides, but automated tours of various sections of the park, just like the Safari Tour we see in the film. I would have liked to have seen the Jungle River Cruise or Pteratops Lodge rides (both of which are briefly depicted in the slide show during the lunch scene in the film), but the "Bone Shaker" was not only non-nonsensical, but simply a dull level (more on that below). The depiction of John Hammond as a ruthless bastard who screwed over Nima's village is much closer to Peter Ludlow, or the Hammond from the novel, then the well-intentioned but somewhat clueless old grandfatherly figure from Spielberg's movie. Finally, sorry, but Gerry Harding has a mustache and a pot belly, and sounds like Gerry Molen! :P
Dinosaurs
Overall, I was satisfied with Telltale's approach to the Dinosaurs in the game; I liked both the Troodon, and especially the Mosasaur, but was disappointed that we didn't get more of them! There was a big hullabaloo over the "mysterious new predator" in the game since the beginning, however, it seemed like we got a lot of set-up for the Troodon but encountered them only briefly (perhaps some of their screentime was axed when the game went from 5 chapters to 4)? I felt Telltale could have picked a predator that felt a little less like "scarier" Raptors, but they worked as the most horrific dinosaurs we've had in the franchise (not sure how their eyes actually emanate light - perhaps bacteria such as in deep-sea life - or are they supposed to be refracting light?) I loved the Mosasaur, (it was quite creepy, almost Lovecraftian with its massive size and deliberate malevolence), especially as the diving level felt like a refreshing change of pace from all that had come before. I really would have liked more of both of the game's central new dinos - in fact, we saw much more of the Rex and the Raptors than the Troodon and Mosasaur! The Herrerasaurs were entirely redundant being slightly larger, repainted Raptors (they even made the same noises). I was fine with the returning dinosaurs in the game, but I was disappointed with the lack of variety in the Dino-encounters, both in excess of predators we had to face as well as the repetitive gameplay (will cover that in a bit). I felt that the predator encounters started to blend together, especially as we kept running into the same dinosaurs over and over again. As Gerry said, "herbivores can be dangerous too". I liked the level where the Trike attacked our car, and wanted more of things like that - couldn't we have had a scene where we had to drive a vehicle through a heard of stampeding Brachiosaurs? How about a scene reminiscent of Sarah's attack by Stegosaurs in TLW? Even a greater variety of predators would have helped - Pteranodons were in the game, but only as a "prop" in one scene - wouldn't it have been fun to give a scene to the flying reptiles all to themselves (imagine if you had to negotiate a cliff face which a flock of Pteranodons had taken as a roost)? So, yeah...I liked the dinosaurs, but felt that there was an inescapable redundancy to the encounters...leading us to:
Gameplay & Graphics
I felt the gameplay swung wildly from entertaining to frustrating. I'm not normally a game player, so I appreciated the more cinematic approach to JP: The Game which allowed someone who's not into the medium to make their way through in a reasonable amount of time - Telltale's promise that this would be a "cinematic video game" - or, alternatively, an "interactive movie", really payed off. However, this ended up being a double-edged sword, as the continual button-mashing and prompt system really wore on my patience by the end (well, the middle), of the game. It really was too repetitive...also, not sure if it was computer or the game, but there were times when I would press the correct button at the right time, and the game wouldn't respond, leading to my dying repeatedly. For the most part, the problem solving wasn't too troublesome, save for getting the roller coaster cars on the track in the proper order which was neither fun or interesting, and took way too much time on my part - in fact, a few "challenges" left me feeling, not victorious at the end, but just relieved that they were finally over. I also didn't appreciate the "auto-save" system, as opposed to letting the player decide when to save the game - does Telltale's engine not allow for this basic feature which is part of almost every other game that I've ever played? Finally, the graphics and music were subpar and nothing to write home about (I was annoyed that John William's themes didn't get more playtime, and there were no recognizable new themes composed for the game either...although, I did love the music heard when the Raptors were attacking the tower, and later when the Troodon were chasing you through the tunnels - very similar to "The Raptors Appear" from Williams' TLW score). However, I understand that Telltale is an independent, low-budget company without the resources of major video game developers, and the characters and story were strong enough that I can forgive the less-than-stellar production values...still, for a franchise where cutting-edge visuals were a major hallmark, it would have been nice if the game had been a bit flashier. If the developers of "Dragon Age" or "Uncharted" had given us this game, however, we probably wouldn't have gotten the strong story and cast-driven element...so ultimately, we came out on top.
Conclusion
I've been a huge JP fan since the first film came out in 1993, and have never moved away from the franchise for a second through the subsequent years; needless to say, I've been looking forward to, and closely monitoring the progress of, the game since it was first announced in June of 2010. It was an interminable wait, but now that "Jurassic Park: The Game" is finally here, I can safely say it was worth the wait. It's not perfect, in certain ways a mixed bag...but Telltale truly respected the source material, and gave us a worthwhile continuation of the franchise. Overall, "Jurassic Park: The Game" is faithful to Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton's visions, much more so than the third JP film, or the recent comic books from IDW...and for that, I'm thankful. The wait has been a hell of a ride...and so is the game.
THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUT THE NEW TELLTALE GAME JURASSIC PARK: THE GAME
For years I’ve been waiting. Waiting for something to come along and give me that thrill; give me that excitement; give me that wonder that I had as a little kid watching the dinosaurs roam around a theme park over the TV screen. Years. The last Jurassic Park film was released in 2011, a decade ago. Even in Jurassic Park 3 through, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park for that matter the magic was sporadic and covered by lack of story.
Since Jurassic Park 3 there have been games, books, and comics as of late that have tried to relive the magic that was so special to the first Jurassic Park and most had failed (especially in the comics division.)
Then comes Telltale, announcing that they are to make a new Jurassic Park game. The first one since Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (not counting the DVD game that came out in 2005.) And not only would this game be Jurassic Park… it would be a spinoff of the first film, the film that most (if not everyone) considers the best film in the franchise. I remember being shocked and bewildered when this was announced. Telltale was a fairly unheard of gaming company for me. All I knew them from was ads for some cartoony games I had seen before. That’s it. So when it was announced that THEY had the rights to Jurassic Park I wasn’t quite sure what to think.
YEAH. You guys remember that? Oh my God I remember nearly crying (okay, slight exaggeration.) when I heard the Dino Crisis roar with the JP Tyrannosaur. I couldn’t figure out why they used the JP rex sounds for the E3 teaser for JP and then not have used it for the real game, cause come to find out early demos of it had the Dino Crisis roar as well. Oh. Shit. It seemed like all Telltale was doing was slapping the JP logo on a plastic lunchbox and selling like so many companies had been doing to the Jurassic Park title.
Well Telltale got the message and put a second, fixed trailer right away and we were all happy. Or most of us seemed to be. Lots of gripes about the graphics seemed to end in TT pushing back the release of JP: TG for us. All the while they promised us a TRUE Jurassic Park experience. They promised us that it would be on par with the films (mainly the first) and that it would be canon, and amazing.
But was it? I finished it, just ten minutes ago (well, ten min up to this point of writing this review.) And I honestly sat and started at the computer for five of those minutes after the game was done.
They did it. Those crazy sons of bitches did it.
I’ll be honest and say it isn’t without flaw, but for me there is no denying that this may go down as the definitive Jurassic Park game (well, at least thus far.)
I’m not sure exactly what I should say. Most of my reviews start off with a summary but there is honestly so much to this game that it’s hard to describe things in detail without getting turned around. The basic story is Nima, a mercenary hired by Dodgson (who in theory works for BioSyn, although it’s never stated in the films) is sent to the island to retrieve the Barbasol can that has the dinosaur embryos in that Dennis Nedry stole before his demised in Jurassic Park. After getting attacked by a species of dinosaurs (or two) she’s stuck on the island, along with Gerry Harding (the vet for Jurassic Park,) his daughter Jess, and a scientist. A rescue team arrives and is quickly stuck on the island as well due to some dinosaur havoc and all the humans quickly meet up and have to survive on the island and look for a way to get off of Isla Nublar before… something bad happens that only the two remaining InGen military mercs know about.
And that really doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. The story in this game is actually incredibly well-crafted and is the thing that makes Jurassic Park: The Game shine. Telltale took their time, and did their research on not only the first film, but the whole franchise in order to make sure that every detail was nearly spot-on. In doing so they also discovered some personal leeway room that allows for them to add some of their own twists and turns into the story. Like the inclusion of Troodon, which we will talk more about later, and some minor elements from the book.
As stated before the story is one of the key elements of JP: The Game and that includes characters. I will admit that when starting the game I had an “uh-oh” feeling. Nima and Miles were simply annoying to begin with, and Gerry and Jess just felt bland. All of the characters that we knew we were supposed to identify with from the get go felt stock in the first fifteen minutes of game play, which gave me worry. We’ve had enough stock characters between The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3 to last us a lifetime (and that’s not even getting into the comic book canon characters!) But after playing out a few different scenarios, we find out that that is not the case. We actually do gain somewhat of a concern for these characters by the end of episode one. Episode two introduces new faces with the InGen mercs, and here it goes again. Stock feeling characters. But just as in episode one we get a real feel for them eventually, and the cast as a whole gets flushed out really well by the end of the game. Some of the scenarios are cliché as are the way the characters handle them, but quite frankly I didn’t mind all that much.
I would like to say that all of the bad reviews I’ve read about Jurassic Park: The Game, in my opinion, can be chalked up to one detail: the reviewers were not true JP fans. The reviewers just aren’t seeing what the fans are seeing. Fans that have read the novels, and studied the films will be happy- without a doubt. There are too many references to not only the films, but the novels as well (which is what most fans have been crying out for from the get go: more novel nods.) Some of the characters in the novels that were a major part were nearly left out of the film, including Gerry Harding (the main focus I feel of Jurassic Park: The Game. It seems as though Gerry is another Ian Malcolm sort of character in the department of families, although he is just a workaholic we find out. Jess Harding, his daughter is sent to the island in hopes by her mother to wane away her kleptomaniac habits. The two get in a few spats over Gerry’s fathering abilities in the game (and there is even a mention of Sarah Harding being his daughter at one point (another thing JP fans have been wondering a long time, and another nod to the novels.))
The other characters get some good face time as well, mainly depending on what lines you choose to say. The gameplay for JP: The Game is something that works to the stories advantage or disadvantage depending on the gamer. If you go and don’t care about looking around or seeing other options or having conversations then you’re gonna get the minimal story. But this game actually allows you to interact with the characters in order to find out more about them and the events taking place around them.
