‘Tales From A Jurassic World’ – Season Two of Fan-Produced Audio Drama Releasing June 7th

Hey Jurassic Outpost readers! Guest contributor Tom Jurassic here, and I am super excited to share that there will be a second season of ‘Tales From A Jurassic World’ debuting from June 7th to celebrate Jurassic June this year.

Haven’t heard of this audio drama before? No problem! In this article I’ll introduce you to the world of TFAJW, and will give you a flavour of what you have to look forward to when the second season debuts in a couple of short weeks.

Tales From A Jurassic World was created to answer a fundamental question which many of us had after watching Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – how does our society respond when dinosaurs are loose in the wilds of mainland USA?

The series is told from the perspective of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, with Agents Ben Morrison and Lucy Brown attending to a variety of scenarios where dinosaurs are integrating with the everyday lives of people across the country. The first season runs from an encounter with a Stygimoloch at a gas station (yes, that Stygimoloch), all the way through to a thrilling climax which sees the agents come face-to-jaw with the Allosaurus we saw in Battle at Big Rock. 

The series was born in October of 2022 – with a Halloween Special which premiered on The Jurassic Park Podcast, and although the series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory now plays within the same space, the crew behind TFAJW are working hard to conclude the story first set in motion with the initial season.

The second season of the audio drama promises more of what fans enjoyed about the first season alongside some nostalgic tributes and moments which are likely to shock and delight fans of the franchise in equal measure. 

Season Two’s opening episode rewinds the clock to the early 2000s – after the events of Jurassic Park III, and allows us to return to Isla Sorna alongside Howard King and a team of mercenaries undertaking an important mission. This episode sets to sow the seeds of BioSyn’s future in InGen’s past – something which will lead to the company eventually overtaking the former leader in genetics experimentation after the events of Jurassic World.

The second season promotes Howard King to a season regular, and will see the US Fish and Wildlife Agents grapple with increasingly deadly and dangerous animals – including some fan favourites returning from Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous.

It’s fair to say that TFAJW is only possible because of the wonderful community of Jurassic fans. We have so many voice actors who give their time and energy to this project voluntarily, and even have a professional composer who has opted to support the project as and where he can.

I’d particularly like to shout out Jared Ransom, Ashli Friel, Antonio Bustos and Brooks Leibee – all people who have been invaluable contributors throughout the process of developing this show. 

This project is really created by fans of this franchise for fans. We hope that you join us this June, and share in a story which excites us as we imagine the wonder and horror of a world where dinosaurs are a part of our everyday existence.

So, what are you waiting for? 

Subscribe on YouTube, and catch up on Tales From A Jurassic World Season 1 today! 

Huge thanks to Caleb, Jack and the rest of the team at Jurassic Outpost for making this feature possible. We really appreciate the added exposure this will bring to our show – and who knows, perhaps you’ll hear a couple of your favourite InGeneral hosts playing characters in Season Two! 

Who Should Compose the Music for Jurassic World 4?

Jurassic World 4 is stampeding its way into theaters next year on July 2, 2025! Gareth Edwards is directing, David Koepp is writing, Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall are executive producing, Scarlett Johansson is in talks to star, but there are still some unknowns…

Who’s going to shoot this film? (Greig Fraser?)

Who will create the visual effects?

Who’s going to fill the rest of the cast?

Who’s going to be creating sound?

Who… will compose the music?

Music – both orchestral and otherwise – is an integral bone in the Jurassic skeleton, and an irreplaceable part of the art and filmmaking that go into creating all of the films we love. When it comes to the narrative mediums of film and television, fans of Jurassic have experienced scores from the greatest film composer of all time, John Williams, the amazing Double D Don Davis, the inimitable Michael Giacchino, and incredibly gifted newcomers like Amie Doherty and Leo Birenberg. Whoever is brought on board by Gareth Edwards and producers to create the musical world for the next Jurassic film will be joining some pretty fantastic dinosaur music company. Will it be someone familiar, or someone new? My hope and my bet is on some new blood, but… we shall see!

Let’s talk about who we think should be the composer for the next Jurassic movie!


John Williams

The obvious choice! And while we know the GOAT Johnny Williams coming back to Jurassic isn’t too likely to happen, we had to take the time to mention it and dream for a second about John Williams Jurassic music. Jurassic Park? The Lost World? Near the top of his most iconic scores! Imagine if he came back, even just to write a new theme or piece of music like he did exceptionally well for SOLO? He has returned to other franchises to continue his musical legacy before, so it wouldn’t be unheard of. The circumstances, timing, and story would all have to line up… Regardless, we’ll always have Malcolm’s Journey as the underscore to one of the best Jurassic moments.


Amie Doherty

The next choice on our list is the composer of Jurassic World short film Battle at Big Rock, which was a hit with pretty much every Jurassic fan – it was a great display of the awe and terror that comes with dinosaurs being loose in the world, solidified by Amie’s use of Jurassic musical themes both classic and new. Musically she goes from the Jurassic World theme, to utter terror, to the Jurassic Park and Lost World themes, all within about 10 minutes. Her Jurassic experience combined with her work since then on projects like Spirit Untamed, Undone, and She-Hulk demonstrate her command of the orchestra and thematic skills, making her a perfect choice for a future Jurassic movie.


Sarah Schachner

Composer of the Predator franchise film Prey Sarah Schachner is next on our list. She also created the scores for The Lazarus Effect, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare I & II, Assassins Creed: Valhalla, Anthem, and multiple other video games and series. She has experience adapting previous thematic material into new projects with Prey while simultaneously creating something fresh and new. On top of her experience in the science-fiction realm, her video game music is top-notch, emotional, and action-packed – she could be a great musical fit for the next Jurassic.


Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous composer Leo Birenberg would be a solid talent to call upon for the next Jurassic film. His work over 5 seasons and 50 episodes of the show contain some excellent Jurassic music, fitting in perfectly with the island settings and dinosaurs throughout. He and his scoring partner Zach Robinson have worked recently on Cobra Kai, Twisted Metal, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Their modern style with familiar orchestral elements could work well with a modern Jurassic story, not to mention, having another composer with a bit of Jurassic experience would be great!


Hans Zimmer

The next composer finds himself on our list in part because he has experience working with director Gareth Edwards on his latest feature The Creator. No doubt you’ll recognize the name of legendary musician and film composer Hans Zimmer! He’s created countless iconic scores for films like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, Dune, and Gladiator (to name only a few). His music from Backdraft was used in an incredible trailer for The Lost World: Jurassic Park, so technically he has touched Jurassic before! His connection to Gareth and iconic, engrossing music are big upsides, and while his more modern style doesn’t really fit Jurassic at all in my opinion, his more orchestral music in the past would give me hope if he were chosen to score the next Jurassic.


James Newton Howard

James Newton Howard: composer for amazing films like Disney’s Dinosaur, Atlantis, The Hunger Games, Signs, and the 2005 King Kong remake – has a strong musical argument to score a Jurassic film. Howard’s music exudes adventure and suspense in its brass fanfares, sweeping strings, and the overall power he provides the orchestra with his writing. He’s written breathtaking music for dinosaurs more than once already, but is also clearly able to create chilling and exciting music for science fiction, fantasy, and adventure stories. Listening to his score for Dinosaur recently… I would be very excited at the prospect of his take on a Jurassic score.


