Jurassic Park by Telltale Games

[KatieHal]

This one just came out--anyone play it yet? I'm curious to hear how it is!

[Lambonius]

Folks at Telltale's forums are calling it out for being unbelievably buggy.  Haven't played it yet or read any full reviews though.

[wilco64256]

Yeah if you look at their forum (probably a bad idea that they only have ONE forum for a released game) it's absolutely swamped with complaints about technical issues.  This is particularly troubling seeing as how they delayed the game's release by 7 months just to keep working on stuff so people are pretty upset that there are sitll so many problems going on.

[Lambonius]

Reviews I've read so far are pretty well split between those "gamers" who don't care at all about gameplay and only wanted JP4--they love it--and everyone else who is pissed that Telltale would spend so much time releasing that interactive movie filth and call it a "game."  As you might imagine, I don't think I'll be purchasing it.

Also, it irritates the piss out of me that Telltale developers defending the game's design keep referring to the "press-x-to-not-die" elements as "QTE-like", when they are clearly exactly the same thing.  Morons.

This just makes it that much more disconcerting that THESE are the guys who hold the future of King's Quest in their hands.

(Posted on: November 16, 2011, 07:55:53 PM)

One last bit of rant, then I'm done:

It seems to me that the fact that they delayed the game 7 months and STILL couldn't release a quality product is proof that their oh-so-high-and-mighty-tight-development-schedule business model needs to be reconsidered.

[KatieHal]

Hmm. That's a bit concerning and unfortunate to hear. Are they saying it's as easy as BttF was? Or just that it's too much "QTE-like" with the puzzles?

[Cez]

in all fairness, I think that the reason why they delayed the game was so that they could have released all episodes in one go, as opposed to monthly releases, and therefore do a retail release --and I think this happened as a result of they becoming official Xbox third party developers. If they had released in April, it would have been only the first episode. Or am I wrong? I haven't really followed the development, and I was surprised to hear they would do all episodes in one go --I only heard this recently.

Still, they should have made sure that the game wasn't buggy, but hey, aren't games like Skyrim buggy as hell, too? Nor that I'm trying to say that this is alright.

[Lambonius]

Still, they should have made sure that the game wasn't buggy, but hey, aren't games like Skyrim buggy as hell, too? Nor that I'm trying to say that this is alright.

True, but games like Skyrim are hundreds of hours long with near limitless replay value.  I hear this game can be finished in under 5 hours, with pretty much no branching paths at all.  HUGE difference. 

[wilco64256]

in all fairness, I think that the reason why they delayed the game was so that they could have released all episodes in one go, as opposed to monthly releases. If they had released in April, it would have been only the first episode. Or am I wrong? I haven't really followed the development, and I was surprised to hear they would do all episodes in one go --I only heard this recently.

Still, they should have made sure that the game wasn't buggy, but hey, aren't games like Skyrim buggy as hell, too? Nor that I'm trying to say that this is alright.

I actually have only encountered one minor bug in Skyrim that forced me to restart the system.  And it was a totally random thing that would probably have been very difficult for Bethesda to narrow down and fix.  The complaints about JP however seem to be pretty consistent and sound to me like they should have been noticed and fixable prior to release.  Especially a lot of the graphics complaints where people with even really high-end systems are seeing a lot of lag and graphical problems in the game.

I agree with Lamb that most of the reviews seem to be polarized, people either really loved the game (those who didn't have graphical problems have said the graphics were really amazing) or they hated the simplicity and really tore Telltale a new one for this not being an actual "game" as much as a barely interactive cinematic experience.

I haven't actually played the game yet, but I'll probably take a swing at it at some point once I can filter through the chaos on their forums and figure out which system it's supposed to be working the best on.

[MusicallyInspired]

I'll wait for the demo.

[Fierce Deity]

Reviews I've read so far are pretty well split between those "gamers" who don't care at all about gameplay and only wanted JP4--they love it--and everyone else who is pissed that Telltale would spend so much time releasing that interactive movie filth and call it a "game."

So it's a lot like Back to the Future then? Although I was a fan that wanted a sequel to BttF and enjoyed the story for what it was, it didn't make for such a great game in my opinion. I feel like Tell Tale has drawn themselves into this category of providing fans with "hope". At this point, they don't need to excel in creating innovative ideas for their genre of choice. They just have to find a series that is no longer being made, get the rights to make a new title for that series, make a mediocre title, and then watch as the fans' money is reeled in.

I like their Sam and Max titles, Tales of Monkey Island, and like I said, Back to the Future brought back the nostalgia that I was looking for. But if this is what they are going to become, I think I can pass on every subsequent release of theirs.