I will admit that the game play gets jumbled from time to time. You really need to focus on what you’re doing, and at times there seems to be no real direction or instruction about how you’re supposed to go about something. I know this is a game with puzzles in it, but… jeeze. Even Batman: Arkham Asylum’s Riddler challenges had better hints half the time (yes, I’m using AA because I haven’t been lucky enough to have played Arkham City yet.) But when the controls get jumbled and you die: no biggie. Sometimes it’s almost as fun to watch the characters die as it is to watch them live. The great thing is you don’t have to go all the way to the beginning. You start off pretty much with the challenge you died with and just try it again. Eventually if you keep messing up, the third time it gets easier so that you can progress.
Now… for the dinosaurs. What is Jurassic Park without dinosaurs? Well Telltale did the research on these beasts, just as they did everything else. And not just with the films, but actual scientific research as well. I think that was almost even more enjoyable, to see and hear them spouting off real scientific knowledge of dinosaurs all the time that most people just wouldn’t understand. As a paleo student I couldn’t help but be giddy. And then you also add the fact that they are all correct to the films and it’s awesome. I’d probably say my biggest complaint was the fact that they used the “It can’t see you if you don’t move!” thing so often with the rex. Almost EVERY single time the rex appeared they were like “freeze.” It got to be a repetitive thing by the end. The other thing I may have wished for them to change was the use of Velociraptors. Now, I will give them this… I am glad they didn’t make the raptors another common enemy in the game that was around every turn like most dinosaur video games do, or even Jurassic Park 3. The problem was the fact that there was no buildup of the Velociraptors. The main concern of the game seemed to be the Troodons. They were the “new raptors” for Jurassic Park: The Game. Telltale built up the Troodons REALLY nice. They gave them that kind of prelude of creepy mystery and suspense that Jurassic Park and even The Lost World gave to the Velociraptors. The problem is when it actually came to the raptors, the poor dromeosaurs got shafted. There was no real suspense added to them other than the attack scenarios (which were good, I’ll give them that.) But when the raptors finally appeared the viewer/player was just supposed to be fearful automatically. I would have liked to seen some equal buildup of the raptors, and even some talk about them. The Velociraptors throughout the whole series have been built up to be one of the apex predators of the Jurassic Park islands. In Jurassic Park: The Game they were just kind of there for one part and never seen or heard from again. They weren’t treated as badly as the rex in Jurassic Park 3, but pretty close to it I feel. Gerry should have known that there were only three in the main pen, and he obviously saw some of them chewed up in the Visitor Center in episode one. If I was him I’d be like… “um, when in the Hell did these other four Velociraptors come from?” That and the rex vision thing, I think, were my two main complaints of the game. Other minor things like why are their the Pteranodon longiceps “hippocratesi” species on Nublar, and why weren’t Metriacanthosaur or Baryonyx mentioned or in the game are things that bother me… but only as a fan. They are not really problems with the game itself. I’ve been itching to see the other two large carnivores of Nublar for ages now.
The Troodons and mosasaur were amazing though. Suspenseful and creepy levels for the both of them. The Troodons, as many have stated, really remind me of the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. Whether that’s intentional or not I don’t really care, because it worked amazingly. I have to say that the nest room for the Troodons actually made my skin crawl a little, which is pretty hard to do so kudos to Telltale. It was an ingenious and daring thing to do… and I feel it worked well, at least for me it did. The Troodons added a horror element back to Jurassic Park that hadn’t been around since the first film.
The soundtrack was amazing, but at times it was a little overpowering. I should tweek the levels a tad the next time I play it because out it. To hear all the old motifs (specifically the carnivore and danger motifs) and even some of the more subtle themes return was a real treat and it often put as big as smile on my face as hearing the JP rex roar did. And even the new music wasn’t bad either. It had a lot of the softer moment that reminded me of the “Petticoat lane” part from the first film. Even as I’m writing this I’m listening to the soundtrack (specifically the track Hopeless, which is one of my favorites) and I’m feeling moved by it, something Don Davis’ score for Jurassic Park 3 didn’t do much for me. And the suspense moments of the game were usually amplified my music that was just as suspenseful. Something that I noticed as well was the inclusion of some Lost World score, or at least something very much like it with some of the raptor scenes. Much of the raptor scenes in the parasaur paddock were scored like the raptor scenes from The Lost World. It worked nicely though. Other times I also thought I heard some music resembling The Lost World PS game as well as some of the first person shooter arcade games, but that could have just been me.
Errors with canon? I honestly can’t think of any outside Gerry’s apparent age moustache. But the beauty of it is Gerry was one of those tossed aside characters in the film, so this has the potential to be canon. Maybe the inclusion of raptors, which can be explained I’m sure by us fans (probably dealing with escaped raptors who laid eggs) although I do wish Telltale took the extra five min to explain it themselves.
I really don’t know what else to say about Jurassic Park: The Game. Well… I do, but I could be here for hours. It does have its flaws with some of the graphics and gameplay, but for story… the only one that comes close to touching this is the unfortunately uncanon Trespasser for PC. Jurassic Park: The Game excels in storytelling, and character development making it a must own, I feel, for any Jurassic Park fan. If a fourth Jurassic Park film was released with this much care for the story, I honestly would be a happy boy. Jurassic Park: The Game has beaten Jurassic Park 3 for me and maybe even The Lost World after one more play through. It’s impossible for it to beat the original Jurassic Park, but it comes in at the moment tied with TLW. It’s nostalgic, fun, and thrilling all at the same time. Minor errors aside this is the definitive Jurassic Park game; the best out of the bunch. Fans will be pleased with the inside references to not only the films but the novels, which there are plenty (including the fate of Isla Nublar.) The only question now is… has something survived?
After first play through I give Jurassic Park: The Game 7.5-8 out of 10
SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!
(also, the thread is marked with spoilers, why are you reading this?)
STORY/CHARACTER: Story and characters are a mixed bag quality-wise. For one, I really grew to care for most of the characters by the end of the game. On the other hand, Yoder's transition felt forced. He goes from joking but caring hired gun to screw everybody far too quickly and it feels unnatural, especially considering his recent display of empathy for his quasi-dead merc friend. Sorkin's betrayal felt more natural as she had been dedicated to the dinosaurs thoroughly since we first met her... and that first meeting brings up another problem. The situation where they stay because the mad scientist won't leave seems absurd. They've escaped near death a few times already, and now they're going to stick around? Just seemed implausible to me. Given, I won't count this as a huge negative as games all take some liberties, but the sudden shift of Billy and the group's decision to stay behind for the doctor (oh, and people outrunning Trexes?) definitely bring me out of the story. (7.5/10)
VISUALS: Graphically the game is also a mixed bag. The dinosaurs look beautiful for the most part, although the Troodon is just plain ugly work if you ask me. But then their animations spoil them. I will give credit where it's due: the dino animations are better than the human animations. But that's not saying much. The animations on human characters in this game are just bad. I'm sorry. I know that somebody put manpower hours and their artistry into creating them. But they're bad. They do nothing but bring me out of the game and remind me that I'm not in Jurassic Park. And they bring the rest of the visuals way down. Ground textures also seem to be subpar compared to the rest of the game's visuals. In addition, it seems odd that my set-up can't run at highest without massive performance hits. The menus, however, are gorgeous. (5.5/10)
AUDIO: Some great effects taken from the movies. And some great effects that you guys created. Disappointed that there wasn't a lot more of that classic JP score. Blending in some of the beats from said score was a good idea, but the quality of what you're blending with is far below the original JP score so it just leaves me wanting. In addition, many lines varied heavily in volume, with some words suddenly incredibly loud and then the next word back to normal levels. The audio functions but whatever is causing those level variations and the music that doesn't quite evoke the movie's score bring it down a notch. (7/10)
GAMEPLAY: First off, contrary to professional reviews that I've seen, I enjoyed switching character perspectives and using those characters to work together toward our common goal. That seemed perfectly enjoyable and the explorable scenes were probably my favorite parts of the game. But the QTE. Ugh, the QTE. See, I have no inherent problem with good QTE. This is not good QTE, it's shoddy and poorly-implemented QTE. Far too many times I missed a key prompt that realistically required premonition and insta-died because of that miss. And watching your characters die repeatedly does not add anything to the game. If anything, consistent death detracts from its impact and frustrates me as a player. I stopped caring that these characters were dying because I knew that there was no way I was ever going to push that button fast enough and I know that it's just going to reload until it reduces the prompt to a 1-button push. Those multi-button pushes are poorly implemented. They should move around the screen so that each step is clearly marked, but as it was I would frequently think that I had already pressed the down that it was prompting me to when it was an instance where I needed to press down again. And timing was just annoying. Even more than I enjoyed that this was a semi-decent JP game, the QTE brought me out of the game and brought the experience far down for me. Again, explorable scenes were great. Bad QTE ruined the rest. (4/10)
CONCLUSION: To a decent degree, this did feel like a legitimate Jurassic Park game. But technical issues and bad QTE keep it from being THE Jurassic Park game that I was hoping for. I'll admit to having high expectations, especially after the game was delayed the day before (or was it the day of) its initial release date. I have no problem with having those high expectations, and I know that you guys were expecting them because you were working with a beloved franchise. The game doesn't measure up, and I'm honestly not sure what y'all did with all of that extra time. I enjoyed it because it was Jurassic Park, but I enjoyed it DESPITE the game rather than BECAUSE of the game. The final score is simply an average of those above: (6/10)
PLEASE, guys. If you do it again, do it better. Make it flawless. Give it the most compelling story and characters you've ever told. Make every piece of its visuals beautiful. Create amazing animations. Use more of the movie's music and TEST the stuffing out of all of the game to make sure it doesn't have these technical problems like fluctuating line levels and poor performance for some people. We're waiting for a game that is a masterpiece on its own but then IS ALSO a Jurassic Park game, making it that much more awesome. This game I can only play because it's a Jurassic Park game.
havent played it yet, just bought it for free (hooray, preorderes).
but i think i will buy it for my brother... or a friend..... , too. to compensate the "get it for free!!!" a little bit...
edit
okay, already bought it the second time, just have to find someone to gift it to...
my brother wont like it. he didnt like bttf either, even if he's a big fan of the movies... you dont have to understand the youth.... they are just..... different... i guess
Story: Loving the game, but EP 3 is just a tad boring. All I did was button mash and sneaked for the whole game, not giving my fingers a break. We get it Telltale, the game has buttons that need to be mashed. Please let my fingers rest. And the game feels more like an interactive movie then a game, that's not good. No exploration was done in that episode, it was just look here, button smash, look there, button smash, oh shit a dinosaur, button mashing.
Characters: We got to see Jesse's bad side, we understand that she's a typical modern teenager who somehow got back to the 80's. I don't know.
Sadly we lost Oscar, that character had to be the best one next to Jesse and Sorkin.
Technical: No bugs were expected in this episode, yet I somehow encountered one when trying to get the embryo's back, when you had to sneak, I got the green bar all the way to the button, but it froze, then said I messed up. And I was at gold, then went to bronze. How?
Overall, EP 3 gets a 7/10.
