Credit: Universal PicturesJurassic Park (1993) is one of the greatest films of all time. Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi blockbuster classic has given us everything from sequels to real theme park attractions, video games to animated shows, comic books to tie-in novels, and more.
But somehow, it has managed to survive 34 years without being rebooted.
Jurassic Park Is Getting Another “Soft Reboot”
Of course, Jurassic World (2015) is often described as a “soft reboot” as it essentially retells the same story as the 1993 film: a fully functional theme park and a dinosaur breakout.
However, first and foremost, that film is a sequel. But while an upcoming Jurassic Park entry is also a follow-up to the original classic (albeit much closer in time), it also promises to be a reinvention, allowing fans to experience the wonder and terror of that fateful tour.
Jurassic Park (1993) Is Returning With a New Name
Developed by Saber Interactive, Jurassic Park: Survival is an upcoming first-person action-adventure set just 24 hours after the events of the first film. Players will assume the role of Dr. Maya Joshi (voiced and performed in motion capture by Payal Mistry), an InGen scientist who failed to evacuate with her co-workers and must now outlast the deadliest creatures to have ever walked the Earth using intelligence, stealth, and available resources.
What’s Survival About?
“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 official synopsis reads.
It continues: “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 first official trailer premiered at the Game Awards in December 2023.
While mostly cinematic, it signals that Survival will recreate several familiar moments from the original 1993 film, including the raptor kitchen scene and the Dilophosaurus encounter.
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Films Won’t Be Returning to Theaters, Will Continue on the Small Screen
Since the trailer, we’ve had a behind-the-scenes featurette from Saber and Universal, which reveals everything including the game’s highly-detailed environments, its realistic dinosaur models, gameplay features, an appearance from the actress playing Dr. Maya Joshi, as well as plenty of commentary from key figures at the developer and the publisher.
Some of their comments reinforce the idea that, while Survival is indeed a direct sequel to the 1993 film, it is also very much a “soft reboot” not unlike 2015’s Jurassic World.
Survival Is a Sequel and a Soft Reboot
Many fans believed that the official trailer’s “whistlestop tour” of iconic moments from the original film was simply nothing more than some cinematic nostalgia-baiting. While that’s also true, the game’s creative director Oliver-Hollis Leick confirms in the BTS video that players will get to experience memorable situations from Jurassic Park (1993) in the game.
“When we were deciding how to introduce the raptors, one thing that jumped out to us was, ‘What if we could make the player experience what Lex and Tim did in the kitchen?'” Leick says, adding “that and other sequences like it are meant to put you in the shoes of those movie characters to experience the terror for yourself.” Watch the official video below:
Beyond the iconic kitchen sequence and the Dilophosaurus encounter, it’s unclear what some of these sequences are. However, we can expect tense moments in a vehicle of some kind (which has long become a signature Jurassic sequence), and a chase involving the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is teased in both the trailer and the featurette.
The game has “a fully realized Isla Nublar” with familiar locations like the iconic park gates and the Visitor Center, along with never-before-seen areas like a hotel in mid-construction, underground bunkers, dinosaur enclosures, and other buildings and attractions.
Jurassic Park: Survival will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. There’s no release date.
Are you excited about the new Jurassic Park game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!