Dino... Droppings?

Hey Internetland!

Quick post this time.

In keeping with the theme of my four-parter.

So, Jurassic World released in theatres officially today. This series is leading up to my review (stay tuned!) of the film. So to build anticipation, I'm watching through the first three in a binger/marathon. And posting my 2015-self reactions. But if you've read this far in the postings, you know that already.

I promised a quick post, so let's just get to it!




I presume to build on the excitement, it was planned that folks can piece together the story their own way. Okay... I'll Lego the bad puns....

Somehow, I don't think having the dinos outside the fence spares expenses....
(photo courtesy: TheBrickFan.com)

LEGO Jurassic World was also unleashed on the world today. When it was first announced, I pre-ordered the game for Mrs. DrthGeek well before she knew about it. She's a bit more of a Jurassic Park nut than I am. I was planning on surprising her, but I have a hard time keeping some surprises secret.

So as you may have guessed, this post is a First Impressions post about the game. I must say, the first load-up has the iconic music blast out of the surround sound speakers, just like the film. The home/load screen gives a good visual tour of what John Hammond may have dreamed his Jurassic Park could look like: part Disneyland, part Universal Studios, all ... LEGO? Definitely a LEGO version of what I assume is the theme park featured in the new film. As I type this, Mrs. DrthGeek is playing and I'm half paying attention, just to get the feel for things. Trying to avoid spoilers.

We're playing on the PlayStation 3, so the graphics are what you'd expect from the long-lived machine with hdmi video/sound output. Mix that with the LEGO graphics seen in recent game entries as Marvel Heroes or Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, and you have a basic understanding of the visuals for the game.

So far, all of the cut scenes are near exact replicas of the film, shot for shot, with the original cast voices. Of course, LEGO has incorporated it's family-friendly humour. Not that that's bad. It just makes slight changes to the expected scenes. At this moment, Mrs. DrthGeek is running around the fertile plains of the first film as Ian Malcolm, with Jeff Goldblum's voice providing the grunts and small character noises, smashing rocks and dodging LEGO versions of the Brachiosaurs. The honks and trumped calls of the dinosaurs can be heard throughout the area as John Williams' score accentuates the action.

LEGO does a top-notch job at what it does best: taking beloved films, reanimating them in plastic brick form, inserting slight humour, all while keeping the fun of playing with legos and the fun of the original source material in tact.

So far, only a few gripes: such as wonky camera angles, and a couple character's jump noises sound slightly inappropriate.... But otherwise a fairly solid game!

We'll see what else this one has to offer. I'll post a full review after I personally get some hands-on time! But for now, I get to play side-seat and just enjoy the ride!

Stay tuned for tonight's post on Jurassic Park 3!

Until then,

Stay classy, Interwebs!