Amazing story, follows the movie RIGHT when the original cast leaves. The story is just Byosin VS InGEN. I am a hardcore JP fan, I study the film like if it was homework, and I'm impressed with the story. Character Development was very nice here, we get to see the connection with Jesse and Dr. Harding. We also see the Jesse see's Nima as her mother. Billy and Oscar were... uh how do I say this... bland. Billy was a backstabber, and Oscar was a life risker. I am sad that Nima had to die, she was a cool character, I shed a tear when she was eaten. I wish you could've prevented this.
GAMEPLAY: It's bad, I never got it. It made the game a trainwreck, just Telltale screaming, BUTTONS, WE GOT BUTTONS HERE! See? Nobody cares. Should've sticked with the typical gameplay BTTF uses. Allowing us to roam around.
Characters: Already did that
Ending: I really didn't like the choice to kill Nima, she should've lived. Billy, however, deserved to die. I also do miss Sorkin. She reminds me of my aunt.
Dinosaurs: Ah yes, dinosaurs. All of them were amazing to see again, the Troodon does look ugly, especially for it's hype.
OVERALL: Great game, great story, bad gameplay.
My Official Score!
7/10
The game wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but the story was amazing and brought us back to Jurassic Park.
I won't be buying the game. I had already planned on it, as I'm getting a $200 gift card for my bday next week, but I was just so incredibly turned off by the actions of Telltale employees this week on multiple fronts.
Re: the jeep thing, I've read your side of the story and it simply should never have been your course to lawyer up and go through insurance. You should have just taken care of it. You invited the dude to go there and he didn't ask to be paid for the use of the jeep, just have travel expenses covered; you don't dispute this. The couple thousand you lost for a paint job would have been more than worth it in terms of PR. You could have been good guys. Also, who in their right mind transports a custom car on a flatbed trailer anyway?
The metacritic thing is worse, and your "who cares, they used their gamertags" response is the last straw. I seriously hope there are career-altering consequences for the four employees in question. You need to squash this out hard, from the top down. It's not a simple oopsie. It destroys the most valuable resource a developer has: trust from your customers. Companies spend decades trying to build and maintain that trust through quality products, good customer service, and ethical dealings. Succeeding on all THREE of these fronts could have made your lives so much easier; just look at Minecraft. Without them, well, seven-figure ad campaigns can fall flat on their face if they are being played to a distrustful audience.
Anyway, from the lack of respect for customers demonstrated in your collective actions this week, I don't really expect that you care about my opinion in the slightest. But just so you know, I'm one voice who won't be buying from you anytime soon. I, like millions of others, really looked forward to seeing what the "small, underdog developer" had lovingly crafted. I feel shocked at how you've absolutely squandered so much freely-offered goodwill from your potential customers. Do you realize how many small companies would have KILLED to have been in your position? And then you acted like sleazy little lobbyist-like, corporate weasels. Such a waste.
P.S. Protip: you don't blow off review tampering. I'd address it much more seriously ASAP.
Wait she doesn't die? Oh god, I killed her. I am a sick sick monster.
Thing is, she went for the canister instead of Jesse. I guess you have to kill Billy, get the can, then it's prevented.
No no. You have 2 options. You click one of the keys (Or buttons) to chose Jess or the can. I choose Jess everytime because Nima is badass and doesn't deserve to die. So, when you get two options to pick over can and jess, click the button or whatever next to jess. ^-^ The can (I think) is going to be destroyed either way. I have only tried the way to save jess, so I wouldn't know.
Just finished the game, and I loved it. My brother watched it and loved it too. The ending was great, the characters were nice, the story was terrific.
I didn't get the ending at first, but my brother explained to me (surprisingly) that /spoiler/ the money was Nedrey's that he was suppose to retrieve when he got to the boat, which I don't believe was explained in the game.
Also, I don't remember if it was ever explained what happen to Laura's assistant.
All in all, I really enjoyed the game. It got real intense at some parts, especially the final frontal with Trex. I really want a sequel game.
I am a hardcore Jurassic Park fan, as well as a hardcore PC gamer.
In my opinion the story was pretty good, I love how they filled in some gaps left by the movie. And OMG its Jurassic Park.
However as a gamer the game was pretty boring. I wish there was more to do than just click microscopes (you don't even need to click them all, many of them are just pointless) and do quick time events. I would have been much happier with more exploration and god forbid move the character around by myself!
Hey guys, long time lurker her. Finished the game literally five minutes ago, and I wanted to write a review, so here goes:
Tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible, but some might have slipped through, sorry.
Also, I'm going to start with each episode individually, and then at the end go over each element in more detail.
EPISODE 1:
Thought this episode was great, loved the prologue, and all the dino scenes. Great music (some taken straight from the film) and atmosphere too, really sets an awesome tone for the rest of the game. I thought the scenes with Jess and Gerry were particularly well done, and superbly voice acted. Nice mix of action and exploration overall. Also, there are a couple cool easter eggs to die hard Jurassic Park fans. 9/10.
EPISODE 2:
My least favorite episode, thought the beginning was a little to slow/talk, however it does pick up rather nicely during the end. The interactions between Nima, Gerry, and Jess are also very good here. The music on the other hand is not up to par. It doesn't feel Jurassic Parky and one song repeats waaaay to much. The gameplay is also almost exclusively exploration (with one sweet exception), which can be kind of boring. 6.5/10.
EPISODE 3:
This episode more than makes up for episode 2. Awesome beginning, intense middle, and one hell of an ending. All the characters and their interactions are given a lot of development time, and they all remain excellently voice acted. Good music (more from the films). Like the first episode, good mix of action and exploration, and some seriously awesome sequences. 8.5/10.
EPISODE 4:
The final episode, well done, with a solid beginning, good middle, and an ending that I think raps up the game quite nicely (though an after credits seen would have been very nice *hint hint telltale*). Some truly great moments for each of the characters, and some very nice twists, although some of Dr. Sorkins scenes could have lasted longer. Excellent music (including the missing main theme at precisely the right moment). Again, very nice mix of action and exploration, and a particularly cool scene involving a certain over-sized reptile. (8/10)
Now for the individual elements:
STORY:
This was my favorite part of the game. A very well written and interesting plot combine with superb pacing and some awesome twists to deliver an exceptional experience. 10/10.
GAMEPLAY:
Many people are complaining that the gameplay is too simple and simply one long QTE. This maybe true, but if you play this like a game your doing it wrong. Instead treat it as an interactive movie, and you'll have a much better time. The exploration is nice, and lets you get a glimpse into the world of Jurassic Park, the puzzles, while simple, are fun, the action QTE's can get a little annoying (especially the ones where you have to pound a button), but are not game-breaking, and the dialog system is a very nice touch. 8/10.
GRAPHICS:
Another topic of criticism among gamers. While not great, the graphics are okay, and serve the purpose. The art direction however, is great, and the animations are smooth and realistic. 8/10.
SOUND:
Very, very well done. New music complements original tunes that, while used sparingly, are just as good as in 1993. Sound effects are good too. 9/10.
CHARACTERS:
Yet another fantastic element of Jurassic Park: The Game. Characters are well developed, unique, and each have their own problems to deal with. Interaction between them is superb and the voice acting is above top notch. 10/10.
DINOSAURS:
Almost all the dinosaurs from the first film are present and faithful to their movie version. Classics like T-Rex, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Parasaurolophous, and Dilophosaurus all look and sound perfect. They are alos supplemented by new comers such as Herrarasaurus, Troodon, and Mosasaurus which are nicely done. My only small gripes are that Brachiosaurus, Gallimimus, and Stegosaurus are absent. Also the T-Rex is used a little to much. 8/10.
JURASSIC PARK FEEL:
The most important part of the game; it has to feel like Jurassic Park. And Telltale pulls it off very skillfully. Locations, dinos, and sounds are very faithful to the films and the game has the same awe inspiring quality as the first movie. 9/10.
OVERALL:
Jurassic Park: The Game is a very solid game. An excellent story, neat art direction, fun characters, great sound, and of course plenty of dinos all work together to bring Jurassic Park to life. Besides from a few minor gameplay and graphics gripes, Telltale has managed to do what I was at first very skeptical about. Create a very, very good game based on one of my most beloved franchises. I highly recommend this to any JP fan or just someone who just likes a good story with some carnivorous lizards thrown in for good measure. So, to anyone embarking on this adventure 65 million years in the making, I leave you with this: hang onto your butts. 8.5/10.
It's a bit harsh but I believe it's fair. There are no spoilers in my review although some of the images might be. The TL;DR version: Story is good, characters are great, poor implementation of QTEs, disappointing quality overall.
No no. You have 2 options. You click one of the keys (Or buttons) to chose Jess or the can. I choose Jess everytime because Nima is badass and doesn't deserve to die. So, when you get two options to pick over can and jess, click the button or whatever next to jess. ^-^ The can (I think) is going to be destroyed either way. I have only tried the way to save jess, so I wouldn't know.
OH NO WONDER, I was busy button mashing at the time. Silly me.
Welp, got Nima saved.
Also I had to do a count of how many times my game froze for each episode:
I just finished the 4th episode now, so I guess I'll give my opinion.
I admit that after the huge disappointment that was BTTF I was skeptical but I knew it was going to be a different kind of game so I knew not to expect an overly challenging game.
I don't normally rate but I'll put down some rough numbers down based on what I thought.
Gameplay
I'm a fan of QTEs and I really liked how Heavy Rain was done and this type of gameplay fits in well in a game where storytelling is important.
It's great that TTG is willing to do games with different sorts of gameplay and I really hope they continue to do so.
The way you change between different characters to solve puzzles is very innovative and the puzzle in Episode 4 where you needed to identify a certain 4-way intersection was a great example of a good puzzle.
BUT they could have done so much more with this type of gameplay. There should be more layers to the puzzles and more exploration. Instead of a 4-piece jigsaw puzzle they should have designed a 16-piece jigsaw puzzle and combined more character interaction with environment interaction.
7/10 - Good execution but also a lot of unused potential.
Characters
I loved every one of the characters, except for the scientist, Laura.
Laura was annoying, seriously, and her death was really satisfying, hehe.
The character development and interaction was really well done though, absolutely. Billy was the best character without question, and Nima, Jess, Gerry, Oscar; all were really well constructed personality-wise.
10/10 - Personality, strengths, flaws and balance were all well-thought out.
Story
The story is fantastic, and the one thing that makes me react positively to it. Without a compelling story, this game would be nothing.
It was told very well, it had suspense and excitement and really kept you in your chair playing.
The only negative thing is that it is too linear. There needs to be more options and more ways a story can develop. If you're gonna have an alternate ending you can't just have one piece of dialogue in the last episode or whatever determine the ending. There needs to be gradual build-ups to various alternate endings. Linear stories have no replayability. Go and play Shadow of Memories and note the difference.
8/10 - Full marks for story, thumbs down for linearity.
