Telltale Games is going dramatic. Known for their cartoony, comedic point-and-click adventure titles, the company is looking to get serious with their upcoming "Jurassic Park" game. It's a large step for the studio, and after spending some hands-on time with game, it looks like Telltale might have a promising new game on their hands.
More than a mere retelling of the 1993 blockbuster film, "Jurassic Park" seeks to satisfy some unanswered questions. Specifically, what ever happened to that Barbasol can full of 15 dinosaur embryos dropped in the mud by the ill-fated Dennis Nedry?
"We're a storytelling company," Telltale design director Dave Grossman told me, "we're looking for a way to break out of our normal funny and cartoony stuff...Jurassic Park is deceptively serious, it's about people escaping from the jaws of death."
If you're a fan of the original movie, you'll remember that Nedry, a corrupt computer programmer at the world's first living dinosaur park, accepted an offer by rival biotech firm BioSyn to smuggle out dino-babies. The clumsy goofball overrides many of the park's security systems, thus freeing man-eating Velociraptors and turning the entire island into a dangerous place to be human. Unfortunately for Nedry, his attempt to escape the park is cut short by a frilled Dilophosaur. The Barbasol can sunk slowly into the mud, and it's never made clear what happened to the dinosaur DNA.
The game picks up directly after Nedry's death, as a female smuggler, Nima, infiltrates the island searching for the valuable embryos. As the demo opened, Nima is apparently injured following an accident, accompanied by Gerry Harding and his daughter Jess. You might remember Gerry appearing briefly in the film (he played a larger role in the novel) as the island's veterinarian. A young Triceratops has escaped its pen, and Gerry has to find a way to get the dinosaur secured and out of the road, thus allowing the team to pass through.
"Jurassic Park" plays considerably different than previous Telltale titles. First, the demo I played at last night's event was controlled using an Xbox 360 controller, as opposed to the usual mouse and keyboard. Given the game's control setup, it seems like this may be the best option. Secondly, this isn't another point-and-click adventure. Instead, the game utilizes context-sensitive button presses and analog stick rotations to carry out the on-screen action. The first comparison that comes to mind is "Heavy Rain," and Grossman later told me that the PlayStation 3 game's timed button presses did offer "some inspiration" in "Jurassic Park's" development.
Playing the role of Gerry, I was stationary within the scene, but able to look around the environment with the left analog stick. Looking in the direction of certain objects causes a button or analog stick prompt to appear on screen, and pressing the corresponding controller input allows the character to interact in a number of ways. In this particular instance, I attempted to lead the baby Triceratops out of the road, but to no avail. Pushing left on the d-pad opened a set of viewpoint options, wherein I was able to access Jess' view back inside the jeep. Then, pressing X for example, the jeep's high-beams came on, scaring the dinosaur away.
It's not just that "Jurassic Park" plays a bit differently than other Telltale games, it also has a new look. Gone is the cartoonish aesthetic of previous titles, replaced with more realistic character models and environments. I was pleased with the game's visuals, and it's nice to see the studio matching a more dramatic game with suitable graphics.
"We want you to always feel like dinos are around the corner," Grossman said, "There's always imminent danger...there's no inventory, it's more about the how the player reacts within that environment."
Just when Gerry manages to get the Triceratops into its pen, a larger, enraged Triceratops appears. It's at this point that the demo suddenly shifted from exploring, interacting with the environment, to time-sensitive controller input. The Triceratops lunges at the jeep, knocking it over on its side, and Jess is suddenly forced to dodge out of the way, lest she be caught by the dinosaur's horns. The action is fairly constant, tasking the player with repeatedly tapping the Y-button, for instance, in order to evade an attack. Just when the things are most hectic, a T-Rex appears, ratcheting up the tension. Gerry has to elude both dinos, making his way to rescue Jess and Nima. The demo ends with the group holing up inside a locked bunker.
I would say the comparisons to "Heavy Rain" are more than marginal, but given Telltale's proven ability to tell an interactive story, and the quality of the source material, it looks entirely possible that "Jurassic Park" is going to be an interesting game. It's nice to see the company stepping out of their comfort zone, and I ended my demo session immediately wanting more.
"Jurassic Park" begins its five-episode season in April, and is available for pre-order now on Telltale's site for $29.99.