Credit: Universal PicturesSince its release over 30 years ago, Jurassic Park has never fully revisited the events of the original film. While the 2015 sequel, Jurassic World, invited fans back to Isla Nublar, there are many things about Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster classic that remain a mystery.
Chief among them is the fate of certain characters. However, we will soon return to the film’s immediate aftermath through a new interactive lens. The upcoming first-person action-adventure video game “Jurassic Park: Survival” brings players back to Isla Nublar just 24 hours after the park’s collapse. And in doing so, the game quietly confirms something fans have debated for years: one character presumed dead since 1993 never actually died at all.
Something Has Survived
“Jurassic Park: Survival”, developed by Saber Interactive, was unveiled during The Game Awards in December 2023. Its debut trailer largely focused on trailer-made cinematic footage over gameplay footage, but the final moments show a brief shot of the walk-in freezer from the original 1993 film — the one where a Velociraptor was locked inside by Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim Murphy (Joe Mazzello). But now, that door is shown to be ajar.
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Sequel May Bring One of These Characters Back From the Dead
How Does the Raptor Escape?
Since the trailer’s release, “Jurassic Park: Survival” has further confirmed the presence of Velociraptors through in-game screenshots, reinforcing the idea that the animal survived.
While this seems like a bit of a copout, “Survival” takes place just 24 hours after the events of the film, not years later. That short window dramatically lowers the leap in logic required. What does stretch the logic, however, is how the raptor will end up escaping in the game. Does the lead protagonist Dr. Maya Joshi (Payal Mistry), an abandoned InGen scientist left behind by her co-workers, end up removing the latch by mistake?
Not only that, but the film makes it obvious that, when that raptor is locked away, it’s essentially killed, and this change completely breaks canon. While you could argue that the raptor is never shown to be dead on screen (familiar with Schrödinger’s theory?), one could make the same case for the character Ray Arnold (Samuel L Jackson), whose fate is only hinted at in the form of his severed arm, but never explicitly revealed.
Either way, Joshi will have plenty of doors to unlock in the game, so this could be the most likely scenario. According to Saber Interactive, the upcoming game has a “fully realized Isla Nublar,” including dinosaur enclosures, the Visitor Center, an abandoned mid-construction hotel, bunkers, and areas never before seen in the franchise.
When Is “Jurassic Park: Survival” Out?
There’s no release date for the game, but it will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
“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 synopsis 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.”
Are you excited about the new Jurassic Park game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!