Graphics
Now the graphics are a different story. The environment, buildings and stationary objects are all passable, but the people need alot of work.
The same problem was in BTTF, and it hasn't improved much.
The worst thing in my book is facial expressions. It's utter crap and the showing of emotions like fear and anger are totally not believable. It's extremely rough around the edges and TTG really need to hire a decent team to do these animations.
Lip-sync is bad as well and need a whole lot of work.
Overall animations like walking, running and fighting are a lot better than in BTTF but still clunky and a little rough around the edges and it could be done better without too much effort.
2/10 - Visual interaction is the only thing preventing flawless character interaction.
Quick-time events
Mostly well-designed, though I might suggest giving slightly more time for certain sequences. Sometimes i didn't have enough time because the icon disappeared almost instantly. A quarter of a second more time would have done it.
Also failure should give more options. One QTE in particular that irked me was at the end of the game, where Nima fought Billy. I intentionally failed all the button presses because I wanted to see Billy stab Nima, but he didn't. It had the same result no matter what, and it was disappointing.
Billy's fate was sad because I really liked his character but I'm also glad that the Telltale team did what they did because having your playable characters getting killed is something they haven't done before. It adds emotion and depth to the game and please don't stop doing that.
And the award system? Pointless and redundant. I don't care about getting a gold award, I'd rather see what happens if I fail! Getting a gold medal doesn't gain me anything anyway, and all the various deaths that I saw were really well done.
7/10 - Awesome suspenseful events, but a little too unpolished and linear.
Overall score: 6/10
Fair's fair, story, characters and ambiance are the strong points, but the graphical animations on characters are just too important to make the interactions believable. Not much effort was put in that area of the game, and it shows.
I just finished the 4th episode now, so I guess I'll give my opinion.
I admit that after the huge disappointment that was BTTF I was skeptical but I knew it was going to be a different kind of game so I knew not to expect an overly challenging game.
I don't normally rate but I'll put down some rough numbers down based on what I thought.
Gameplay
I'm a fan of QTEs and I really liked how Heavy Rain was done and this type of gameplay fits in well in a game where storytelling is important.
It's great that TTG is willing to do games with different sorts of gameplay and I really hope they continue to do so.
The way you change between different characters to solve puzzles is very innovative and the puzzle in Episode 4 where you needed to identify a certain 4-way intersection was a great example of a good puzzle.
BUT they could have done so much more with this type of gameplay. There should be more layers to the puzzles and more exploration. Instead of a 4-piece jigsaw puzzle they should have designed a 16-piece jigsaw puzzle and combined more character interaction with environment interaction.
7/10 - Good execution but also a lot of unused potential.
Characters
I loved every one of the characters, except for the scientist, Laura.
Laura was annoying, seriously, and her death was really satisfying, hehe.
The character development and interaction was really well done though, absolutely. Billy was the best character without question, and Nima, Jess, Gerry, Oscar; all were really well constructed personality-wise.
10/10 - Personality, strengths, flaws and balance were all well-thought out.
Story
The story is fantastic, and the one thing that makes me react positively to it. Without a compelling story, this game would be nothing.
It was told very well, it had suspense and excitement and really kept you in your chair playing.
The only negative thing is that it is too linear. There needs to be more options and more ways a story can develop. If you're gonna have an alternate ending you can't just have one piece of dialogue in the last episode or whatever determine the ending. There needs to be gradual build-ups to various alternate endings. Linear stories have no replayability. Go and play Shadow of Memories and note the difference.
8/10 - Full marks for story, thumbs down for linearity.
Graphics
Now the graphics are a different story. The environment, buildings and stationary objects are all passable, but the people need alot of work.
The same problem was in BTTF, and it hasn't improved much.
The worst thing in my book is facial expressions. It's utter crap and the showing of emotions like fear and anger are totally not believable. It's extremely rough around the edges and TTG really need to hire a decent team to do these animations.
Lip-sync is bad as well and need a whole lot of work.
Overall animations like walking, running and fighting are a lot better than in BTTF but still clunky and a little rough around the edges and it could be done better without too much effort.
2/10 - Visual interaction is the only thing preventing flawless character interaction.
Quick-time events
Mostly well-designed, though I might suggest giving slightly more time for certain sequences. Sometimes i didn't have enough time because the icon disappeared almost instantly. A quarter of a second more time would have done it.
Also failure should give more options. One QTE in particular that irked me was at the end of the game, where Nima fought Billy. I intentionally failed all the button presses because I wanted to see Billy stab Nima, but he didn't. It had the same result no matter what, and it was disappointing.
Billy's fate was sad because I really liked his character but I'm also glad that the Telltale team did what they did because having your playable characters getting killed is something they haven't done before. It adds emotion and depth to the game and please don't stop doing that.
And the award system? Pointless and redundant. I don't care about getting a gold award, I'd rather see what happens if I fail! Getting a gold medal doesn't gain me anything anyway, and all the various deaths that I saw were really well done.
7/10 - Awesome suspenseful events, but a little too unpolished and linear.
Overall score: 6/10
Fair's fair, story, characters and ambiance are the strong points, but the graphical animations on characters are just too important to make the interactions believable. Not much effort was put in that area of the game, and it shows.
What are you going on about? The graphics were amazing for me, the animations were off though. Did you mess with your settings>
I have to say its a different game... I have a brother who doesn't play games but likes Jp so im playing ep3 he enters the room to get something. And the story hooked him. He sat and watched until I finished. He loved it. My mom did the same thing the next day lol. As far as my opinions as a die hard fan. I loved it. Kept true to the movies ( and books oddly enough). The characters really stood out. And the dinos had different personalities. As a fossil hunter surrounded by tons of Paleozoic rock I really liked the marine facility puzzle. The story was great and deserved a movie in its own right. The game play was engaging without killing the pace or story. And as an open water diver I felt a real connection with episode 4. I think how the mosasaur came to be should have been mentioned. But I liked how it was done and I am satisfied as a fan and Dino nerd. Graphics looked beast on my machine so no complaints there. I would buy season 2 in a heart beat Thanks for an epic game ( I felt 5 again lol) That's my thought on it. But seriously season 2 please
I enjoyed the game and loved the story but after my second playthrough here are my impressions.
THE GOOD:
First of all interesting story (some plotholes) and ties in well with the events in the movie.
The way locations were handled and all the references to the movie was really well done.
The dinosaurs sounded just like in the movie and the raptor scream still sends chills down my spine.
And the Troodon dinosuar was a nice addition to the park.
THE BAD:
Poor gameplay senseless button mashing and no matter what you do it always leads to the same conclusion.
The navigation system/menu was a terrible idea it would have been more interesting actually controlling the characters.
Puzzles that a even a 3 year old could have figured out.
The fact that in some sequences you can just watch the sequences without tapping and it completes itself automaticly.
My biggest question to the developers after playing this game is this, what the hell were you doing during from april to november anyway, what was the reason for the delay.
It's a bit harsh but I believe it's fair. There are no spoilers in my review although some of the images might be. The TL;DR version: Story is good, characters are great, poor implementation of QTEs, disappointing quality overall.
I completely agree with this review; the bits of lag were so frustrating. I lowered the settings and still had some issues, though not to the lowest settings. I feel I shouldn't have to lower my settings to play a game when my computer is pretty decent and most games I own will run just fine on max settings. Still, story is what had always set early LucasArts apart. Telltale games does pretty well at carrying that torch (as it should given the history of the company) and it's story that will keep me playing it, if nothing else.
One thing I would like to emphasize is that I HATED having to individually scroll through each graphic setting to get to mine. I have no idea who thought (or rather didn't) that this was a good idea, but even though I only had to do it once, it was the first impression made on me by the game. A lack of certain common features also irked me, namely quicksave. Lacking it wouldn't be so bad if the game didn't lag for a millisecond during the dilophosaurus attack, causing me to catch a face-full of venomous puke because I missed hitting a button.
Overall, the game (when it works properly) is fun enough and definitely interesting enough to play through, but it's gonna take a perfectionist a while with frequent scene retries due to lagging graphics. (At least if you have an ATI card, apparently)
Just thought I'd say well done Telltale on a really great Jurassic Park game.
Initially I was a bit annoyed by some of the bugs, but they seemed to be less evident after Episode 1.
The underwater complex was so brilliantly realised, and the Mosasaur sequence from episode 4 was really intense.
I also thought the T-Rex at the docks bit was just "so Jurassic Park". Having the Rex's head in the cage and stuff, being just out of its reach, really captures something from the JP movies.
Thanks for a fun game guys. I'm going to play again (with a controller as I think I'd prefer that over the keyboard prompts) when my deluxe edition arrives...which will hopefully be...*ahem* patched?
I have finally finished the game and like most have said previously it's an impressive experience for all those who grown-up with Jurassic Park. The story was top-notch with a really well thought expansion to the movie universe. I was a bit disappointed by the screentime of Troodon cause I absolutely loved the creepy feeling they give to the atmosphere of the game. The roll-coaster and marine facility parts give something truly unique to the game, specially the last one. Definitely my favorite part of the game alongside the underground tunnels. And that finale was really something.
I'm definitely going to replay the game, this time with a controller and in a cinematic atmosphere.
Congratulations, Telltale!
Now a major german website called gamestar has reviewed it. They gave a relatively good 72/100. His review is much more forgiving and while pointing out the obvious flaws, finally someone who appreciated the story, characters and atmosphere and understood that this game doesnt want to offer a challenge. I think IGNs or Gameinformers reviews may be a bit too negative.
In Heavy Rain, you do can walk around, you CAN make choices during the action sequences, the dialogs, and the simple way to act around with items.
Death in Heavy Rain are not possible in the beginning of the game, but half way through. That allows for the story to keep going WITH a main character dying. Which is pretty incredible because it allows the death to actually matter, and to have an impact and consequence.
Worst, in JP, you can play as different characters but... not when you want to. Which means that you're forced, to play the character you hate over the one you like, resulting in the one you like actually dying ... That's frustrating to say the least.
I understand there needs to be a final "way" to handle the characters, but that felt forced and in the end there truly felt like there was no control whatsoever, weither it is on the story, dialogs, or action.
As for the story, while I agree there was pretty good moments...
In the end, all I can recall is are the clichés. I mean, Yoder's fate was probably the worst ever. I mean I couldn't believe how bad that was, especially after the smart way they handled him a little before that...
I loved Episode 2. I don't know why.
But the rest really felt like it tried to copy Heavy Rain, without having all the subtleties that actually made it a decent GAMING experience. Which was CONTRLOL and CHOICES.
Also, it doesn't quite follow graphically. But I don't mind. Even if they could make an effort on the animation.
I didn't like the ending, there was like... no conclusion ...
What a waste of good money. You guys should be ashamed for putting out such a wortless piece of crap. Finish first scenrio in episode two and it takes me back to the beginning. Next time get the bugs out before you take our money. last game i'll ever by from this company.