Kara Talve and Anže Rozman

Composers Kara Talve and Anže Rozman are no strangers to creating music for dinosaurs in wild global habitats. Their score for the AppleTV+ series Prehistoric Planet is massive, grand, and majestic, and they even created their own dinosaur instruments to add to the orchestra! Outside of dinosaurs their work, both separately and together, ranges from The Simpsons to Faraway Downs to BBC’s The Planets. Kara and Anže enjoy creating excitement and wonder with their music, and the vast emotional and stylistic range in their Prehistoric Planet score alone provides an intriguing foundation should they ever get the opportunity to score a Jurassic project.


Natalie Holt

Another composer who has followed in John Williams’ footsteps while also paving a path of her own is Natalie Holt. She took on the Star Wars universe with her score for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and has also scored exciting projects like The Princess, Marvel’s Loki series, Knightfall, and a project unfortunately shelved by idiot execs at Warner Brothers, Batgirl. Regardless, she did a fantastic job carrying on John Williams’ styles and themes in Obi-Wan Kenobi. That and her engaging, mysterious style on Loki would have me very intrigued to hear her take on some Jurassic music.


Joe Kraemer

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher, and The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot all boast music by composer Joe Kraemer. While those titles may not sound too related to Jurassic, their music certainly is. Kraemer’s grasp of traditional orchestra and use of brassy motifs and rhythmic strings could be great for a Jurassic adventure. His somewhat old-school approach to huge action set pieces and more intimate moments of espionage in Mission Impossible followed by the danger and uncertainty his music aids in Jack Reacher could pair very well with a science fiction dinosaur story likely filled with international intrigue and suspense.


Alexandre Desplat

Last on our list, but certainly not least, is Alexandre Desplat – a solid orchestral composer who is extremely creative thematically and in his choice of instruments. Not to mention, he’s worked with the man, the myth, the Gareth on a reptile movie before! His score catalog speaks for itself with intense and bombastic action music for Godzilla, sweeping, emotional music for the final two Harry Potter film installments, and quirky, tunes for many Wes Anderson films. He also created suspenseful, yet poignant music for The Shape of Water, and engaging thriller music for Argo. My gut says the next Jurassic score has a good chance of coming from the mind of Desplat – his experience with director Gareth Edwards is valuable, and his ability to work an orchestra to create captivating, thematic music no matter the genre could make a flawless pairing with Jurassic.


So, that’s our list of the top composers we think could score the next Jurassic – Jurassic World 4. However, there are a few honorable mentions who may also find their way to a new Jurassic project in the future: 

Jongnic Bontemps (affectionately know as JB), composer of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Henry Jackman, Marvel and Jumanji composer.

Ludwig Goransson, known for his sweeping hybrid scores for Black Panther, The Mandalorian, and Oppenheimer.

Christophe Beck, composer of Marvel projects and other great orchestral works.

John Powell of How to Train Your Dragon, Bourne, and Solo: A Star Wars Story fame.

And of course, a name that could still happen for Jurassic, Michael Giacchino, whose bombastic, sweeping, and epic music left a large dinosaur footprint on the Jurassic World trilogy. Giacchino has been the Jurassic composer for three films in a row – would it make sense for him to simply continue? He started out in the world of Jurassic by scoring The Lost World and Warpath: Jurassic Park video games before making his way onto bigger things. Similarly, Amie Doherty and Leo Birenberg have composed music for smaller Jurassic projects, and it could be a perfect time for them to move onto bigger projects as well. While I’m hoping for some new blood in the Jurassic musical world, Giacchino’s experience with Jurassic and Gareth Edwards keeps him in the possible conversation going forward.

But, we’ll have to see which composer nature (or the producers and studio) chooses to create the music for the next Jurassic story.

Who do you think should be the composer for Jurassic World 4? Who did we miss on our list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

“Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History” Book From Insight Editions Dazzles With Fantastic Images & Recollections!

Last year, ‘Jurassic Park’ fans were gifted with the “Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History” book from Insight Editions. While it may not have entirely lived up to what die-hard fans were hoping for, it was overall a great summation of the behind-the-scenes stories for the original ‘Jurassic Park’ trilogy. The entire book was also illustrated with loads of pre-production artwork & rare photographs from all three films, making it a beautiful (but deadly?) addition to any fan’s collection. They also produced a very cool cookbook & children’s book that are also worth checking out.

On October 25th, Insight Editions will release a brand-new book showcasing the making of the ‘Jurassic World’ trilogy with “Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History“.

Celebrate one of the most thrilling franchises of all time with this in-depth look at the making of the Jurassic World trilogy. Following the release of director Colin Trevorrow’s smash hit Jurassic World in 2015, the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar once again dominate the public imagination. Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History is the definitive account of the franchise – and a companion book to Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History (released in 2021) – delivering a comprehensive look at the making of the first hit film as well as its thrilling sequels Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). Through rare and never-before-seen imagery and exclusive interviews with key creatives, the deluxe volume explores the entire creative process, from the films’ stunning dinosaur designs to the epic location shoots and the creation of the films’ incredible visual effects.

The book also includes sections on the DreamWorks Animation animated series ‘Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous’, various games, toys, theme park attractions, and even the short film ‘Battle At Big Rock’. This is the first time any of the ‘Jurassic World’ films have received a behind-the-scenes book, which already makes it vital for this reason alone. But is it truly a “definitive account of the franchise” for this trilogy of films, or is it met with some the same (perhaps nitpicky) issues found in the previous book? Let’s have a look!

WHAT’S GOOD?

               VISUAL & WRITING STYLE

Just like in the previous ‘Jurassic Park’ version, this book is visually pleasing. It’s filled with as much colorful artwork and photographs as possible. The text is neatly placed within it all, and nothing ever feels too crammed or out of place. The previous book had more going on with the borders around each page, whereas this ‘Jurassic World’ version has a more barren approach. It simply features gray tabs on the sides with gray/amber-tinged headlines for each new section. This simpler approach feels appropriate with the sleeker look of the films themselves, particularly the first ‘Jurassic World’ and its park’s design.

The writing itself is clear and precise, which is vital in stitching together different information from different sources. James Mottram, who also penned the previous book, weaves the information into a distinct fabric to tell its story.

               EXCLUSIVE INTROS/OUTROS

This book includes a foreword by Bryce Dallas Howard (“Claire Dearing” in the trilogy), introduction by Colin Trevorrow (director of ‘Jurassic World’ & ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, writer of the trilogy), preface by J.A. Bayona (director of ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’), & an afterword by Frank Marshall (producer of the trilogy). Mysteriously absent from this list is Chris Pratt, but I suppose he is too busy voicing Mario these days. These exclusive passages are great bookends for the entire presentation, with each person adding their own personal tribute. They even reveal fun information, like J.A. Bayona as he details Michael Giacchino‘s fantastic music score for ‘Fallen Kingdom’:

One of my most cherished memories from making Fallen Kingdom was working with composer Michael Giacchino. We spent hours talking about film music and listening to soundtracks. There was one specific piece of music we paid attention to: Bernard Herrmann’s work for Mysterious Island (Cy Endfield, 1962). Our common goal while venturing into the musical tapestry of our movie was expressing our love for this kind of film. When I listen to Michael’s music for Fallen Kingdom, I sense our mutual desire to travel back in time and bring back the same unparalleled fascination and heartwarming happiness that those movies gave us.

