Jurassic Park's Aftermath Will Finally Be Explored (But Not How You Think)

For a franchise as big as "Jurassic Park"/"Jurassic World," it's a little surprising how few AAA video games have been released tied to it over the years. We may've had Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games back in the day, but viewed through a modern lens, they're at best a novelty. Fortunately, at long last, Universal and Saber Interactive are bringing us the story-driven game that many fans have been waiting a long time for in the form of "Jurassic Park: Survival." Now, nearly two years after it was first announced, we've gotten a significant update in the form of the below featurette.

The video sees the "Jurassic Park: Survival" creative team diving deep into the creation and development process behind the game, which takes place one day after the events of the original "Jurassic Park" movie. Players take on the role of InGen scientist Dr. Maya Joshi, who was unable to evacuate Isla Nublar and is forced to survive amongst the escaped dinosaurs. The "Jurassic Park: Survival" announcement trailer dropped in December 2023, with updates few and far between since then. That makes this featurette all the more important since it assures fans the game is still happening. Beyond that, its contents suggests this thing will be worth the wait.

"Taking on a project like this is a huge responsibility. This film stands out as a landmark moment in cinema," said Oliver Hollis-Leick, the creative director at Saber Interactive. Owning up to that responsibility, the footage demonstrates just how hard the game's artists are working to make it an authentic experience. For longtime fans, this means we'll finally get to see what happened in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of John Hammond's dream. Since film sequels like "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" take place years later and in different locations, that's something we've never truly gotten to witness in the past.

"We worked really closely with our partners and with Amblin and our filmmakers to make sure that we're capturing the island and all of the dinosaurs in really great detail," added Lisa Saint Amand, a project executive for the "Jurassic World" franchise.

This video features impressive, painstaking recreations of familiar locations from the original "Jurassic Park" film, complete with an intense amount of detail. Indeed, it appears that an exhaustive amount of research has been poured into getting this game right in general. More intriguing, though, is the fact that "Jurassic Park Survival" will visit parts of Isla Nublar that've never been depicted on-screen before (such as the hotel that was under construction there). I can only speak for myself, but since "Jurassic Park" is my personal favorite movie of all time, this is deeply exciting.

"We go through room by room, in the game, level by level, we look at every possible resource from archives from the film, production stills, production blueprints, to make sure every prop is in the same place," noted John Melchior, an executive producer for Universal products and experiences.

One of the most impressive things is that Universal decided to boldly go with the "Park" branding for the game. After "Jurassic World" literally became one of the most successful movies ever in 2015, the franchise has largely led with "World" for its branding. "Jurassic World Survival," however, is going back to 1993 to revisit a world that Steven Spielberg created. That means it's also tapping into a very different sort of nostalgia in a way that, if executed correctly, could be very rewarding.

The "Jurassic World Evolution" park builder games have offered great fun, but it's a specific experience. The notion of doing a first-person, story-driven survival game within this franchise feels long overdue. As for why it's taking so long? The game's creative team makes clear in the video that they "are taking the time to do it justice." Is it perhaps frustrating to have to wait several years for a game after it's announced? Yes, but it's far better to know that those involved in making it are trying to do the job right rather than rushing it.

"Jurassic Park: Survival" will be available for console and PC, but it doesn't currently have a release date. Stay tuned.