What a waste of good money. You guys should be ashamed for putting out such a wortless piece of crap. Finish first scenrio in episode two and it takes me back to the beginning. Next time get the bugs out before you take our money. last game i'll ever by from this company.
Chill out bro, never had a problem like that in my experience, maybe it's time for a new computer?
this game is awesome, but this computer with highest graphics, it glitches, but gust regular high graphics runs fine and smoothly, awesome story, but disappointed with no brachs evolved or gallimimus, also you guys kind of messed up on the map, there should be stegosaurus and baryonyx. baryonyx is closer to north dock, right next too it actually hopefully i am right about that:)
- The story is excellent. If you like jp movies this will make you perfectly happy.
- Not sure about why people are complaining about graphics. They're good for what they're trying to do.. above average even. Being a PC gamer, they seem to be on par with a console game (ignoring the recent few big releases), so ok.
- Definitely an interactive movie, no problem with that.
- The more "difficult" interactive sequences feel very cheap. From reading around, it seems that there was some effort put into dinosaur deaths, and making you die is the only way to see those.. but its a really really cheap mechanic.. making a sequence near impossible the first time, so that you get to see a death plus play again to get the gold medal. REALLY CHEAP. There are better ways to build in replayability. What was worse was in some of these sequences, you have to keep failing them multiple times to learn what the key presses are. The first time was tense sure, but the 3rd time i felt was unnecessarily frustrating.
That was the only negative from the experience. I like to be responsbile for my own death, not get cheated into it...
.. Well, for something constructive.. perhaps the simiplified version that becomes available after a few fails happens on the -second- attempt?
Anyways, for the fans (of JP which i am). I hope a future patch (or next game ) can address the timings on those few event sequences to not be so cheap!
Comments
I didnt played it yet, but its kinda sad that its seemingly not possible to make a really good JP-Game that not just hardcore-fans can enjoy and not have to wonder if my fanboyness will defeat the weaknesses of the game
Thanks Telltale!!
Story & Characters
The strongest element of the game; I was pleasantly surprised at how much thought was put into the characters in particular, as their various backstories and agendas were explored - in fact, the human characters felt more fleshed out than most of those in the film series. I also enjoyed how there were long stretches of dialogue which didn't really have anything to do with dinosaurs or more action-oriented gameplay, but instead simply allowed the characters to be developed. And I REALLY liked how the scientists actually acted and TALKED like scientists, not shying away from throwing biological or genetic terminology around even though this most likely would risk alienating the average, idiot 5-year-old "I WAZZ BLOWZ DINOSUURS UPS REEEEL GOOD"! crowd of gamers. Personally, I didn't really buy Billy Yoder's transformation into murderous sociopath - even if he did cut a deal with Nima (which I didn't really buy either), there was no reason to kill the Hardings. Speaking of which, I felt Gerry & Jess were threatened a bit too often by the other characters - first Nima, then Sorkin, then Billy, which felt rather redundant by the end of the game. However, as mentioned above, I truly appreciated the constant scientific exchange between Gerry and Sorkin (a hallmark of both Spielberg and Crichton), as well as Gerry and Jess' relationship which seemed VERY reminiscent of Ian Malcolm & Kelly in TLW - as well as the relationship between Billy and Oscar, who seemed to be the JP Universe's answer to Han Solo and Chewie. I also felt that voice acting as surprisingly strong; you could really hear the emotion in the casts' voices much of the time, and there were moments where it felt more like an animated movie and less like a traditional video game. All in all, I appreciated the story-driven approach to the game: Telltale did the right thing in avoiding the "Turok"-type of run-and-gun approach that a more mainstream company may have pooped out with the JP license - instead, their work really feels like an interactive JP sequel from an alternate universe. True, the story wouldn't have worked for an actual film, (the last thing we need is ANOTHER story about people trying to get off of an island), but their mix of science and technology, academic and more militant characters, family dynamics and good old-fashioned scenes of people being eaten by dinosaurs made the game feel more faithful to Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton's visions than the third "Jurassic Park" movie, and the recent comic book series from IDW...leading us to:
Franchise Continuation
I was mostly happy with the game's consistent respect for the franchise and its fans; I got the impression that the developers at Telltale really cared for series and wanted to give us a worthwhile continuation (again, something not the case with IDW Publishing's largely hilarious recent comic book series). The game was deeply rooted in the JP lore, and there were constant references to the series beyond the obvious (mentions of Muldoon and Henry Wu, seeing the aftermath of Nedry's demise and the Visitor Center finale from the film)...as a die-hard TLW fan, I was gratified to see its existence was referenced in the game (mentions of Sarah Harding and Peter Ludlow, as well as the use of Carfentanil and Gerry's very Roland Tembo-inspired show-down with the Rex), as well as a couple of references to the novels, despite Telltale having the rights to only the films (a label marked "DX" when Gerry picks up the tranq rifle, and the eventual bombing of the island). However, as much as I enjoyed the game, I can't consider it canon as there are too many deviations from the original film. I liked the Troodon and Mosasaur, (more on that below), but didn't buy the justification for their presence on the island (InGen was keeping them secret...shades of the Spino and Pteranodons in JP3, here). Speaking of which, I have no idea why the Pteranodons were flying around free on Isla Nublar - had they escaped from their aviary? Also, I hated the whole sequence with the roller coaster as it just didn't ring true to the film - Hammond's rides were clearly not your average amusement park rides, but automated tours of various sections of the park, just like the Safari Tour we see in the film. I would have liked to have seen the Jungle River Cruise or Pteratops Lodge rides (both of which are briefly depicted in the slide show during the lunch scene in the film), but the "Bone Shaker" was not only non-nonsensical, but simply a dull level (more on that below). The depiction of John Hammond as a ruthless bastard who screwed over Nima's village is much closer to Peter Ludlow, or the Hammond from the novel, then the well-intentioned but somewhat clueless old grandfatherly figure from Spielberg's movie. Finally, sorry, but Gerry Harding has a mustache and a pot belly, and sounds like Gerry Molen! :P
Dinosaurs
Overall, I was satisfied with Telltale's approach to the Dinosaurs in the game; I liked both the Troodon, and especially the Mosasaur, but was disappointed that we didn't get more of them! There was a big hullabaloo over the "mysterious new predator" in the game since the beginning, however, it seemed like we got a lot of set-up for the Troodon but encountered them only briefly (perhaps some of their screentime was axed when the game went from 5 chapters to 4)? I felt Telltale could have picked a predator that felt a little less like "scarier" Raptors, but they worked as the most horrific dinosaurs we've had in the franchise (not sure how their eyes actually emanate light - perhaps bacteria such as in deep-sea life - or are they supposed to be refracting light?) I loved the Mosasaur, (it was quite creepy, almost Lovecraftian with its massive size and deliberate malevolence), especially as the diving level felt like a refreshing change of pace from all that had come before. I really would have liked more of both of the game's central new dinos - in fact, we saw much more of the Rex and the Raptors than the Troodon and Mosasaur! The Herrerasaurs were entirely redundant being slightly larger, repainted Raptors (they even made the same noises). I was fine with the returning dinosaurs in the game, but I was disappointed with the lack of variety in the Dino-encounters, both in excess of predators we had to face as well as the repetitive gameplay (will cover that in a bit). I felt that the predator encounters started to blend together, especially as we kept running into the same dinosaurs over and over again. As Gerry said, "herbivores can be dangerous too". I liked the level where the Trike attacked our car, and wanted more of things like that - couldn't we have had a scene where we had to drive a vehicle through a heard of stampeding Brachiosaurs? How about a scene reminiscent of Sarah's attack by Stegosaurs in TLW? Even a greater variety of predators would have helped - Pteranodons were in the game, but only as a "prop" in one scene - wouldn't it have been fun to give a scene to the flying reptiles all to themselves (imagine if you had to negotiate a cliff face which a flock of Pteranodons had taken as a roost)? So, yeah...I liked the dinosaurs, but felt that there was an inescapable redundancy to the encounters...leading us to:
Gameplay & Graphics
I felt the gameplay swung wildly from entertaining to frustrating. I'm not normally a game player, so I appreciated the more cinematic approach to JP: The Game which allowed someone who's not into the medium to make their way through in a reasonable amount of time - Telltale's promise that this would be a "cinematic video game" - or, alternatively, an "interactive movie", really payed off. However, this ended up being a double-edged sword, as the continual button-mashing and prompt system really wore on my patience by the end (well, the middle), of the game. It really was too repetitive...also, not sure if it was computer or the game, but there were times when I would press the correct button at the right time, and the game wouldn't respond, leading to my dying repeatedly. For the most part, the problem solving wasn't too troublesome, save for getting the roller coaster cars on the track in the proper order which was neither fun or interesting, and took way too much time on my part - in fact, a few "challenges" left me feeling, not victorious at the end, but just relieved that they were finally over. I also didn't appreciate the "auto-save" system, as opposed to letting the player decide when to save the game - does Telltale's engine not allow for this basic feature which is part of almost every other game that I've ever played? Finally, the graphics and music were subpar and nothing to write home about (I was annoyed that John William's themes didn't get more playtime, and there were no recognizable new themes composed for the game either...although, I did love the music heard when the Raptors were attacking the tower, and later when the Troodon were chasing you through the tunnels - very similar to "The Raptors Appear" from Williams' TLW score). However, I understand that Telltale is an independent, low-budget company without the resources of major video game developers, and the characters and story were strong enough that I can forgive the less-than-stellar production values...still, for a franchise where cutting-edge visuals were a major hallmark, it would have been nice if the game had been a bit flashier. If the developers of "Dragon Age" or "Uncharted" had given us this game, however, we probably wouldn't have gotten the strong story and cast-driven element...so ultimately, we came out on top.
Conclusion
I've been a huge JP fan since the first film came out in 1993, and have never moved away from the franchise for a second through the subsequent years; needless to say, I've been looking forward to, and closely monitoring the progress of, the game since it was first announced in June of 2010. It was an interminable wait, but now that "Jurassic Park: The Game" is finally here, I can safely say it was worth the wait. It's not perfect, in certain ways a mixed bag...but Telltale truly respected the source material, and gave us a worthwhile continuation of the franchise. Overall, "Jurassic Park: The Game" is faithful to Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton's visions, much more so than the third JP film, or the recent comic books from IDW...and for that, I'm thankful. The wait has been a hell of a ride...and so is the game.
Now, Telltale...Season 2, please.
For years I’ve been waiting. Waiting for something to come along and give me that thrill; give me that excitement; give me that wonder that I had as a little kid watching the dinosaurs roam around a theme park over the TV screen. Years. The last Jurassic Park film was released in 2011, a decade ago. Even in Jurassic Park 3 through, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park for that matter the magic was sporadic and covered by lack of story.
Since Jurassic Park 3 there have been games, books, and comics as of late that have tried to relive the magic that was so special to the first Jurassic Park and most had failed (especially in the comics division.)