               FANTASTIC COLLECTION OF IMAGES

While many of the book’s images have been revealed online over the years by various concept artists who worked on the films, it is still great to have them all cobbled together in one book as the trilogy’s history is told. Even better, there are some art and photographs that have never been seen before! Here is just a tease of what to expect!

               NEW & OBSCURE INFORMATION

Making a book like this requires many sources for quotes, stories, and other information. Website articles, television interviews, Blu-Ray bonus features; everything was sifted through to collect the data. While some, maybe even a lot, of the details could be considered “old news” to people deeply invested in this trilogy’s history, it is all well-arranged while even including new details sprinkled throughout. [NOTE: I will be honest and admit I am not as familiar with the history of the ‘Jurassic World’ trilogy as I am with the ‘Jurassic Park’ trilogy, so forgive me if any of this is not truly “new”.]

For ‘Jurassic World’, some of these fun new details include Derek Connolly never having seen a ‘Jurassic Park’ movie before when he was tasked with co-writing the script with Colin Trevorrow; production designer Ed Verreaux had sent his art department team to the Universal Studios theme park in Hollywood to photograph everything (including signage) to see what they wanted their fictional park to resemble; and concept artist David Lowery came up with an unused idea for a “Pteranodon Terrace” where guests traveled in glass gondolas hanging from a huge cable that stretched across a vast expanse of jungle (and included “food Frisbees” that would be shot out of the gondolas and snapped up midair by the flying reptiles.). However, one of the most exciting new details for me was a little more about the script written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver right before Trevorrow & Connolly were brought in to pen their draft.

Spielberg also wanted to revisit the idea of a hero character capable of training and commanding dinosaurs. These ideas manifested in the character Vance who, in the Jaffa/Silver draft’s opening scene, is seen jumping out of a helicopter with a pack of trained raptors and landing in a compound belonging to a Colombian drug dealer. Although [John] Sayles used the bipedal Deinonychus in his draft, Spielberg felt that the physically similar Velociraptors, first seen in Jurassic Park, would be a better fit for the role. The story also focused on a Chinese paleontologist who visits the now-open Jurassic Park with her sons. The scientist has a secret agenda, believing that the park’s owners have stolen DNA from bones she unearthed of a previously undiscovered dinosaur—the Malusaurus. The corporate side of the park is run by Whitney, a female manager who views the dinosaurs as commodities and nothing more. Inevitably, the Malusaurus created using the stolen DNA escapes from its enclosure, and Vance must use his raptors to hunt it down.

‘Fallen Kingdom’ includes interesting tidbits, such as Benjamin Lockwood originally having very little connection to John Hammond and the past of ‘Jurassic Park’; in its original draft they went from Isla Nublar to England where a small village gets destroyed by dinosaurs (until Steven Spielberg told them there was no credible way to make that journey happen); and the film’s fantastic opening sequence was originally just over a single page in the script, with Bayona fleshing it out further with an extended climax on the helicopter ladder while also adding Jurassic staples (like the pouring rain and the yellow raincoat worn by the tech that resembles Nedry’s apparel from Jurassic Park). The film’s title itself (along with the next film’s) proves to also have its own unique history:

“I wanted to call [the first film] Jurassic World. And the second one was Jurassic Earth, and then the third Jurassic Kingdom. The studio was like, ‘You can’t keep changing the title of the movie. You already did it once.’” Taking Universal’s feedback into consideration, Trevorrow decided to combine the overall franchise name with a subtitle, taking the word kingdom from his proposed third film and adding it to fallen, suggesting the decline of the dinosaurs’ domain.

Even the small section on the short film ‘Battle At Big Rock’ gets a nice detail on its inspiration: a YouTube video titled “Battle at Kruger“, in which tourists witness a water buffalo being attacked by lions and an alligator.

The section on ‘Dominion’ reveals that a scene featuring Daniella Pineda (Zia Rodriguez) had to be recast with another actor, Varada Sethu, when COVID restrictions kept her from being able to leave another production she was on; production designer Kevin Jenkins ensured that the equipment seen in BioSyn’s abandoned amber mines displayed 1990s-style Biosyn logos, a detail reminiscent of the old rivalry between the company and InGen (although I suppose footage containing it must have been cut, because I can’t seem to spot it in either version of the film); and animatronic creature effects artist John Nolan took inspiration from Frontier Developments’ 2018 video game ‘Jurassic World: Evolution’ to get a better sense of the Dilophosaurus’s locomotion for the film. In fact, Nolan’s team had created a device that would allow the animatronic version of the dinosaur to travel on a dolly track with eleven puppeteers following behind it using levers, rods, and cable controls to create the dinosaur’s walk. However, Trevorrow was not happy with the result. But perhaps one of the biggest pieces of interesting information involved our favorite clone girl, Maisie.

When it came to casting the role of Maisie’s mother, Charlotte Lockwood, Trevorrow considered using digital tools to graft Isabella Sermon’s face onto a body double and age her features appropriately. However, during a casting section for the body doubles, he made a remarkable find. “I had been given a set of faces whose bone structure was similar enough to Isabella Sermon’s,” says Trevorrow. Among those faces was Irish-born Elva Trill. As Trill began reciting lines with the director, he quickly came to realize that she would be perfect as Charlotte and abandoned the digital augmentation idea. “I’ve never seen an actor come in and just grab a role by being so good,” says Trevorrow.

The section near the end of the book that details ‘Camp Cretaceous’ scored some of its own interesting details, such as the showrunner’s original plan to feature Owen Grady and Claire Dearing; there was an early version of the story where Ben doesn’t survive past Season 1; and most interestingly how the originally intended final shot of the film trilogy was instead used as the final shot for this series:

Camp Cretaceous also brought Trevorrow full circle, back to his early meetings with Steven Spielberg when he pitched the arc of the Jurassic World franchise, which would ultimately lead to dinosaurs entering our everyday lives. Specifically, the image of a child looking out his window on a suburban street and seeing a traffic jam caused by a Brachiosaurus at an intersection. “We actually ended up making that the very last shot of the entire [Camp Cretaceous] series,” says Trevorrow. “After nine years, that idea found its way back into the story.”

               THE INSERTS

As usual with Insight Edition’s Visual History books, there are numerous “inserts” on certain pages that feature unique items. While some are still applied with an adhesive per the previous book, many of the inserts this time are more technically “part of the book” and not meant to be removed entirely. Some are just meant to be unfolded beyond the confines of the book’s dimensions, while a few are even in the form of actual booklets to flip through. The only real negative is that it is focused more on the first film than the rest. Here is a complete list of what you will find:

From ‘Jurassic World’: Poster art advertises Jurassic World’s Gyrosphere ride; Storyboards by David Lowery from an early iteration of Jurassic World’s evolving storyline; A map of Isla Nublar showing the island’s topography and the location of Jurassic World; Dr. Wu’s Jurassic World security pass; Concept art by Glen McIntosh for Jurassic World’s petting zoo; The sketches that Steven Spielberg drew for Colin Trevorrow to illustrate his feedback on the Indominus rex breakout sequence; A tourist map of Jurassic World highlights the theme park’s attractions; & Storyboards by Glen McIntosh for the scene in which the raptors pursue a pig in the Raptor Research Arena.

