Jurassic Park: Survival

Jurassic Park: Survival

Developer(s) Savage Entertainment
Publisher(s) Vivendi / Konami
Designer(s) Michael Kirkbride (senior designer)[1]
Programmer(s) John Lafleur (programmer / project leader)[2]
Artist(s) Rob Stahl (art director)[3]
Engine Sabertooth
Platform(s) PC
PlayStation 2
Xbox
Release date(s) Cancelled release date:
November 2001
(PS2)(Xbox)
Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player
Distribution DVD ROM

Jurassic Park: Survival is a cancelled action-adventure video game that was in development by Savage Entertainment and was to be published by Konami.[4] Based upon the Jurassic Park franchise, the game was to be released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in November 2001.[5] A PC version of the game was also planned.[2] The game was cancelled due to conflicts with Vivendi over payments. In North America, the game was expected to receive a Teen rating.[6]

Gameplay

Jurassic Park: Survival was to be played from a third-person perspective with David Vaughn–a member of a security team–as the main character.[6] In its preview video,[7] gameplay appeared similar to a survival horror game, with additional action-adventure elements such as climbing, crawling, rolling, shoot rolling, jumping and swimming, as well as other platforming strategies to outwit the dinosaurs instead of trying to take them head on.[8]

Vaughn's enemies would have included eight dinosaur species and four different types of military officers. A fictionalized version of Troodon with glowing eyes would have been featured in the game,[8] and was later implemented into Jurassic Park: The Game. Dinosaur AI was meant to be an integral part of the game; dinosaurs would be able to lure the main character into traps, hunt in packs, and retreat for reinforcements if needed.[9]

Vaughn's weapons would have included a pistol, an electric prod, and a grenade launcher.[6] Vaughn would also carry a PDA with him, which could be used to contact team members for assistance.[8] An item known as the "phero pack" could also be carried around and dropped in certain locations to lure dinosaurs to Vaughn's human enemies and attack them.[9] Puzzles were also to play a major role in the game.[8] Stealth was also a significant part of gameplay, as Vaughn could complete objectives easier by avoiding detection from guards and spotlights while inside enemy encampments.[9] Vaughn could also use computer terminals located throughout the game to access security cameras for a better view of the area and nearby enemies.[10]

The game would have featured 12 large levels, located in swamps, dense forests, huge underground caves and networks of tunnels, military outposts, a marina, a terrorist camp, jungles, and a hatchery. A tram would have been used to transport Vaughn from one location to another.[8] A driving mode was also planned, in which Vaughn could drive an all-terrain vehicle,[8][10] or drive a Jeep being chased by a Tyrannosaurus.[10]

Chacko Sonny, a founder of Savage Entertainment, described the company's goal on the game as "Die-Hard meets Jurassic Park."[11]

Plot

According to IGN, the game's story would have involved a secret third island, where wild dinosaurs roam while others are contained in security areas. The U.S. Government, concerned about dinosaur overpopulation, sends a security team to the island to aid scientists who are studying the animals' behavior. David Vaughn, the main character, is among the security team. A "shadow organization," interested in dinosaur DNA, locates a government insider on the security team and launches an attack, taking full control of the island. Vaughn goes on to explore the island and rescue scientists and other security members.[8]

According to GameSpot, David Vaughn would have been a security officer at the now-closed Jurassic Park, where his job would be to prevent dinosaurs from escaping the island and multiplying. Unknown to Vaughn, his boss and head of security on the island, has made a deal with a shadow corporation to supply it with dinosaur DNA, followed by the destruction of the island to give the shadow corporation an edge in DNA research. Vaughn's mission would be to keep the dinosaurs on the island while rescuing his security co-workers.[10]

According to PlanetPS2.com, the game would have been set on Isla Sorna, with Vaughn as a security design technician.[11]

