Jurassic Park: The Game 1 HD Review

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Jurassic Park: The Game 1 HD Review

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Jurassic Park: The Game 1 HD Review

By Jennifer Allen on November 22nd, 2011
Our Rating:

:: LACKING
iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad

The much anticipated Telltale Games adaptation of the classic dinosaur blockbuster.

Developer: Telltale Games
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPad 2

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.13 out of 5 stars

I was the perfect age for Jurassic Park when the movie first came out. Aged 9, I’d been a huge dinosaur fan for 3 years previously. The film captured my imagination in a way that very few films have managed since. Sure, the park was dangerous but I’d have willingly gone to visit it nonetheless.

Jurassic Park: The Game 1 offers that chance to visit Isla Nublar although exploration is a little limited. Taking a different path to Telltale Games’ previous titles, Jurassic Park: The Game 1 is essentially an interactive movie. Following the story of the first Jurassic Park film, the game looks at the experiences of Nima, a professional smuggler and also park veterinarian Gerry and his daughter. The change of perspective offers Telltale Games’ some creative license in how they approach the story, while still offering some insight to the land of Isla Nublar.

The story should have the potential to be interesting but it fails to truly get going in this short time, as is often the problem with episodic content. The characters also fail to intrigue with Nima, in particular, feeling quite two dimensional. The gameplay used within it doesn’t fare so well either. Some scenes require some basic exploration and puzzle solving but it’s never challenging by any means.

The bulk of the gameplay stems from the many Quick Time Events which are very reminiscient of PS3′s Heavy Rain. Some controls may require dragging a button to the left or right while others, such as dodging from a dinosaur, involves a quick swipe from side to side. It’s all fine and functional enough but far from challenging. In fact, failing a move only seems to affect the medal awarded at the end of the scene.

Jurassic Park: The Game 1 does look quite impressive on the iPad 2 but it comes at a small price. Even after rebooting the device, I still had occassional moments of sluggishness and slow loading times which did get a little frustrating.

Ultimately though, this is far from the biggest issue. Jurassic Park: The Game 1 just isn’t very exciting despite the subject matter. The story and dialogue just isn’t up to the quality of past Telltale Games which is a great disappointment. I’ll be crossing my fingers in the hope that future episodes up the ante. On paper, this should have been great.