From ‘Fallen Kingdom’: Raptor movement study by Glen McIntosh; A sticker sheet featuring production design art created for the Dinosaur Protection Group; & Production design art for the jacket of Dr. Ian Malcolm’s book, God Creates Dinosaurs (not actual size).

From ‘Battle At Big Rock’: Concept Art Booklet.

From ‘Dominion’: Storyboards by Glen McIntosh for Jurassic World Dominion’s prologue scene & Malta Concept Art Booklet.

From ‘Camp Cretaceous’: Concept Art Booklet.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER?

A fan wouldn’t be a fan without needing to nitpick, right? (Don’t answer that.) Despite being mostly pleased with this book, there are still a few areas that could have been improved upon (perhaps in a revised edition, which Insight Editions have done before).

               WHAT ABOUT ‘JURASSIC PARK 4’?

The opening of the book does briefly go into ‘Jurassic Park 4’ (the obvious working title before it eventually was named ‘Jurassic World’), mostly delving into some details on the John Sayles script and then eventually a little more about Jaffa/Silver’s script before Trevorrow/Connolly did their own version. But what about the rest? There were numerous versions of the film, by other writers, that were tackled in the 14 years between ‘Jurassic Park 3’ and ‘Jurassic World’. Given that it was such a long range of time where the studio kept throwing ideas around to try to make things happen, most of it shrouded in secrecy, this had been one of my most anticipated sections. Instead, it was only a few pages, and generalized.

Also, while they mention the dinosaur/human hybrids, it’s a shame that none of the wild concept art (that has been online for many years) was included at all. Perhaps they couldn’t get the rights to feature them?

Speaking of art from this period: where was John Bell‘s art? Last year’s book featured loads of art by Bell for the original trilogy, plus a tease of two pieces of artwork he did for ‘Jurassic Park 4’. And yet, this book didn’t feature any of it. This is another case where the art has been online for years, on Bell’s very own site. And there is some fantastic stuff, including his concepts for gyrospheres and even a version of the park’s map that perhaps coincided with the Jaffa/Silver script. This book even mentions Bell in the “special thanks” section, making the exclusions even more mystifying.

               OTHER OMISSIONS

Look, I get it: this book can’t be 1,000 pages long like all of us die-hard fans would like it to be. Putting the complex histories of three massive films into one book is a huge undertaking (just like it was in the previous book). Still, there were some things I wish had been mentioned or visually included in this book. Because when and where else would it be, apart from random online articles & videos that eventually get buried with the rest? Perhaps that’s why some of these details were possibly missed to begin with?

Seamus Blackley, the creator of the XBOX and the ‘Lost World’-related game ‘Trespasser‘, had pitched a video game that he titled ‘Jurassic World’ (before anyone else); which would later inspire several ideas for the new film trilogy. None of this important revelation is mentioned at all (although to be fair it wasn’t publicly known until very recently). Also for ‘Jurassic World’, there is no mention of the “Stegoceratops“: a second hybrid dinosaur that was originally planned to be in the film, and even had a toy made for it!

The previous book had spent a lot more time detailing most of the different scripts for the films. This book does this at times but to a lesser degree. While it was nice to learn a little more about the Jaffa/Silver script for example, it still just grazed the surface. And since this script can’t be found anywhere online currently, a more detailed summary would have been amazing. For example, was the concept art that was shown in one of the Blu-Ray bonus features (and not in this book) of the Indominus attacking a robotic T-Rex coming out of a waterfall (ala ‘Jurassic Park: The Ride’) something from this script?

               MORE LOVE FOR THE SEQUELS

This is another reoccurring issue, but it just feels like more focus is given to the first film of the trilogy (despite me just complaining I wanted more from it!) with less invested in the sequels; ‘Fallen Kingdom’ and ‘Dominion’. More details about their different scripts, more inserts related to them (A pull-out Hammond painting from ‘Fallen Kingdom’ would have been awesome!), or even the mention of certain deleted scenes we know were filmed thanks to still images (that aren’t in this book): such as Iris’s death from the Indoraptor & a dead/decayed Stegosaur that Owen and his team come across as they search for Blue on Nublar.

According to more “hush-hush” behind-the-scenes stories, we also know that ‘Fallen Kingdom’ was going to originally involve Isla Sorna, a ‘Gene Ship’ for Wu’s experiments, and more of Ian Malcolm. He was going to try and sabotage the rescue mission on the Arcadia! ‘Dominion’ was originally going to be two films that would have been filmed at the same time. But again, none of these details are brought up.

In an ideal world, each film in the series would have gotten its own book. This would have allowed much more breathing room to fully explore all these things, and more. Perhaps that is just not economically feasible anymore, even for a big franchise? Especially when, let’s be honest, the sequels in each trilogy are not as popular or well-regarded as their first entries. While a slew of die-hard fans would have clamored for a ‘Fallen Kingdom’ making-of book, for example, is it really something that would sell well? Especially now? Sometimes these sorts of “package deals” are the only way to at least get what we are able to.

SO, SHOULD I GET IT?

I think ‘Jurassic World’ fans should absolutely get this book. My complaints, as you’ve read, only really dwell with what isn’t in it. While the omissions are disappointing, it isn’t so egregious that it takes away from what is included. There’s a wealth of information, concept art, photographs, and nice inserts (the “concept art booklets” being my favorite) that are all woven together wonderfully. In most ways it improves upon their ‘Jurassic Park’ book, and in retrospect I may have originally been a little too critical on it. But if being a little harsh helped make this book better, well, that’s why I still felt the need to point some things out this time, too.

What I didn’t expect to feel while reading and looking through this book was how much nostalgia it gave me. The first film in this trilogy is nearly a decade old, and it’s crazy how time flies. Books like Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History help preserve these films beyond the screen, along with all our memories that come with them.

The feelings we had in anticipation for these films, the news as details were revealed, the organized screenings every time they came out, and the events we attended where other people obsessed with this series finally felt like they belonged. Friendships made, perhaps even hearts broken, or miraculously the bond of marriage formed. We all have our stories. And when you go through these pages, I can almost guarantee that at least one image, maybe something obscure not literally in the film that you would never expect to elicit an emotion, reminds you of a time that once was. And you remember your place in that time, and perhaps realize just how different you are now; or the same.

This trilogy, and our time in it, is over. But like everything in nature, it will evolve. And so will you.

What are some of your favorite memories related to the ‘Jurassic World’ trilogy? Did you go to a fun event, see any of the films with someone you loved, or make new friends because of it? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and may the joy you have for these films never go away!