Development

Savage Entertainment began development of the game in June 1998,[2] when Jurassic Park III was announced by Universal Pictures.[12] Universal announced the game in August 2000, stating that it would be based on Jurassic Park III. In October 2000, it was announced that Savage would be developing the game, which was titled Jurassic Park III at that time.[13] By November 2000, an Xbox version of the game was scheduled for a tentative release in the third or fourth quarter of 2001.[14] In April 2001, a PlayStation 2 version of the game was set for release on November 14, 2001.[15]

In May 2001, the game was officially unveiled as Jurassic Park: Survival, with no relation to Jurassic Park III.[10][11] A trailer for the game was released later that month at E3.[16] In June 2001, Universal announced they had partnered with advertising agency Kovel-Fuller to create a multi-million dollar advertising campaign for the game, consisting of national television and printed ads.[17]

Savage utilized their high-performance Sabertooth engine to develop the game. It would have been the first Sabertooth-developed PlayStation 2 video game to be released.[11] Swingin' Ape Studios worked with Savage to help create levels and other aspects of the game,[8] including its ATV level.[6] Each dinosaur's mesh data was based on models created by Stan Winston, followed by high resolution photographs being taken of the models to help create the game's dinosaur graphics. Each of the game's dinosaur models used a maximum of 1,500 polygons, a low number for the PlayStation 2. This allowed the game more polycounts for its large levels.[18]

Savage continued working on the game until July 2001.[19] The game had been cancelled after Vivendi purchased Universal Interactive.[2] On November 5, 2001, Savage confirmed they were no longer working on the game due to conflicts of Vivendi-Universal not providing funding to Savage.[20]

Sound

The game was to use the same dinosaur sounds from Jurassic Park III. During development, Universal was in the process of negotiating the use of the film's musical score in the game.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Kirkbride". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "John Lafleur resume". JohnLafleur.com. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Rob Stahl". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Going Savage". IGN.com. October 5, 2000. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ Mowatt, Todd (July 17, 2001). "Previews section>PSX2 section>Complete Listing>"J" section>Jurassic Park III: Survival preview". Electronic Playground website. Archived from the original on 2001-07-02.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Jurassic Park: Survivor Preview". GameSpot.com. May 14, 2001. Archived from the original on 2015-03-03.
  7. ↑ Jurassic Park: Survival
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Perry, Douglass C. (May 9, 2001). "Jurassic Park: Survival preview". www.IGN.com. Archived from the original on 2001-05-15.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Turner, Ben (May 11, 2001). "First Looks – Jurassic Park: Survival (page 2)". www.PlanetPS2.com. Archived from the original on 2001-05-26.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Satterfield, Shane (May 9, 2001). "First look: Jurassic Park: Survivor". www.GameSpot.com. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Turner, Ben (May 11, 2001). "First Looks – Jurassic Park: Survival". www.PlanetPS2.com. Archived from the original on 2003-04-07.
  12. ↑ Cox, Dan (June 30, 1998). "‘Jurassic 3′ slated by U". Variety. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Savage Commences on Jurassic Park III". www.IGN.com. October 5, 2000. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Xbox American Release Dates". XboxWeb.com. November 7, 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-11-21.
  15. ↑ "PS2 American Release Dates". SonyWeb.com. April 9, 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-04-13.
  16. ↑ "Jurassic Park: Survivor Movie 1". www.GameSpot.com. May 23, 2001. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Universal Interactive Studios Chooses Kovel/Fuller for Global Ad Campaigns". Yahoo. June 18, 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-06-26.
  18. ↑ Turner, Ben (May 11, 2001). "First Looks – Jurassic Park: Survival (page 3)". PlanetPS2.com. Archived from the original on 2001-06-19.
  19. ↑ "News section". www.SavageSite.com. July 31, 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-11-12.
  20. ↑ "'Jurassic Park Survival' Canned". www.DansJP3Page.com. November 5, 2001. Archived from the original on 2002-12-31.

External links