[Cez]

Biggest problem is telltale has become too big for their own good. They have been true to what they've always offered however. Telltale has never offered great adventure games, they've always offered great characters and great stories, so I guess that on that angle they've continued to deliver. I tried BttF and I was bored halfway through, but I'll probably keep going to see if it gets better. I'm never been a fan of JP and as much as I
Loved Heavy Rain, JP doesn't appeal to me. Maybe one day when I'm done with the games that do appeal to me.

[MikPal]

Isn't it funny how a book about how genetically engineered dinosaurs wouldn't be real dinosaurs, 'cause they lack the learned social behaviours, gets turned into a "don't play god, dude"-movie? Or how the sequel book that followed the same theme of learned social behaviours, and added another layer with the question of how much we actually can tell about the behaviours of extinct animals and how the future generations will laugh at us for believing in stupid things, into a movie about why hunters are bad (though I still can't understand why the death of a dinosaur is played as something dramatic, but a T-Rex eating a human is played as comedy)? I think it was Levine, who said in The Lost World something along the lines of "don't trust what you see in the movies."

[Rosella]

The only thing I know about this is that both it and Back to the Future have commercials on GameStop TV.

It really makes me hope that we'll get commercials for their KQ reboot too.

[Lambonius]

At this point, they don't need to excel in creating innovative ideas for their genre of choice. They just have to find a series that is no longer being made, get the rights to make a new title for that series, make a mediocre title, and then watch as the fans' money is reeled in.

This.  For the love of God, THIS.  You just encapsulated exactly what pisses me off about Telltale.

[crayauchtin]

If this is the direction King's Quest is headed, I'm reeeeeeeeeeeally sad.

[Lambonius]

You know, I really hate the term "epic fail," and I try to never use it on principle, but this...THIS...is an E P I C  F A I L.

Hahahahaha...wow.  And I really didn't think I could lose MORE respect for Telltale than I already have (well, to be fair, they haven't butchered King's Quest YET.)  Wow.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/jurassic-park-user-reviews-abused-6346288/

[wilco64256]

Oh man that's just... bad.  Especially when they're the only reviews currently on the metacritic site it REALLY makes them stand out.

I particularly love this line from one of the reviews in question - "The company that championed the adventure game genre delivers yet another solid game..."  Yeah, ok.

[Lambonius]

First professional review I've seen:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/11/17/jurassic-park-video-review?objectid=76989&show=HD

IGN gave it a 5.5--from a reviewer who is a self-proclaimed Telltale fan.  He highlights significant problems with both the story and the ham-fisted Heavy Rain-lite gameplay.

I know I'm a cynic, but I'd really like to see this game crash and burn so Telltale will cull the designers responsible for this "casualization" BS out of the fold and get back to making actual GOOD adventure games again.  Hopefully in time for King's Quest.

On a lighter note, maybe now that JP is out the door, we might start hearing some details about KQ soon?  I hope?

(Posted on: November 18, 2011, 01:38:33 AM)

And as expected, the abysmal reviews just keep coming in.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I am thoroughly enjoying the much-deserved calling out Telltale is receiving for this s***.

http://www.1up.com/reviews/jurassic-park-the-game-pc-ps3-xbos360

[CaptainD]

Each game series TellTale have released has gone further away from the point and click adventure game.  I haven't played much of Jurassic Park yet but I'm disappointed, it's much most casual game material than adventure game.

I don't mind all that much as long as Sam & Max and Tales of Monkey Island stay true to their roots... if those series ended up becoming like this, I would be massively disappointed.

[MusicallyInspired]

This game sucks. I've been trying out the 360 version and it's utterly boring. It's cringingly loaded with cliches and bad movie tie-in jokes. And the gameplay is only a silouhette of what Heavy Rain was. I enjoyed Heavy Rain. The gameplay (we are still dealing with a GAME here) was actually good. The speed in which you performed the controls, for instance, actually affected the timing in the game. In Jurassic Park, it almost never does. And the control schemes are usually pretty simple and straightforward. No challenge at all. Heavy Rain did it in a far more interesting way.

Oh yeah, and you can't save. You have to solve each "chapter" so it can be unlocked so you can play it at any time. If you're almost to the end of a "chapter" and have to run quickly, well too bad. Next time you come back you'll haev to start all over. And there's NO WAY TO SKIP CUTSCENES. So if you DID have to quit prematurely then you'll have to sit through the same cutscenes all over again to get to where you were.

Also, at least in Heavy Rain you could WALK. I was right. This "game" is garbage. I don't even feel like finishing it and I'm trying to make myself. I never thought I'd ever say it, but Back to the Future is a much better game. I'm glad I never bought it. I would not recommend anybody sinking their hard-earned into this...interactive movie. I don't even care what happens to the barbasol can.