ADDENDUM: In celebration of the release of “Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History”, Insight Editions presents author James Mottram in conversation with Jurassic World Animation Director/Paleoartist Glen McIntosh. Discussion moderated by Derrick Davis, Writer at Jurassic Outpost & Creator of Jurassic Time! Intro/Outro by Insight Edition’s Marketing & Publicity Strategist Amanda Hariri. Live Book Release Event via Crowdcast (10/25/22).

Tickets Now Available to ‘Generation Jurassic’ Event at Universal Studios Hollywood!

UPDATE: Thank you for your interest in the Generation Jurassic event! Unfortunately, we have reached full capacity for this event. Please follow us for more details including on how to watch the event unfold.

Tickets are now available to the recently announced ‘Generation Jurassic’ event occurring at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 28th, 2022! RSVP here or read on for more information.

Working with Universal Brand Development, we’re excited to be part of the upcoming after hours fan-event occurring at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 28th, 2022. The event is limited capacity RSVP only – read on for more details about what to expect, and additional information on ticketing.

TICKETS:

TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE – RSVP NOW
Due to the limited capacity of this event, tickets will be at a first-come-first-serve basis here.

Generation Jurassic is a free after hours event, and tickets do not include general admission into the park. Valid photo ID matching name on RSVP required. Universal Studios Hollywood follows all current Los Angeles County COVID protocols. Please refer to the additional info on ticket form here.

ABOUT:

Generation Jurassic Event – April 28th – Presented by Universal and Target

Universal and Target, along with super fan site, Jurassic Outpost, have come together to create an exclusive event for Jurassic fans of all ages – Generation Jurassic will be held on April 28th from 7:30-10pm at Universal Studios Hollywood. Against the backdrop of “Jurassic World—The Ride” within the theme park, fans will get to celebrate all things Jurassic and experience a variety of activities, including:

  • Participate in a LIVE “Jurassic World: Beyond the Gates” panel discussion, plus Q&A with toy designers from Universal, Mattel and Funko, including reveals of all-new Target-exclusive items
  • Explore product displays of the latest and greatest toys, apparel, collectibles and more
  • Experience the thrills on Jurassic World: The Ride, including coming face-to- face with the stunningly realistic dinosaur Indominus rex
  • Explore DinoPlay, a fun interactive area for kids
  • Take part in photo opportunities with fan-favorite dinosaurs and vehicles (thanks to the Jurassic Park Motor Pool!)
  • Try your luck with giveaways of awesome Jurassic World products!
  • We’re excited to bring ‘Beyond the Gates’ alive in an all-new way, showcasing the talent of artists creating the numerous Jurassic World products. This is a unique opportunity to dive deeper than ever into the making-of process, let fans ask their burning questions, and of course, feature some exciting exclusive reveals.

    More details about what else to expect will become available as we inch closer to the event .

    As always, be sure to stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for more information coming soon. We hope to see you there!

    ‘Generation Jurassic’ Event Presented by Universal Brand Development and Target Coming to Universal Studios Hollywood April 28th 2022

    Update March 28th, 2022 at 9pm EST: Tickets now available.

    UPDATE 2: Thank you for your interest in the Generation Jurassic event! Unfortunately, we have reached full capacity for this event. Please follow us for more details including on how to watch the event unfold.

    If you missed the recent episode of Beyond the Gates then you may have missed the news about an upcoming exclusive event occurring in California. So what are you waiting for? Check out the episode below, and then read on for all the important details:

    Working with Universal Brand Development, we’re excited to be part of the upcoming after hours fan-event occurring at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 28th, 2022. The event will be limited capacity RSVP only – read on for more details about what to expect, and information on how to lock your tickets in.

    ABOUT:

    Generation Jurassic Event – April 28th – Presented by Universal and Target

    Universal and Target, along with super fan site, Jurassic Outpost, have come together to create an exclusive event for Jurassic fans of all ages – Generation Jurassic will be held on April 28th from 7:30-10pm at Universal Studios Hollywood. Against the backdrop of “Jurassic World—The Ride” within the theme park, fans will get to celebrate all things Jurassic and experience a variety of activities, including:

  • Participate in a LIVE “Jurassic World: Beyond the Gates” panel discussion, plus Q&A with toy designers from Universal, Mattel and Funko, including reveals of all-new Target-exclusive items
  • Explore product displays of the latest and greatest toys, apparel, collectibles and more
  • Experience the thrills on Jurassic World: The Ride, including coming face-to- face with the stunningly realistic dinosaur Indominus rex
  • Explore DinoPlay, a fun interactive area for kids
  • Take part in photo opportunities with fan-favorite dinosaurs and vehicles (thanks to the Jurassic Park Motor Pool!)
  • Try your luck with giveaways of awesome Jurassic World products!
  • TICKETS:

    TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE – RSVP NOW
    Due to the limited capacity of this event, tickets will be at a first-come-first-serve basis here.

    Generation Jurassic is a free after hours event, and tickets do not include general admission into the park. Valid photo ID matching name on RSVP required. Universal Studios Hollywood follows all current Los Angeles County COVID protocols. Please refer to the additional info on ticket form here.

    We’re excited to bring ‘Beyond the Gates’ alive in an all-new way, showcasing the talent of artists creating the numerous Jurassic World products. This is a unique opportunity to dive deeper than ever into the making-of process, let fans ask their burning questions, and of course, feature some exciting exclusive reveals.

    More details about what else to expect will become available as we inch closer to the event, and we hope to make the attendance RSVP available ASAP.

    As always, be sure to stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for more information coming soon. We hope to see you there!

    Jurassic World Evolution 2 Review

    The Park is Open – again

    It’s been over 3 years since the original Jurassic World Evolution released on consoles and PC, and the anticipated sequel delivers on the promise of Fallen Kingdom: we’re not on an island anymore (except when we are, but more on that later).

    Jurassic World Evolution 2 offers some new updates to the established gameplay from the first title, but will also be immediately familiar to players of the first – perhaps too familiar at times. However, for those unfamiliar with Evolution, it is a park building and management game where you’re tasked with creating your very own Jurassic worlds.

    The core gameplay loop in Jurassic World Evolution 2 is all about building park attractions with key operation and exhibition facilities, seeing to guest and animal comfort, all while making sure you remain profitable and don’t run out of money. As you may expect, things don’t always go to plan, and chaos will come into play – from natural disasters like tornadoes and blizzards, dinosaurs growing distressed by their health and needs, and occasionally, dinosaurs breaking free and eating your guests (which is a very quick way to run out of funds).

    You can help avoid unhappy dinosaurs trying to escape by making sure you’ve crafted an enclosure meeting their environmental needs, such as making sure you’ve grown the correct prehistoric flora for herbivores to feed upon, have enough water, open space, and other factors such as making sure species cohabitating a particular enclosure actually like one another.

    If your dinosaurs break free you’ll need to send in ranger teams to round up the ramping threats before they cause too much mayhem, so it’s important to have them placed close by. While this may be easy in the early stages of your park, it becomes more of a challenge as your park grows and is something that will greatly affect your ability to mitigate the collapse of your park – especially as some maps are quite restrictive in size (but fret not, others are quite large).

