Jurassic World Aftermath Collection is a game primarily built for a VR platform. While it may not feature realistic visuals, it has a nice cell-shaded style, and with the jump to PSVR 2, the game comes fully supported with all the bells and whistles of Sony’s shiny new headset. As a normal game, it might not be as appealing, but on a VR headset, it can be quite fun, albeit with some repetitive gameplay.
Jurassic World Aftermath Collection is set between the events of Jurassic World and its sequel, Fallen Kingdom. The game stars a completely new protagonist, Sam. It opens up with the player controlling Sam on an airplane. It takes some time to learn the ins and outs of the controls since this is a PSVR 2 release, which means it’s also a quick, short tutorial. However, the airplane soon comes under attack by a group of Pteranodon, which ends up making it crash-land on the island of Isla Nublar.
Speaking honestly, the opening doesn’t offer the “wow” factor because as soon as the airplane starts to crash, the game just fades to black and then opens up with the player finding themselves on the island as a T-Rex pays a small visit. It soon leaves while providing the player with a closer look at its majestic self. The gameplay then shifts to exploring the island and seeing the aftermath of the destruction that happened after the events of Jurassic World. The gameplay feels minimal because this is mainly a stealth-focused game where the focus is on exploration, puzzles, and avoiding the dinosaurs that are out there to taste the sweet meat of Sam.
The controls feel nicely designed around the DualSense controllers. Aside from the typical VR jank that we expect from the controls, they mostly worked solidly for me. I also found the visuals to be crisp and clear, although it does show some dated textures. The dinosaurs are nice to look at, and with them up close and personal, it feels like we are transported inside Jurassic World. The game also offers both standing and sitting options so you can play it with your preferred playstyle.
Jurassic World Aftermath Collection brings the complete game that was originally released in two parts for the Oculus Quest headset. It features the voice of the legendary Jeff Goldblum and the talents of Laura Bailey acting as the main narrator of the events in the story. The puzzles mostly revolve around using tools found around the environment, and as a VR game, I found their usage cool at first, but they can grow repetitive over time. The same applies to the stealth sections in the game, which are fun in the beginning, but then we go to the next encounter, and it’s like we have to go through the same routine again. I guess it is more suited for hardcore fans of the franchise who want to explore a game themed around Jurassic World and its dinosaurs, but for casual players, it might be a little boring.
It would have been cool to explore some open environments in the game, but it feels like the game is most suited to closed locations and linear corridors. This takes away some of the wow factor that we can see in VR, like, say, Horizon: Call of the Wild. On the positive side, the sound is done well with good use of 3D audio. The dinosaurs do sound scary, but as said before, their encounters tend to be overplayed and overdone. It is a game that feels like it is better suited to newcomers to gaming rather than experienced players. The easy difficulty and relatively simple controls are a double-edged sword here.
Overall, though, I would consider my playtime with Jurassic World Aftermath Collection to be fun. It is a short game that won’t take a lot of hours to sit through, but as a VR experience, the replay value is there if you want to go through the game with family or friends. As a launch title for PSVR 2, I would recommend it because of its budget price and decent replay value, but as a game itself, it is weak.
Jurassic World Aftermath Collection Game Information
- Price: $29.99
- Publisher: Coatsink Software
- Developer: Coatsink Software
- Platform: PSVR 2 (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
