LEGO Jurassic World Hands-On Preview

The next famous series to get the LEGO treatment from TT Games is Jurassic Park’s quadrilogy. Entitled LEGO Jurassic World, the upcoming game will feature iconic scenes and the original voice recordings from all three of the previous films, as well Jurassic World, which is due out this summer. TT Games has already seen the new film many times, but wouldn’t reveal anything to me, the canny buggers.

Instead, I played a few scenes from the first two films. You can’t do Jurassic Park without the sick triceratops, so I started out controlling Dr Ellie Sattler and Gerry Harding as they nurse the dino back to health. It plays very much like all the other LEGO games, with each character having a unique power as well as the ability to smash things and build them into other things. To heal the triceratops, three items appeared floating over its head, so we were off to find ourselves a carrot and some other stuff.

Harding can shoot things and find fertile spots to plant seeds, while Sattler can plant the seeds and also go diving into mountains of dinosaur poop to find things like lollipops. Yes, lollipops. TT Games’ signature humour at work again. It makes a certain kind of sense. When you go to the doctor as a kid, you get a lollipop and feel better, right? Best not to rub them on your butt first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXNwFstNTdE

The next scene was the other classic from the first film; the T-Rex attacking the group in their jeeps at night. This one featured Alan Grant, armed with his raptor claw for slashing at dense shrubbery, and Lex Murphy, who screams a lot so the developers gave her the power to shatter glass. Once again, the quirky TT Games humours rears its head as you build a giant LEGO jack-in-the-box with a squeaky rubber bone to distract the T-Rex.

A lot of the scenes use the original VO from the films, but the developers have also greatly expanded Mr DNA. “Obviously, Jurassic Park, the first film was recorded a number of years ago now,” said Associate Producer Tim Wileman. “It goes back to wanting to create the most authentic experience we can, so where we can we use original VO, we use original music. We’ve painstakingly created the entire Jurassic Parks and World to ensure those are authentic as possible. We’ve got some new characters in the game, we’ve got bespoke lines that have been put together for the game. For example, Mr DNA is making a comeback. He’ll be there to not only guide you around Jurassic World but also give you educational facts and informative facts on some of the dinosaurs.”

You’ll also find DNA helixes littered around the landscape. These are the basis of the hints system – give them a poke and they’ll show you what you need next. The game isn’t particularly complex but for younger gamers, or those time when you’re missing the bleeding obvious, it’s useful to have.

Jeff Goldblum’s character, Ian Malcolm is obviously part of the game as well. His characters spends a lot of time panicking, head dramatically held in hands but he has his uses as well. “Ian Malcolm, he’s one of the iconic stand-out characters from two of the films and we want him as he is,” said Wileman. “He’s funny, classic one-liners. He’s a chaotician, so he’ll have his own special ability. He’s able to solve complex formulas in the environment and that will help you to unlock hidden areas and solve puzzles, things like that.”

While the scene with Dr Malcolm’s creepy laugh is definitely in the game, I suspect the amazing remix by DJ/producer Mikey Diserio (a.k.a) Flipshot won’t be featured.

Outside the standard story mode, you’ll also be able to breed your own dinosaurs. Each of the 20 playable dinosaurs has unique attributes – the triceratops can charge into things and knock them over, while the InGen version of the dilophosaurus can spit acid. Finding certain elements around the game will earn you dinosaur DNA. Plug those into the dinosaur customiser and you’ll be able to create your own dinos to battle it out in an arena. Dinosaur blood sports are a thing now.

LEGO Jurassic World will be out in June on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita and PC.