    Likewise, you’ll want to make sure you’ve researched the best facilities to contain and care for your dinos – such as the new medical center for taking care of sick and injured dinosaurs. As sick dinosaurs can die or spread illness, you’ll want to make sure your mobile veterinary teams can access the species as quickly as possible.

    Research is integral to keeping your park well managed and profitable, and will also provide you the means to train your scientists whomst are integral to the core game mechanics. Scientists are hired staff required to be assigned to all management tasks such as aforementioned research, expeditions for fossils and dinosaurs, DNA synthesis, and egg incubation. 

    Each scientist has three skill categories with associated levels: logistics, genetics, and welfare. The various management tasks, such as sending out a team to look for fossils, have required skills in the category or categories, therefore making sure your various staff are properly leveraged for the tasks ahead is crucial. Likewise, each scientist has a specific perk. Some simply have a higher stamina rate, meaning you can assign them more tasks in a row without them needing a break from overworking, while others may allow for things such as 50% cheaper DNA synthesis or 30% faster egg incubation. You’ll have to make hard choices to make sure you’re saving as much money and time as possible while having enough skill points for the tasks your park requires, and this staff system brings a lot of strategy into the game.

    As I mentioned before, the staff can get overworked and require rest. If you’re not careful, the scientists may become disgruntled, causing setbacks in your park such as sabotage. These new functionalities make the gameplay more dynamic as you expand your park, requiring more strategy in your choices as opposed to only arbitrary wait times while tasks complete.

    The way you edit the environment is far more dynamic than the first game. For example, herbivores no longer have feeders and rather require the proper plant life to support their diets. While some may feed off of ground fiber and nuts, others will feed off tall leaves. With limited space in each paddock for what you can grow, you need to be mindful about the species you place together so their dietary and general comfort needs (which include things like open space, the amount of rocks, and more) can sync up.

    Then, of course, there are the park guests – the people you want to keep happy to fund your dino-park escapades. Their comfort in the park boils down to amenities such as food, shopping, and restrooms, the placement of emergency bunkers, transportation, and of course attractions. Your star attractions are the dinosaurs, and you want to make sure you have the other desired amenities in close proximity to them. Viewing galleries are a primary way for guests to see dinosaurs, and the placement of the galleries is key to make sure the guests actually have sight-lines on the various species. Guests also don’t like to travel too much by foot, so researching and placing structures such as hotels and monorail stations around your focal dino-hubs really helps maximize the success of your park.

    Each level features different environmental locations with different sizes and shapes, sometimes including narrow choke points where building and movement will be restricted. Making smart use of that space to fit all the needed structures, pathways, and dinosaur paddocks is crucial. If you’re not careful, you can easily build yourself into a corner where the needed facilities cannot fit. This will affect profit, guest comfort, and your ability to properly care for the dinosaurs – this can become even worse if disaster strikes.

    Another great feature is the ability to pause time and assess a situation while assigning tasks within the park or choosing building placements. When a park is large, a lot can happen at once, and this feature allows you to manage many occurrences simultaneously before resuming the action and letting your choices play out. Likewise, you can speed up time by 2 and 3 times, allowing for tasks to complete in a blink of an eye. Be careful though – if things start going wrong, every second counts.

    While many of these elements existed in the first Jurassic World Evolution, there are many small quality of life adjustments across the board which make the gameplay more dynamic, and in theory, more fun.

    Unlike the first game, Evolution 2 offers 4 different modes of play: Campaign, Chaos Theory, Challenge Mode, and Sandbox.

    Campaign mode picks up after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, with dinosaurs now free in the mainland across various wilds in the US and elsewhere. The story picks up with Owen Grady and Claire Dearing now employed by the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) working to help humans and dinosaurs successfully co-exist. The United States Government is concerned by the potential threat dinosaurs pose, and have set up many departments to help keep a close eye on the dinos. These include the DFW and another key player: the newly formed Dangerous Species Division (DSD) of the CIA. While the DFW and DSD cooperate together, there is some tension and distrust between the government agencies, particularly as the CIA isn’t the most forthcoming about their activities with dinosaurs outside of those the DFW directly assist with.

    The single player mode marks the largest departure from Jurassic World Evolution and frankly even Evolution 2’s core gameplay mechanics. Rather than building parks, worrying about guest comfort, and profits, you’re simply tasked with tracking down nuisance dinosaurs and containing, observing, and relocating them – just as normal, non-prehistoric nuisance animals are often dealt with.

    As such, the levels are divided into distinct playspaces within each map: the “buildable area” for creating and maintaining the DFW’s facilities and the “wild area”. The wild area consists of large expanses of wilderness where you cannot build but can take direct control of ranger teams to drive and fly across, tracking down dinosaurs, capturing them, and bringing them back to your containment facility that you build. Primarily you will build simple operation facilities such as paleo veterinary centers, paddocks, and observation platforms for the DFW to study the dinosaurs. Essentially, you want to make sure you have the right size paddock with the right terrain inside for the dinosaurs’ comfort, and once you’ve done that, you’ve got nothing else to worry about.

    As such, you wont utilize most of the game’s core gameplay features and building options in the single player which, quite frankly, is a bizarre choice in a park building and management game. In fact, the the entire single player feels like a short, snappy narrative driven tutorial for a larger game that Frontier forgot to include. The story ends abruptly, only running a few hours, with a narrative that feels like it’s just setting up the first act. While the campaign of the first Jurassic World Evolution admittedly could drag, it was much larger and felt more content complete. The sequel’s main story can be beat faster than it takes to achieve a 5-star rating on some of the challenge mode locations.

    It truly feels like rather than adjust the story to account for the fact that Jurassic World Dominion was delayed, they kept the initial set up and cut the rest of campaign that would intersect too closely with the upcoming film. The story makes mention of a third party and unknown location (seemingly alluding to BioSyn), and it seems like things are just getting ready to explore that thread when the credits role unceremoniously.

    If you’re a player more interested in the narrative single player campaign be warned: campaign feels more like a small expansion to the first game rather than a standalone sequel experience. While the new environments are gorgeous, you won’t spend much time in them within the context of campaign. Some levels, such as Pennsylvania’s beautiful Appalachians, aren’t even featured in the various sandbox and challenge modes.

    Chaos Theory mode feels like a secondary campaign, only smaller in story scope. It does offer some expanded narrative “what if” situations which are introduced with absolutely stunning intro cut-scenes narrated by Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role of Ian Malcolm (though he sometimes sounds less like Malcolm and goes into his weird and whimsical Goldblum voice). Each level is its own standalone story with simple premises attributed to the five films: build and open Jurassic Park successfully for the first film, Build and open Jurassic Park San Diego successfully for The Lost World, Create Jurassic World and successfully remain open with the Indominus Rex for the fourth movie. However, all of those quickly become repetitive gameplay with less narrative threads as your task is simply to achieve a 5-star rating with certain arbitrary chore-like challenges thrown at you along the way. This mode is hit and miss, particularly as it limits player freedom and can quickly become a little too chaotic if you make one wrong move. Personally, I found the San Diego level to be more engaging than the other two which just felt like they dragged on too long. I’m pretty sure I spent more time on Jurassic World’s Chaos Theory level than I did the main campaign – most of my star dinosaurs dying of old age before I cleared the level.

