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Credit: Universal PicturesMore than 30 years after Jurassic Park roared into theaters, Universal will invite fans back to Isla Nublar in a way no one expected—by picking up the story exactly where it left off.
The upcoming first-person action-adventure video game “Jurassic Park: Survival” is set just 24 hours after the events of the 1993 classic, making it a direct sequel (and a prequel), which opens the door to a major possibility: the return of legacy characters from that original film.
The game centers on a new protagonist—Dr. Maya Joshi (performed by Payal Mistry), an InGen scientist who, after failing to evacuate the island with her colleagues during the events of the 1993 film, is now stranded on Isla Nublar, where she’s forced to fight for survival.
As revealed in a recent behind-the-scenes featurette, Joshi was hired by Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), suggesting at least one established legacy character still has some sort of presence during the game, even if it might end up being entirely off-screen. Watch the video below:
What makes the game a true canon sequel is the level of authenticity being promised. Developer Saber Interactive has confirmed that players will explore a “fully realized Isla Nublar,” including recognizable places like the iconic Visitor Center and brand-new locations such as an abandoned hotel left in mid-construction.
The world has been built from the ground up in meticulous detail, with the developers having used original production designs and blueprints and even props from the original film to painstakingly re-create everything seen on screen, to allow for a seamless sense of authenticity, accuracy, and continuity between the film and the game.
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Familiar dinosaurs from the film—including T-Rex—will stalk players, putting them in survival mode rather than the action-heavy gameplay seen in many tie-ins. Whether we see familiar characters of the human variety remains to be seen, but as the game is set one day after the film, the likes of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm could, in theory, return.
While the game takes place after they’ve already left the island by helicopter with John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), Lex Murphy (Ariana Richards), and Tim Murphy (Joe Mazzello), they could still appear, perhaps in a recap/flashback sequence, or even in a future DLC side mission similar to the one in 2014’s survival horror game “Alien: Isolation”, which allowed players to take on the role of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley onboard the Nostromo, as seen in the 1979 film Alien.
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Either way, as everything is being reconstructed with continuity in mind, the return of Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm, or any other actor from the film, would almost certainly require their likenesses. This means Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum would need to be digitally de-aged to match their 1993 selves—not a stretch considering modern technology.
Previously, the three actors returned for Jurassic World Dominion (2022); however, they were absent — as were Jurassic World trilogy regulars Chris Pratt (Owen Grady) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing) — from this year’s box-office hit Jurassic World Rebirth, which saw Scarlett Johansson lead an entirely new ensemble of characters.
Though it’s unlikely any original actors will return in future films, anything is possible on the small screen. The latest season of Chaos Theory, which is now streaming on Netflix, might have disappointed fans by not featuring any legacy characters despite overlapping directly with Dominion, but “Survival” may reunite us with some of those familiar faces.
For now, only the iconic dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park mascot Mr. DNA are confirmed.
“Return to Isla Nublar the day after the events of the beloved 1993 Jurassic Park film in an original adventure 65 million years in the making,” the blurb for the game reads.
“Survive thrilling first-person action as InGen scientist Dr. Maya Joshi, who was unable to evacuate Isla Nublar, in this single-player action-adventure game and discover a never-before-told story. Through thrilling encounters, experience the wonder and danger of dinosaurs, each with their own distinct and adaptive behaviors brought to life by John Hammond’s vision.”
The game will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
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