Then comes Telltale, announcing that they are to make a new Jurassic Park game. The first one since Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (not counting the DVD game that came out in 2005.) And not only would this game be Jurassic Park… it would be a spinoff of the first film, the film that most (if not everyone) considers the best film in the franchise. I remember being shocked and bewildered when this was announced. Telltale was a fairly unheard of gaming company for me. All I knew them from was ads for some cartoony games I had seen before. That’s it. So when it was announced that THEY had the rights to Jurassic Park I wasn’t quite sure what to think.
Then comes this trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiroJ5K0Qwo
YEAH. You guys remember that? Oh my God I remember nearly crying (okay, slight exaggeration.) when I heard the Dino Crisis roar with the JP Tyrannosaur. I couldn’t figure out why they used the JP rex sounds for the E3 teaser for JP and then not have used it for the real game, cause come to find out early demos of it had the Dino Crisis roar as well. Oh. Shit. It seemed like all Telltale was doing was slapping the JP logo on a plastic lunchbox and selling like so many companies had been doing to the Jurassic Park title.
Well Telltale got the message and put a second, fixed trailer right away and we were all happy. Or most of us seemed to be. Lots of gripes about the graphics seemed to end in TT pushing back the release of JP: TG for us. All the while they promised us a TRUE Jurassic Park experience. They promised us that it would be on par with the films (mainly the first) and that it would be canon, and amazing.
But was it? I finished it, just ten minutes ago (well, ten min up to this point of writing this review.) And I honestly sat and started at the computer for five of those minutes after the game was done.
They did it. Those crazy sons of bitches did it.
I’ll be honest and say it isn’t without flaw, but for me there is no denying that this may go down as the definitive Jurassic Park game (well, at least thus far.)
I’m not sure exactly what I should say. Most of my reviews start off with a summary but there is honestly so much to this game that it’s hard to describe things in detail without getting turned around. The basic story is Nima, a mercenary hired by Dodgson (who in theory works for BioSyn, although it’s never stated in the films) is sent to the island to retrieve the Barbasol can that has the dinosaur embryos in that Dennis Nedry stole before his demised in Jurassic Park. After getting attacked by a species of dinosaurs (or two) she’s stuck on the island, along with Gerry Harding (the vet for Jurassic Park,) his daughter Jess, and a scientist. A rescue team arrives and is quickly stuck on the island as well due to some dinosaur havoc and all the humans quickly meet up and have to survive on the island and look for a way to get off of Isla Nublar before… something bad happens that only the two remaining InGen military mercs know about.
And that really doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. The story in this game is actually incredibly well-crafted and is the thing that makes Jurassic Park: The Game shine. Telltale took their time, and did their research on not only the first film, but the whole franchise in order to make sure that every detail was nearly spot-on. In doing so they also discovered some personal leeway room that allows for them to add some of their own twists and turns into the story. Like the inclusion of Troodon, which we will talk more about later, and some minor elements from the book.
As stated before the story is one of the key elements of JP: The Game and that includes characters. I will admit that when starting the game I had an “uh-oh” feeling. Nima and Miles were simply annoying to begin with, and Gerry and Jess just felt bland. All of the characters that we knew we were supposed to identify with from the get go felt stock in the first fifteen minutes of game play, which gave me worry. We’ve had enough stock characters between The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3 to last us a lifetime (and that’s not even getting into the comic book canon characters!) But after playing out a few different scenarios, we find out that that is not the case. We actually do gain somewhat of a concern for these characters by the end of episode one. Episode two introduces new faces with the InGen mercs, and here it goes again. Stock feeling characters. But just as in episode one we get a real feel for them eventually, and the cast as a whole gets flushed out really well by the end of the game. Some of the scenarios are cliché as are the way the characters handle them, but quite frankly I didn’t mind all that much.
I would like to say that all of the bad reviews I’ve read about Jurassic Park: The Game, in my opinion, can be chalked up to one detail: the reviewers were not true JP fans. The reviewers just aren’t seeing what the fans are seeing. Fans that have read the novels, and studied the films will be happy- without a doubt. There are too many references to not only the films, but the novels as well (which is what most fans have been crying out for from the get go: more novel nods.) Some of the characters in the novels that were a major part were nearly left out of the film, including Gerry Harding (the main focus I feel of Jurassic Park: The Game. It seems as though Gerry is another Ian Malcolm sort of character in the department of families, although he is just a workaholic we find out. Jess Harding, his daughter is sent to the island in hopes by her mother to wane away her kleptomaniac habits. The two get in a few spats over Gerry’s fathering abilities in the game (and there is even a mention of Sarah Harding being his daughter at one point (another thing JP fans have been wondering a long time, and another nod to the novels.))
The other characters get some good face time as well, mainly depending on what lines you choose to say. The gameplay for JP: The Game is something that works to the stories advantage or disadvantage depending on the gamer. If you go and don’t care about looking around or seeing other options or having conversations then you’re gonna get the minimal story. But this game actually allows you to interact with the characters in order to find out more about them and the events taking place around them.
I will admit that the game play gets jumbled from time to time. You really need to focus on what you’re doing, and at times there seems to be no real direction or instruction about how you’re supposed to go about something. I know this is a game with puzzles in it, but… jeeze. Even Batman: Arkham Asylum’s Riddler challenges had better hints half the time (yes, I’m using AA because I haven’t been lucky enough to have played Arkham City yet.) But when the controls get jumbled and you die: no biggie. Sometimes it’s almost as fun to watch the characters die as it is to watch them live. The great thing is you don’t have to go all the way to the beginning. You start off pretty much with the challenge you died with and just try it again. Eventually if you keep messing up, the third time it gets easier so that you can progress.
Now… for the dinosaurs. What is Jurassic Park without dinosaurs? Well Telltale did the research on these beasts, just as they did everything else. And not just with the films, but actual scientific research as well. I think that was almost even more enjoyable, to see and hear them spouting off real scientific knowledge of dinosaurs all the time that most people just wouldn’t understand. As a paleo student I couldn’t help but be giddy. And then you also add the fact that they are all correct to the films and it’s awesome. I’d probably say my biggest complaint was the fact that they used the “It can’t see you if you don’t move!” thing so often with the rex. Almost EVERY single time the rex appeared they were like “freeze.” It got to be a repetitive thing by the end. The other thing I may have wished for them to change was the use of Velociraptors. Now, I will give them this… I am glad they didn’t make the raptors another common enemy in the game that was around every turn like most dinosaur video games do, or even Jurassic Park 3. The problem was the fact that there was no buildup of the Velociraptors. The main concern of the game seemed to be the Troodons. They were the “new raptors” for Jurassic Park: The Game. Telltale built up the Troodons REALLY nice. They gave them that kind of prelude of creepy mystery and suspense that Jurassic Park and even The Lost World gave to the Velociraptors. The problem is when it actually came to the raptors, the poor dromeosaurs got shafted. There was no real suspense added to them other than the attack scenarios (which were good, I’ll give them that.) But when the raptors finally appeared the viewer/player was just supposed to be fearful automatically. I would have liked to seen some equal buildup of the raptors, and even some talk about them. The Velociraptors throughout the whole series have been built up to be one of the apex predators of the Jurassic Park islands. In Jurassic Park: The Game they were just kind of there for one part and never seen or heard from again. They weren’t treated as badly as the rex in Jurassic Park 3, but pretty close to it I feel. Gerry should have known that there were only three in the main pen, and he obviously saw some of them chewed up in the Visitor Center in episode one. If I was him I’d be like… “um, when in the Hell did these other four Velociraptors come from?” That and the rex vision thing, I think, were my two main complaints of the game. Other minor things like why are their the Pteranodon longiceps “hippocratesi” species on Nublar, and why weren’t Metriacanthosaur or Baryonyx mentioned or in the game are things that bother me… but only as a fan. They are not really problems with the game itself. I’ve been itching to see the other two large carnivores of Nublar for ages now.
The Troodons and mosasaur were amazing though. Suspenseful and creepy levels for the both of them. The Troodons, as many have stated, really remind me of the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. Whether that’s intentional or not I don’t really care, because it worked amazingly. I have to say that the nest room for the Troodons actually made my skin crawl a little, which is pretty hard to do so kudos to Telltale. It was an ingenious and daring thing to do… and I feel it worked well, at least for me it did. The Troodons added a horror element back to Jurassic Park that hadn’t been around since the first film.
The soundtrack was amazing, but at times it was a little overpowering. I should tweek the levels a tad the next time I play it because out it. To hear all the old motifs (specifically the carnivore and danger motifs) and even some of the more subtle themes return was a real treat and it often put as big as smile on my face as hearing the JP rex roar did. And even the new music wasn’t bad either. It had a lot of the softer moment that reminded me of the “Petticoat lane” part from the first film. Even as I’m writing this I’m listening to the soundtrack (specifically the track Hopeless, which is one of my favorites) and I’m feeling moved by it, something Don Davis’ score for Jurassic Park 3 didn’t do much for me. And the suspense moments of the game were usually amplified my music that was just as suspenseful. Something that I noticed as well was the inclusion of some Lost World score, or at least something very much like it with some of the raptor scenes. Much of the raptor scenes in the parasaur paddock were scored like the raptor scenes from The Lost World. It worked nicely though. Other times I also thought I heard some music resembling The Lost World PS game as well as some of the first person shooter arcade games, but that could have just been me.
Errors with canon? I honestly can’t think of any outside Gerry’s apparent age moustache. But the beauty of it is Gerry was one of those tossed aside characters in the film, so this has the potential to be canon. Maybe the inclusion of raptors, which can be explained I’m sure by us fans (probably dealing with escaped raptors who laid eggs) although I do wish Telltale took the extra five min to explain it themselves.
I really don’t know what else to say about Jurassic Park: The Game. Well… I do, but I could be here for hours. It does have its flaws with some of the graphics and gameplay, but for story… the only one that comes close to touching this is the unfortunately uncanon Trespasser for PC. Jurassic Park: The Game excels in storytelling, and character development making it a must own, I feel, for any Jurassic Park fan. If a fourth Jurassic Park film was released with this much care for the story, I honestly would be a happy boy. Jurassic Park: The Game has beaten Jurassic Park 3 for me and maybe even The Lost World after one more play through. It’s impossible for it to beat the original Jurassic Park, but it comes in at the moment tied with TLW. It’s nostalgic, fun, and thrilling all at the same time. Minor errors aside this is the definitive Jurassic Park game; the best out of the bunch. Fans will be pleased with the inside references to not only the films but the novels, which there are plenty (including the fate of Isla Nublar.) The only question now is… has something survived?
After first play through I give Jurassic Park: The Game 7.5-8 out of 10
(also, the thread is marked with spoilers, why are you reading this?)