    The issue in Chaos Theory mode is that it mostly assumes you understand the intricacies of park building and management. While it does introduce you to some basics, they’re not enough to realize the long road you have ahead to reach 5-stars. The mode may have felt like less of a chore had the main campaign done more introductory legwork work to introduce the player to the expanded core park management mechanics, but as it stands, the average player may find the experience overwhelming. Spending hours on a simple ‘what if’ scenario shouldn’t be a trial by fire to learn the games core mechanics – because if you make too many mistakes, you may be forced to start from scratch.

    Jurassic Park 3 and Fallen Kingdom’s Chaos Theory modes shake up the formula, and while the other three levels may last too long, these two feel too short. Fallen Kingdom’s plot essentially boils down to returning to Nublar sans a volcanic threat, scanning a few dinosaurs, and then using the removal tool to destroy the pre-built park. It’s weird – and not fun.

    Jurassic Park 3 stands out, as it seems to be an actual lore expansion set between the events of Jurassic Park 3 and Jurassic World rather than a “what if”, returning to Isla Sorna to capture dinosaurs and relocate them to Isla Nublar for Jurassic World. This level plays more like the single player where you capture wild dinosaurs and create basic paddocks for their comfort only. As such, it is short, but it is also a fun break with some curious lore implications.

    Challenge mode is where the game really shines and seems to find better balance between pacing, mission structure, and player expression. It features entire suite of gameplay mechanics all with the goal of reaching a 5-star rating in various locations, while contending different challenge modifiers (for example, a level where dinosaurs are more prone to sickness). While this may sound similar to the Chaos Theory mode, you have more freedom and less arbitrary requirements, allowing you to build and respond to the various challenges in the way you personally wish. Likewise, this mode offers the full suite of ways to obtain dinosaurs for your park, including finding them within the map, sending expeditions to find fossils, and occasionally expeditions to capture wild dinosaurs transporting them directly to your park. It’s a shame the game’s more narrative-driven campaigns don’t embrace this wider sandbox of gameplay, as it offers a sense of freedom and diversity critically lacking in the campaign and Chaos Theory.

    That said, much like the first Jurassic World Evolution, the game still lacks a sense of personal freedom to entirely craft a park as you wish with the many facilities and attractions you would come to expect from the films. While the Gyrosphere tour returns, as does a Jurassic Park and World themed vehicle tour, no new rides or dinosaur themed attractions are present – such as the river tour, Pachy arena, or T. rex kingdom. While some of these additions may seem arbitrary, the idea of this game very much revolves around building your own park – and when each park has the same limited suite of options, it quickly becomes repetitive.

    This is an issue the first game suffered from, and by result, it often times felt boring when compared to other park management titles. While this game has some new additions, and thus can be more engaging, many of the changes feel more like lateral moves. This is especially because most of the buildings, features, and dinosaurs are straight out of the first game. In fact, some species featured in the first didn’t even make the cut for the sequel.

    A fun albeit small addition is the ability to customize some buildings, choosing from a few presets like Jurassic Park or Jurassic World styled walls, entrances, and decorative displays – while also being allowed to customize portions of the colors and lights. While this doesn’t effect gameplay, it does give the player more forms of expression. Although most of it is hard to notice while properly playing the game in its birds eye view.

    Some of the buildings you would expect to have alternative models and skins from various eras – such as the aviary or paddock fencing – sadly do not. And while you can choose skins for your vehicles, including the pre-order and deluxe addition bonuses, in sandbox mode you cannot freely choose any skin. If you want Jurassic World-themed ranger teams, you have to choose that building style for the ranger station, and vice versa for Jurassic Park, only allowing for the bonus skins to be freely swapped in. Curiously, the DFW vehicles from campaign seem to be absent.

    The ability to genetically modify your dinosaur returns allows you to adjust things like their temperament, lifespan, and of course, how they look. Each species has a variety of skins – imagine them as basic color presets and patterns. You can apply a pattern to a skin to bring out more complexity, usually resulting more contrasting colors and striping. Sadly, like the first game, you cannot actually preview the skins to know what they create and there is no proper database for all the varieties of species designs in-game.

    Some of the legacy dinosaur designs also appear as skins, and they also can result in model changes. These include the Tyrannosaurs with skins from all 3 Jurassic Park films, Parasaurolophus from the two sequels, Velociraptors from all three films, the Brachiosaurs from both Jurassic Park and JP3, Stegosaurs, Triceratops, and more. Some legacy species don’t have skin that directly calls out the film its from – such as Spinosaurus, Dilophosaurus or Pachycephalosaurs – yet they do have film accurate colors achievable by choosing the correct generic skin/pattern combos. Just good luck figuring that out on your first try.

    While some dinosaurs are incredibly accurate and offer a fantastic look at their film counterparts, others are lacking or have issues. For instance, Jurassic Park 3 female raptors have great colors, yet sport the quills of the males. The Allosaurus retains its look from the first game, which predates Battle at Big Rock and does not reflect Fallen Kingdom either. This means it’s an entirely canon on-screen species with entirely fictional in-game design. The Pteranodons do not have their Lost World or JP3 skin/models, and sadly the Mamenchisaurus does not reflect its design from the The Lost World which was recently shown in better detail for the first time.

    The aviaries are engaging and the flying reptiles can escape from them wreaking havoc on your park – however they don’t offer much in the terms of customization, theming, or shape. The species list is on the small side, but does include the Jurassic World Pteranodons and Dimorphodons. Sadly the Dimorphodons lack the fuzzy filaments called pycnofibres that they sport in the films.

    The ability to build lagoons and breed marine reptiles also makes its debut, but these facilities have even fewer customizations and gameplay options.

    Despite the various frustrating inaccuracies, when the game looks good, it looks fantastic. However, it’s not always firing on all cylinders in the art department or engine performance. While some levels look gorgeous, with the environments looking rich, realistic, and detailed, others have a decidedly dated and lower detailed look which effects visual readability. The same could be said for the dinosaurs. While some species are so detailed you can see each scale and bump in crisp detail up close, others look waxy with muddier textures. That said, as the game is often played at distance from the dinosaurs, the animation, lighting and environments are what really make or breaks the visual experience.

    The game suffers from some noticeable draw distance pop-in, especially with shadows which just blip in and out of existence – which can be very distracting. Likewise, lighting effects turn off and on at various distances, and while that may not be obvious when hovering in one location, as you pan across your park it jumps out more and more. This is very obvious while in “capture mode” which turns off the hud and gives you more cinematic control over the camera.

    I played the game on the Xbox Series X, one of the most powerful home consoles out there, and these issues were immediately obvious. While I didn’t play the game on the less powerful Xbox One or PS4, I imagine they’re even more notable. Which brings me to the other, more important point: performance.

    When things really get going this game struggles, with huge frame hitches as you zoom in and out or pan over particularly complex areas. Again, I can only guess how it runs on the less powerful machines, but it feels like a certain layer of optimization and polish is missing – further illustrated by the numerous crashes I experienced while playing. Thankfully, autosave meant not much progress was lost, although I do recommend saving frequently.

