When Universal and Saber Interactive unveiled “Jurassic Park: Survival” in late 2023, fans were buzzing with excitement. Set just 24 hours after the events of the 1993 film, the first-person action-adventure promises to let players explore Isla Nublar — not only the likes of its iconic Visitor Center, but also brand-new areas that never made it to the big screen.
The game stars Dr. Maya Joshi (played by Payal Mistry), an InGen scientist left behind when the evacuation took place. As raptors and the T. rex roam freely, players must navigate an Isla Nublar devastated by storms, broken fences, and lingering dangers.
Universal and Saber Interactive have promised a meticulously-built map, “room by room, level by level,” designed to immerse players in the aftermath of Spielberg’s classic. But the question isn’t just about locations and dinosaurs — what about the humans?
While many viewers recall the grisly ends of Mr. Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson), Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck), Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight), and Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), several characters did escape the island alive.
However, Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and the Murphy siblings, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joe Mazzello), could, in theory, make cameo appearances, whether as recordings or even DLC chapters. John Hammond himself might still have influence through memos, phone calls, or flashbacks.
And there’s no reason to think this kind of expansion is unrealistic. Fans of 2014's first-person survival horror “Alien: Isolation” will remember that while the main campaign followed Ripley’s daughter Amanda, add-on missions let players briefly step into the boots of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) herself aboard the Nostromo.
“Jurassic Park: Survival” could follow a similar model, offering bite-sized expansions where players control the likes of Alan or Ellie during unseen moments of the escape.
As for characters who ended up on the wrong end of the food chain, “Survival” could feature them in some shape or form. Again, whether through DLCs, side-missions, flashbacks, or video logs, the likes of Nedry and Muldoon may yet return to Jurassic Park.
The game has already confirmed the return of iconic dinosaurs, including the raptor left for dead in the kitchen freezer in the 1993 film, and the animated mascot Mr. DNA.
“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 synopsis for the game reads.
Recently, a new behind-the-scenes video showcasing the game was unveiled:
There’s no release date for “Jurassic Park: Survival”.
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