STORY/CHARACTER: Story and characters are a mixed bag quality-wise. For one, I really grew to care for most of the characters by the end of the game. On the other hand, Yoder's transition felt forced. He goes from joking but caring hired gun to screw everybody far too quickly and it feels unnatural, especially considering his recent display of empathy for his quasi-dead merc friend. Sorkin's betrayal felt more natural as she had been dedicated to the dinosaurs thoroughly since we first met her... and that first meeting brings up another problem. The situation where they stay because the mad scientist won't leave seems absurd. They've escaped near death a few times already, and now they're going to stick around? Just seemed implausible to me. Given, I won't count this as a huge negative as games all take some liberties, but the sudden shift of Billy and the group's decision to stay behind for the doctor (oh, and people outrunning Trexes?) definitely bring me out of the story. (7.5/10)
VISUALS: Graphically the game is also a mixed bag. The dinosaurs look beautiful for the most part, although the Troodon is just plain ugly work if you ask me. But then their animations spoil them. I will give credit where it's due: the dino animations are better than the human animations. But that's not saying much. The animations on human characters in this game are just bad. I'm sorry. I know that somebody put manpower hours and their artistry into creating them. But they're bad. They do nothing but bring me out of the game and remind me that I'm not in Jurassic Park. And they bring the rest of the visuals way down. Ground textures also seem to be subpar compared to the rest of the game's visuals. In addition, it seems odd that my set-up can't run at highest without massive performance hits. The menus, however, are gorgeous. (5.5/10)
AUDIO: Some great effects taken from the movies. And some great effects that you guys created. Disappointed that there wasn't a lot more of that classic JP score. Blending in some of the beats from said score was a good idea, but the quality of what you're blending with is far below the original JP score so it just leaves me wanting. In addition, many lines varied heavily in volume, with some words suddenly incredibly loud and then the next word back to normal levels. The audio functions but whatever is causing those level variations and the music that doesn't quite evoke the movie's score bring it down a notch. (7/10)
GAMEPLAY: First off, contrary to professional reviews that I've seen, I enjoyed switching character perspectives and using those characters to work together toward our common goal. That seemed perfectly enjoyable and the explorable scenes were probably my favorite parts of the game. But the QTE. Ugh, the QTE. See, I have no inherent problem with good QTE. This is not good QTE, it's shoddy and poorly-implemented QTE. Far too many times I missed a key prompt that realistically required premonition and insta-died because of that miss. And watching your characters die repeatedly does not add anything to the game. If anything, consistent death detracts from its impact and frustrates me as a player. I stopped caring that these characters were dying because I knew that there was no way I was ever going to push that button fast enough and I know that it's just going to reload until it reduces the prompt to a 1-button push. Those multi-button pushes are poorly implemented. They should move around the screen so that each step is clearly marked, but as it was I would frequently think that I had already pressed the down that it was prompting me to when it was an instance where I needed to press down again. And timing was just annoying. Even more than I enjoyed that this was a semi-decent JP game, the QTE brought me out of the game and brought the experience far down for me. Again, explorable scenes were great. Bad QTE ruined the rest. (4/10)
CONCLUSION: To a decent degree, this did feel like a legitimate Jurassic Park game. But technical issues and bad QTE keep it from being THE Jurassic Park game that I was hoping for. I'll admit to having high expectations, especially after the game was delayed the day before (or was it the day of) its initial release date. I have no problem with having those high expectations, and I know that you guys were expecting them because you were working with a beloved franchise. The game doesn't measure up, and I'm honestly not sure what y'all did with all of that extra time. I enjoyed it because it was Jurassic Park, but I enjoyed it DESPITE the game rather than BECAUSE of the game. The final score is simply an average of those above: (6/10)
PLEASE, guys. If you do it again, do it better. Make it flawless. Give it the most compelling story and characters you've ever told. Make every piece of its visuals beautiful. Create amazing animations. Use more of the movie's music and TEST the stuffing out of all of the game to make sure it doesn't have these technical problems like fluctuating line levels and poor performance for some people. We're waiting for a game that is a masterpiece on its own but then IS ALSO a Jurassic Park game, making it that much more awesome. This game I can only play because it's a Jurassic Park game.
but i think i will buy it for my brother... or a friend..... , too. to compensate the "get it for free!!!" a little bit...
edit
okay, already bought it the second time, just have to find someone to gift it to...
my brother wont like it. he didnt like bttf either, even if he's a big fan of the movies... you dont have to understand the youth.... they are just..... different... i guess
Story: Loving the game, but EP 3 is just a tad boring. All I did was button mash and sneaked for the whole game, not giving my fingers a break. We get it Telltale, the game has buttons that need to be mashed. Please let my fingers rest. And the game feels more like an interactive movie then a game, that's not good. No exploration was done in that episode, it was just look here, button smash, look there, button smash, oh shit a dinosaur, button mashing.
Characters: We got to see Jesse's bad side, we understand that she's a typical modern teenager who somehow got back to the 80's. I don't know.
Technical: No bugs were expected in this episode, yet I somehow encountered one when trying to get the embryo's back, when you had to sneak, I got the green bar all the way to the button, but it froze, then said I messed up. And I was at gold, then went to bronze. How?
Overall, EP 3 gets a 7/10.
Avast maties, spoilers ahead!
STORY:
Amazing story, follows the movie RIGHT when the original cast leaves. The story is just Byosin VS InGEN. I am a hardcore JP fan, I study the film like if it was homework, and I'm impressed with the story. Character Development was very nice here, we get to see the connection with Jesse and Dr. Harding. We also see the Jesse see's Nima as her mother. Billy and Oscar were... uh how do I say this... bland. Billy was a backstabber, and Oscar was a life risker. I am sad that Nima had to die, she was a cool character, I shed a tear when she was eaten. I wish you could've prevented this.
GAMEPLAY: It's bad, I never got it. It made the game a trainwreck, just Telltale screaming, BUTTONS, WE GOT BUTTONS HERE! See? Nobody cares. Should've sticked with the typical gameplay BTTF uses. Allowing us to roam around.
Characters: Already did that
Ending: I really didn't like the choice to kill Nima, she should've lived. Billy, however, deserved to die. I also do miss Sorkin. She reminds me of my aunt.
Dinosaurs: Ah yes, dinosaurs. All of them were amazing to see again, the Troodon does look ugly, especially for it's hype.
OVERALL: Great game, great story, bad gameplay.
7/10
The game wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but the story was amazing and brought us back to Jurassic Park.
er...
Wait she doesn't die? Oh god, I killed her. I am a sick sick monster.
Thing is, she went for the canister instead of Jesse. I guess you have to kill Billy, get the can, then it's prevented.
Re: the jeep thing, I've read your side of the story and it simply should never have been your course to lawyer up and go through insurance. You should have just taken care of it. You invited the dude to go there and he didn't ask to be paid for the use of the jeep, just have travel expenses covered; you don't dispute this. The couple thousand you lost for a paint job would have been more than worth it in terms of PR. You could have been good guys. Also, who in their right mind transports a custom car on a flatbed trailer anyway?
The metacritic thing is worse, and your "who cares, they used their gamertags" response is the last straw. I seriously hope there are career-altering consequences for the four employees in question. You need to squash this out hard, from the top down. It's not a simple oopsie. It destroys the most valuable resource a developer has: trust from your customers. Companies spend decades trying to build and maintain that trust through quality products, good customer service, and ethical dealings. Succeeding on all THREE of these fronts could have made your lives so much easier; just look at Minecraft. Without them, well, seven-figure ad campaigns can fall flat on their face if they are being played to a distrustful audience.
Anyway, from the lack of respect for customers demonstrated in your collective actions this week, I don't really expect that you care about my opinion in the slightest. But just so you know, I'm one voice who won't be buying from you anytime soon. I, like millions of others, really looked forward to seeing what the "small, underdog developer" had lovingly crafted. I feel shocked at how you've absolutely squandered so much freely-offered goodwill from your potential customers. Do you realize how many small companies would have KILLED to have been in your position? And then you acted like sleazy little lobbyist-like, corporate weasels. Such a waste.
P.S. Protip: you don't blow off review tampering. I'd address it much more seriously ASAP.
No no. You have 2 options. You click one of the keys (Or buttons) to chose Jess or the can. I choose Jess everytime because Nima is badass and doesn't deserve to die. So, when you get two options to pick over can and jess, click the button or whatever next to jess. ^-^ The can (I think) is going to be destroyed either way. I have only tried the way to save jess, so I wouldn't know.
When jesse is hanging off the bridge thing and the canister is on the ground PICK TO SAVE JESSE. If you pick to go after the canister, Nima dies.
I think the Nima survives ending is the canon one though, the other is just for fun.
Thanks, I just said this...
I didn't get the ending at first, but my brother explained to me (surprisingly) that /spoiler/ the money was Nedrey's that he was suppose to retrieve when he got to the boat, which I don't believe was explained in the game.
Also, I don't remember if it was ever explained what happen to Laura's assistant.
All in all, I really enjoyed the game. It got real intense at some parts, especially the final frontal with Trex. I really want a sequel game.
In my opinion the story was pretty good, I love how they filled in some gaps left by the movie. And OMG its Jurassic Park.
However as a gamer the game was pretty boring. I wish there was more to do than just click microscopes (you don't even need to click them all, many of them are just pointless) and do quick time events. I would have been much happier with more exploration and god forbid move the character around by myself!
Tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible, but some might have slipped through, sorry.
Also, I'm going to start with each episode individually, and then at the end go over each element in more detail.
EPISODE 1:
Thought this episode was great, loved the prologue, and all the dino scenes. Great music (some taken straight from the film) and atmosphere too, really sets an awesome tone for the rest of the game. I thought the scenes with Jess and Gerry were particularly well done, and superbly voice acted. Nice mix of action and exploration overall. Also, there are a couple cool easter eggs to die hard Jurassic Park fans. 9/10.
EPISODE 2:
My least favorite episode, thought the beginning was a little to slow/talk, however it does pick up rather nicely during the end. The interactions between Nima, Gerry, and Jess are also very good here. The music on the other hand is not up to par. It doesn't feel Jurassic Parky and one song repeats waaaay to much. The gameplay is also almost exclusively exploration (with one sweet exception), which can be kind of boring. 6.5/10.
EPISODE 3:
This episode more than makes up for episode 2. Awesome beginning, intense middle, and one hell of an ending. All the characters and their interactions are given a lot of development time, and they all remain excellently voice acted. Good music (more from the films). Like the first episode, good mix of action and exploration, and some seriously awesome sequences. 8.5/10.
EPISODE 4:
The final episode, well done, with a solid beginning, good middle, and an ending that I think raps up the game quite nicely (though an after credits seen would have been very nice *hint hint telltale*). Some truly great moments for each of the characters, and some very nice twists, although some of Dr. Sorkins scenes could have lasted longer. Excellent music (including the missing main theme at precisely the right moment). Again, very nice mix of action and exploration, and a particularly cool scene involving a certain over-sized reptile. (8/10)
Now for the individual elements:
STORY:
This was my favorite part of the game. A very well written and interesting plot combine with superb pacing and some awesome twists to deliver an exceptional experience. 10/10.
