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Jurassic: The Hunted Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Jurassic: The Hunted Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

It’s a Walk in the Park

The Jurassic is a period in time, a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Although humans and dinosaurs have never coexisted, the thought of man fending off such monstrous beasts undoubtedly manifested mere moments after the first dinosaur fossil was discovered. Stories of man battling dinosaurs, whether in present day or back in time, have titillated the imagination ever since. Why the history lesson you ask? Because it’s to inform you that Jurassic: The Hunted is not associated with Jurassic Park the movie, although I’m sure lawyers from both sides have scrutinized the content for copyright infringements. But no one has rights to the Jurassic name, and no one has the rights to the intellectual property of a scenario in which dinosaurs hunt man and vice versa. So let the games begin unfettered.

Jurassic: The Hunted  screenshot

Regardless of the disclaimer, this game is like being granted a hunting license in Jurassic Park. It’s a simple first-person shooter that, despite some technical flaws, is a fairly fun game. The game was developed by the people that brought you Cabella’s Big Game Hunter 2010, and although I’m sure you could care less about my distaste for hunting in real life, the only thing I’m killing in this game is time. And of course, I can reason that dinosaurs are a threat like aliens, zombies, and Saskatchewan farmers.

As part of an expedition team sent to solve the mysterious disappearance of a noted doctor, your plane encounters a terrific storm in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle and is sucked into a vortex. Craig is your character. Separated from his party he finds himself on an island teeming with dinosaurs. These great, giant lizards are huge, hungry, and harmful. You will have to make your way through the island to locate your team while avoiding or eliminating any threats.

Despite similarities to Jurassic Park, Jurassic: The Hunted has absolutely nothing on the movie in regards to production values. Regardless of advances in console technology as well as computer animation, you won’t have to be reminded that you’re not killing real dinosaurs. The graphics are good but they’re not that good. More on them later.

Jurassic: The Hunted  screenshot

You’ll begin the game with a pistol and progress from there. The vortex that brought you to the island is actually a time portal. The island is littered with weapons from different time periods such as civil war rifles, muskets, and bows and arrows. You won’t run out of weapons or ammo, and you won’t run out of dinosaurs either because they are continuously transported to the island via the vortex. You will encounter a T-Rex, pterodactyls, and giant crabs. Unfortunately, the vortex sucks up raptors more than any other prehistoric variety. Raptors are human-sized and have been given some human qualities. In this game they aren’t as intelligent, as they all have similar attack patterns. Once you figure out how to use your latest weapon, it’s just a matter of picking these guys off before they begin circling.

Jurassic: The Hunted  screenshot

If you’re a decent shot, you’re paying attention, and there’s not an overwhelming swarm of the beasts, you should be able to get most of them before you get into too much trouble. If things start to get too hectic and you’re swamped by the swarm, you can enact a special feature called Adrenaline Burst, a form of bullet-time that slows down everything in your surroundings but you. When you activate this burst, you’ll also be able to see the enemies’ weak spots such as their heart and brains, as if you wouldn’t know where these parts where located. Targeting these areas will result in some one-shot kills. It’s a feature that doesn’t have anything to do with bullet-time, it just helps you get rid of the monsters quicker. A power-up is also available that will give you unlimited adrenaline for up to half-a-minute. As numerous and frenetic as the raptors can get, with diligent use of the weapons, power-ups, and special features you shouldn’t have any problem getting rid of them. As repetitious as the gameplay is, the various weapons and features make it more interesting. Still, this is a game best played in small doses.

There are some interesting levels that give you more of a challenge as opposed to the shooting gallery that makes up most of the gameplay. Some levels incorporate structures such as buildings and walls, destructible environments that require you to rebuild the damage to keep the dinos out. One in particular is a fort constructed with boards that need to constantly be replaced as raptors force their way through the opening. These challenges are few and far between, as most of the gameplay follows a linear and repetitive formula.

Jurassic: The Hunted  screenshot

Character models and the environments look really good. They aren’t photo-realistic, but at least you’ll instantly recognize what you’re looking at. The dinos move gracefully enough with rippling muscles and forbidding teeth that can’t help but to instill a sense of dread deep within one’s psyche. But there is plenty of slowdown when more than a couple of them appear onscreen. Repetitive and bland textures along with pop-in and control issues conspire to make Jurassic: The Hunted look like a budget title. The control issues are basic commands that don’t always register such as shots fired and commands to move your character. Voiceovers are decent given the corny dialogue. Sound effects are well recorded and varied. It’s not difficult to believe these are the sounds that dinosaurs made.

A two-player co-op mode would be a great addition, as there just isn’t enough variety to give this game much replay value. Survivor mode lets you shoot waves of dinos to your heart’s content, but you should tire of it after a few hours. It really shouldn’t take the average player longer than an afternoon or two to complete the game, which brings me to the dilemma of whether to recommend this game as a purchase or rental. You’ll become less bored if you only spend an hour with it each time, but at the same time it’s not really worth the full price.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.1 Graphics
Good character models, but there are some cheesy-looking textures. Slowdown and pop-in cheapen overall production values. 3.3 Control
Good selection of weapons, user-friendly control scheme. Some glitches with commands. 4.3 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Great sound effects, especially the dinosaurs screeches, screams, and roars. 2.9 Play Value
Good FPS but not worth full price. Limited replay value. 3.0 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • First-person action featuring hours of prehistoric excitement.
  • Compelling sci-fi story mode brings players back in time through the Bermuda Triangle, lost in the brutal age of the dinosaurs.
  • Utilize the Adrenaline Burst feature to visualize and then target an opponent’s weak points in slow motion.
  • Use numerous weapons to fight over a dozen different kinds of dinosaurs in a variety of different Jurassic locales.
  • Scavenge weapons, defend barricades and work relentlessly toward returning to your own time.

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