trivard676We learned some time ago that Telltale games (the guys behind games like Tales of Monkey Island, Wallace and Gromit and Back to the Future) were working on resurrecting our favourite movie about dinosaurs. While excited at the prospect of a Jurassic Park game that didn’t involve getting up close and personal with strangers in an arcade, we held some reservations on how this game might work out, given Telltale’s ‘friendly’ background.
So…we’re thinking that those fears might be safely put to rest. To get your own feel for it, take a look at the game teaser below.
“What the hell kinda zoo is this?” The name of the place is Jurassic Park. If you really have to ask that question, you’re already screwed, okay?
The game will be a five-episode season, taking place during and a little bit after the first film’s events. It’s been 18 years since the movie debuted, we’re thinking that a major come-back is in order here. Telltale is known for their strong story-driven adventures, and when you’re working with something like Jurassic Park, you really can’t go wrong. But what’s important for fans is how the game will feel.
Art director Dave Bogan states that Jurassic Park is less about “building elaborate Rube Goldberg contraptions and sequences and more about about tension and suspense.” Ahh, music to a horror fan’s ears.
Great…but how will it ‘play?’
Well this might be a deal-breaker for some, but the game is played through a series of quick-time events, much like Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy. Millions of fans can attest that a few QTEs never hurt anybody, and when done properly they can pull you into a whole new level of anxiety. Mess up one of of those QTEs and you’ll be treated with a nice…well…perhaps not so nice death screen.
See that horn? That could be you. POTENTIAL~!
At its core, Jurassic Park is a story-driven adventure, where you guide characters around and alternate between puzzles and dialogue. The inclusion of death of the player is a first for Telltale games here, as are the inclusion of those QTEs.
However, as 1up have revealed in their preview, the deaths aren’t particularly gory. Universal Studios is keeping a tight leash on Telltale games and how far they’ll take the death sequences. To “keep the spirit of the original movies.” GamePro concedes that the death scenes are pretty grisly, but gives little other detail. So we’re guessing like in the movies, the camera might cut away to someone getting their insides put on the outside, or getting chomped to death by giant T-Rexes.
So even though Jurassic Park might not shape up to be the Dino Crisis remake we all (okay, maybe only some of us) have been dreaming of, Jurassic Park is a whole new playing field for Telltale Games. It will be interesting to see how their new gameplay style will work and where it will take them. Hopefully, we’ll see more “deathly consequence” games from Telltale in the future?
Jurassic Park is set to begin release in April 2011 and will be available only for PC and Mac. Check back with RoH for more news and information!
–jeeves86
With files from Gamepro and 1up