GAMEPLAY:
Many people are complaining that the gameplay is too simple and simply one long QTE. This maybe true, but if you play this like a game your doing it wrong. Instead treat it as an interactive movie, and you'll have a much better time. The exploration is nice, and lets you get a glimpse into the world of Jurassic Park, the puzzles, while simple, are fun, the action QTE's can get a little annoying (especially the ones where you have to pound a button), but are not game-breaking, and the dialog system is a very nice touch. 8/10.
GRAPHICS:
Another topic of criticism among gamers. While not great, the graphics are okay, and serve the purpose. The art direction however, is great, and the animations are smooth and realistic. 8/10.
SOUND:
Very, very well done. New music complements original tunes that, while used sparingly, are just as good as in 1993. Sound effects are good too. 9/10.
CHARACTERS:
Yet another fantastic element of Jurassic Park: The Game. Characters are well developed, unique, and each have their own problems to deal with. Interaction between them is superb and the voice acting is above top notch. 10/10.
DINOSAURS:
Almost all the dinosaurs from the first film are present and faithful to their movie version. Classics like T-Rex, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Parasaurolophous, and Dilophosaurus all look and sound perfect. They are alos supplemented by new comers such as Herrarasaurus, Troodon, and Mosasaurus which are nicely done. My only small gripes are that Brachiosaurus, Gallimimus, and Stegosaurus are absent. Also the T-Rex is used a little to much. 8/10.
JURASSIC PARK FEEL:
The most important part of the game; it has to feel like Jurassic Park. And Telltale pulls it off very skillfully. Locations, dinos, and sounds are very faithful to the films and the game has the same awe inspiring quality as the first movie. 9/10.
OVERALL:
Jurassic Park: The Game is a very solid game. An excellent story, neat art direction, fun characters, great sound, and of course plenty of dinos all work together to bring Jurassic Park to life. Besides from a few minor gameplay and graphics gripes, Telltale has managed to do what I was at first very skeptical about. Create a very, very good game based on one of my most beloved franchises. I highly recommend this to any JP fan or just someone who just likes a good story with some carnivorous lizards thrown in for good measure. So, to anyone embarking on this adventure 65 million years in the making, I leave you with this: hang onto your butts. 8.5/10.
EDIT: Nevermind, guess that's just for bigger posts.
Great job telltale!
http://mindofklink.com/reviews/19112011.html
It's a bit harsh but I believe it's fair. There are no spoilers in my review although some of the images might be. The TL;DR version: Story is good, characters are great, poor implementation of QTEs, disappointing quality overall.
OH NO WONDER, I was busy button mashing at the time. Silly me.
Welp, got Nima saved.
Also I had to do a count of how many times my game froze for each episode:
EP 1: 3
EP 2: 5
EP 3: 4
EP 4: 10
I admit that after the huge disappointment that was BTTF I was skeptical but I knew it was going to be a different kind of game so I knew not to expect an overly challenging game.
I don't normally rate but I'll put down some rough numbers down based on what I thought.
Gameplay
I'm a fan of QTEs and I really liked how Heavy Rain was done and this type of gameplay fits in well in a game where storytelling is important.
It's great that TTG is willing to do games with different sorts of gameplay and I really hope they continue to do so.
The way you change between different characters to solve puzzles is very innovative and the puzzle in Episode 4 where you needed to identify a certain 4-way intersection was a great example of a good puzzle.
BUT they could have done so much more with this type of gameplay. There should be more layers to the puzzles and more exploration. Instead of a 4-piece jigsaw puzzle they should have designed a 16-piece jigsaw puzzle and combined more character interaction with environment interaction.
7/10 - Good execution but also a lot of unused potential.
Characters
I loved every one of the characters, except for the scientist, Laura.
Laura was annoying, seriously, and her death was really satisfying, hehe.
The character development and interaction was really well done though, absolutely. Billy was the best character without question, and Nima, Jess, Gerry, Oscar; all were really well constructed personality-wise.
10/10 - Personality, strengths, flaws and balance were all well-thought out.
Story
The story is fantastic, and the one thing that makes me react positively to it. Without a compelling story, this game would be nothing.
It was told very well, it had suspense and excitement and really kept you in your chair playing.
The only negative thing is that it is too linear. There needs to be more options and more ways a story can develop. If you're gonna have an alternate ending you can't just have one piece of dialogue in the last episode or whatever determine the ending. There needs to be gradual build-ups to various alternate endings. Linear stories have no replayability. Go and play Shadow of Memories and note the difference.
8/10 - Full marks for story, thumbs down for linearity.
Graphics
Now the graphics are a different story. The environment, buildings and stationary objects are all passable, but the people need alot of work.
The same problem was in BTTF, and it hasn't improved much.
The worst thing in my book is facial expressions. It's utter crap and the showing of emotions like fear and anger are totally not believable. It's extremely rough around the edges and TTG really need to hire a decent team to do these animations.
Lip-sync is bad as well and need a whole lot of work.
Overall animations like walking, running and fighting are a lot better than in BTTF but still clunky and a little rough around the edges and it could be done better without too much effort.
2/10 - Visual interaction is the only thing preventing flawless character interaction.
Quick-time events
Mostly well-designed, though I might suggest giving slightly more time for certain sequences. Sometimes i didn't have enough time because the icon disappeared almost instantly. A quarter of a second more time would have done it.
Also failure should give more options. One QTE in particular that irked me was at the end of the game, where Nima fought Billy. I intentionally failed all the button presses because I wanted to see Billy stab Nima, but he didn't. It had the same result no matter what, and it was disappointing.
Billy's fate was sad because I really liked his character but I'm also glad that the Telltale team did what they did because having your playable characters getting killed is something they haven't done before. It adds emotion and depth to the game and please don't stop doing that.
And the award system? Pointless and redundant. I don't care about getting a gold award, I'd rather see what happens if I fail! Getting a gold medal doesn't gain me anything anyway, and all the various deaths that I saw were really well done.
7/10 - Awesome suspenseful events, but a little too unpolished and linear.
Overall score: 6/10
Fair's fair, story, characters and ambiance are the strong points, but the graphical animations on characters are just too important to make the interactions believable. Not much effort was put in that area of the game, and it shows.
What are you going on about? The graphics were amazing for me, the animations were off though. Did you mess with your settings>
THE GOOD:
First of all interesting story (some plotholes) and ties in well with the events in the movie.
The way locations were handled and all the references to the movie was really well done.
The dinosaurs sounded just like in the movie and the raptor scream still sends chills down my spine.
And the Troodon dinosuar was a nice addition to the park.
THE BAD:
Poor gameplay senseless button mashing and no matter what you do it always leads to the same conclusion.
The navigation system/menu was a terrible idea it would have been more interesting actually controlling the characters.
Puzzles that a even a 3 year old could have figured out.
The fact that in some sequences you can just watch the sequences without tapping and it completes itself automaticly.
My biggest question to the developers after playing this game is this, what the hell were you doing during from april to november anyway, what was the reason for the delay.
Yeah, but the game's bugs were actually harder to beat.
They really add something to longevity.
One thing I would like to emphasize is that I HATED having to individually scroll through each graphic setting to get to mine. I have no idea who thought (or rather didn't) that this was a good idea, but even though I only had to do it once, it was the first impression made on me by the game. A lack of certain common features also irked me, namely quicksave. Lacking it wouldn't be so bad if the game didn't lag for a millisecond during the dilophosaurus attack, causing me to catch a face-full of venomous puke because I missed hitting a button.
Overall, the game (when it works properly) is fun enough and definitely interesting enough to play through, but it's gonna take a perfectionist a while with frequent scene retries due to lagging graphics. (At least if you have an ATI card, apparently)
Initially I was a bit annoyed by some of the bugs, but they seemed to be less evident after Episode 1.
Thanks for a fun game guys. I'm going to play again (with a controller as I think I'd prefer that over the keyboard prompts) when my deluxe edition arrives...which will hopefully be...*ahem* patched?
I'm definitely going to replay the game, this time with a controller and in a cinematic atmosphere.
Congratulations, Telltale!
Heres the link for everyone who speaks german
Omg this is hilarious.
Any JP fan that went through trespasser launch knows the felling.
But it really is a dumbed version of Heavy Rain.
In Heavy Rain, you do can walk around, you CAN make choices during the action sequences, the dialogs, and the simple way to act around with items.
Death in Heavy Rain are not possible in the beginning of the game, but half way through. That allows for the story to keep going WITH a main character dying. Which is pretty incredible because it allows the death to actually matter, and to have an impact and consequence.
Worst, in JP, you can play as different characters but... not when you want to. Which means that you're forced, to play the character you hate over the one you like, resulting in the one you like actually dying ... That's frustrating to say the least.
I understand there needs to be a final "way" to handle the characters, but that felt forced and in the end there truly felt like there was no control whatsoever, weither it is on the story, dialogs, or action.
As for the story, while I agree there was pretty good moments...
In the end, all I can recall is are the clichés. I mean, Yoder's fate was probably the worst ever. I mean I couldn't believe how bad that was, especially after the smart way they handled him a little before that...
I loved Episode 2. I don't know why.
But the rest really felt like it tried to copy Heavy Rain, without having all the subtleties that actually made it a decent GAMING experience. Which was CONTRLOL and CHOICES.
Also, it doesn't quite follow graphically. But I don't mind. Even if they could make an effort on the animation.
I didn't like the ending, there was like... no conclusion ...
Chill out bro, never had a problem like that in my experience, maybe it's time for a new computer?
Just finished the game. Here's mine:
- The story is excellent. If you like jp movies this will make you perfectly happy.
- Not sure about why people are complaining about graphics. They're good for what they're trying to do.. above average even. Being a PC gamer, they seem to be on par with a console game (ignoring the recent few big releases), so ok.
- Definitely an interactive movie, no problem with that.
- The more "difficult" interactive sequences feel very cheap. From reading around, it seems that there was some effort put into dinosaur deaths, and making you die is the only way to see those.. but its a really really cheap mechanic.. making a sequence near impossible the first time, so that you get to see a death plus play again to get the gold medal. REALLY CHEAP. There are better ways to build in replayability. What was worse was in some of these sequences, you have to keep failing them multiple times to learn what the key presses are. The first time was tense sure, but the 3rd time i felt was unnecessarily frustrating.
That was the only negative from the experience. I like to be responsbile for my own death, not get cheated into it...
.. Well, for something constructive.. perhaps the simiplified version that becomes available after a few fails happens on the -second- attempt?
Anyways, for the fans (of JP which i am). I hope a future patch (or next game
Also thanks and credit for the excellent story!