Jurassic World Revealed offers limited dino play with Amazon Alexa

Jurassic World Revealed is an interactive story for Alexa enabled devices that lets players play a parallel story to the Jurassic World movie.

Interactive stories aren’t exactly a new genre as choose-your-own-adventure games and books have been around for some time. Jurassic World Revealed combines this genre with technology, audiobooks, and podcasting to produce something that’s a little new in comparison but still somehow falls flat. The “game” is produced by Universal and Earplay and features six chapters.

Earlier this month, Bethesda released Skyrim for Alexa — originally a joke advertisement at E3 that somehow became real. However, where Skyrim Very Special Edition excels over Jurassic World Revealed, is that it continues the joke of Skyrim being released on everything (and has some hilarious moments in-game to boot). Jurassic World Revealed in comparison is less than entertaining.

Story

The story runs parallel to the movie plot, providing additional insight into the Jurassic World universe. You’re part of a news crew that has snuck onto the island to get the inside scoop on what’s going on. It is a move that sounds very ill-advised considering the island is going to erupt and full of dinosaurs, not all of which are plant eaters. Additionally, the man who owns the boat that got you there isn’t keen on sticking around. Your first option is if you should pay him or hold onto your money as leverage to keep him from abandoning you. After that, you divvy up who carries what supplies and wander into the wilderness. Your first big dino encounter is with a Stegosaurus, and you decide how to interact with it.

Overall, the story falls flat. The characters are forgettable and the dialog is bland. It’s unclear if your choices actually change the story much, or make any impact at all. The experience is not immersive as it could be due to poor explanations of what’s going on. If there was a narrator involved that described the scenes in better detail, perhaps it would be easier to imagine the world and feel more involved with the story.

Here’s an audio preview of the game just to get a feel:

Gameplay

The main way you play this “game” is by responding to either-or options. Unlike popular Telltale games or even the recent Detroit Become Human, Jurassic World Revealed doesn’t have the benefit of visuals. There’s no indication of how long you have to answer when given a choice, nor can you get a clear understanding of what’s happening in the world around you.

Final Thoughts

The genre of interactive stories leaves much to be desired when you compare it to more traditional video gaming. It feels like going back in time to old-timey radio shows, except in a far less interesting and entertaining way. Jurassic World Revealed feels like something that was aimed towards younger children, especially with some of the choices given. I find it hard to believe anyone would be entertained by the interactive story once the initial and quick-lived novelty wears off.

The first chapter is available as a free demo, so it doesn’t hurt to check it out. You then have the option to purchase the additional five premium chapters for $3.99 for a limited time. Starting June 29, the premium content will be available for $4.99.

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