    The game also suffers from frequent bugs, and while most are minor and don’t impact the game some can lead to frustrating results. Sometimes dinosaurs can become stuck in place – they attempt to move, making flying or walking motions, but they go nowhere. This leads to them slowly dying from starvation and dehydration. At the very least, that can sometimes be fixed by tranquilizing the dinosaur and relocating them. However, it’s not always that easy in an aviary as you can’t exact direct control over the task. You have to let the AI do it by deploying a drone into the aviary, and guess what: the drone can become stuck. There is no easy fix for that – I found myself destroying aviary hatcheries and rebuilding them simply to allow for a new drone that hopefully doesn’t get stuck. Unfortunately this issue popped up frequently, enough to deter me from flying reptiles in the more difficult challenge modes if possible.

    With so few changes from the first game, a shockingly short and simple campaign mode, and the various performance issues I can’t help but feel this game was rushed and surely could have benefited from a delay to release alongside Jurassic World Dominion – if not further out. I also have no doubt content was removed from the game due to the films delay – I suspect it will be released next June alongside the upcoming sequel – but this sadly contributes to what feels like an incomplete package.

    Don’t get me wrong, the game can be fun, but much like the first it has the foundations of a decent park management simulation without the much needed finer level of control, freedom, and variety. The gameplay can be repetitive and oftentimes doesn’t feel rewarding. While the dinosaurs do have more behaviors this time, such as pack hunting, they’re essentially just pretty looking props to challenge you that you can’t really appreciate outside of sandbox mode – where you can turn off disasters, have unlimited cash, and can get up close taking your time without concern of park collapse. Even there, there’s not much to do with the dinos if you’re not interested in building environments and then using capture mode to grab cinematic footage of them. I just can’t help but feel there is some core gameplay element lacking here that would make it all more worth it.

    While this game isn’t bad – it’s also not great. I suspect it will find its real home with modders and content creators, but the average player likely won’t entirely get what they’re looking for. Likewise, park management fans may find the gameplay more shallow than they’re used to. This was easier to forgive with the first Jurassic World Evolution, but it’s doubly frustrating with the sequel, which seems more interested in re-skinning the first game than offering a proper evolution and improvement. While I do believe Jurassic-fans will find something they enjoy in this game, if you don’t mind waiting a little, I recommend waiting for it to go on sale. 

    I can’t imagine it will take too long.

    Confirmed: ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Trailer Coming Soon! Will it Release with ‘Fast & Furious 9’ this June?

    Update: Producer Frank Marshall has taken to Twitter to confirm a trailer is indeed coming soon! No word yet if it will be tied to ‘F9’, or perhaps drop on June 11th – read on to get our detailed breakdown of what we expect, and when!

    The road to the upcoming 6th installment of the Jurassic Park franchise, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ has been long, with many expected twists and turns, being pushed back from 2021 to 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic. This has left a drought of Jurassic news, outside of the ongoing animated series ‘Camp Cretaceous’, and anticipation is running high to learn more about the upcoming sequel.

    This of course leads to the big question: when will we see the first trailer for ‘Dominion’? Speculation has run rampant, and while there are many logical milestones, nothing has been certain due to the way the entire film industry has been shaken up from Covid19. Thankfully, the wait won’t be long.

    We have been hearing the trailer is targeting this Summer, which is something our friends at NeoJurassic podcast had also reported. In fact, we originally heard it was looking to release in August –  however, that information dates back to prior to the release of Season 2 of ‘Camp Cretaceous’.

    So if not August, when is the trailer due to hit? While we don’t have an exact confirmation, we’re fairly confident it will be released this June alongside ‘Fast & Furious 9’.

    The first ‘Dominion’ trailer will likely skew towards the teaser variety, only giving a glimpse of what’s to come without showing off too many new elements. We’re big fans of well made trailers – something we feel Jurassic World has previously missed the boat on with their spoiler-laden output. We’re hopeful that ‘Jurassic World 3’ curbs that trend, taking inspiration from more curated teaser experiences like ‘Cloverfield’, or trailers like ‘The Force Awakens’.

    Conversely, perhaps a one-off experience, akin to ‘Battle at Big Rock’ will serve as the film’s first tease. The end of ‘BaBR’ set the tone with numerous dinosaur encounters on mainland, and we’ve since been awaiting a followup on the concept, which is filled with opportunity for content prior to Dominions release. This could serve as more curated teaser, and speaking to Hollywood Reporter director Colin Trevorrow revealed that something related to Dominion is indeed coming soon:

    “It’s going to be sooner than you think. I can’t talk about it just yet. We’ve got something fun planned, and it has everything to do with getting people back into the movie theaters.”

    – Colin Trevorrow

    ‘Fast & Furious 9’ is hitting US theaters this June 25th, a timely release roughly a year out from Dominions June 10th, 2022 date. Outside of Jurassic, the Fast & Furious series is Universal’s largest theatrical performer, and we’re sure that the studio is keen to supercharge its theatrical run this summer with as many incentives as possible, and ‘Dominion’ marketing is certainly one way to do so. 

    Taking that concept further, perhaps Universal aims to release ‘Big Rock’ style one-offs marketing the sequel with all their appropriate upcoming theatrical tentpoles. This could serve as a proper blitz to really revitalize theaters, all while hyping up ‘Dominion’ without actually showcasing scenes or spoilers from the films. Movies like ‘Old’ (July 23rd) and ‘Halloween Kills’ (October 15th) may also be spots to watch – that said, we feel confident that whatever is planned, ‘F9’ sits at the center of it.

    Releasing the trailer in June makes a lot of sense for other reasons: we learned a long while back that ‘Jurassic World: Evolution 2’ was in development, and planned to release near Dominion. The game heavily features elements from the new film such as the new varied environments, companies and facilities, characters, and of course, dinosaurs. While Dominion’s delay did push Evolutions plans back, we’re hearing it’s likely the game will have a debut trailer at Gamescom in August.

    We’re not sure how ‘Dominion’ will be supported after the trailer drops, as the proper story-centric marketing push isn’t expected to kick off until closer to February 2022 alongside a larger trailer we assume will be timed with the SuperBowl. However, that leaves the curious omission of November & December 2021, a time period typically reserved for the first trailer of new Jurassic films. Perhaps instead of a trailer at that time, a behind the scenes video will hit teasing what’s to come, building anticipation for the larger marketing push planned soon after?

    It’s also possible that the November/December 2021 timeslot may be passed up by ‘Dominion’ marketing, as we’re expecting a 4th season of Netflix’s ‘Camp Cretaceous’ around that time. While ‘JWCC’ is standalone, Colin Trevorrow has repeatedly teased it has larger ties to ‘Dominion’, so it may serve a similar role in pushing audiences to look forward to the upcoming sequel. Considering how much the film industry has been struggling to find its footing again due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe building a momentous push to build anticipation, spread awareness, and drive audiences to want to return to theaters with ‘Dominion’ is key. Quite frankly, this film is one of the few currently capable of such, perhaps more-so than Disney’s upcoming Marvel offerings. 

    With ‘Star Wars’ taking some time away from the theatrical space, Jurassic is at an even better position to expand its brand awareness and loyalty over the coming year. We’re quite hopeful this budding opportunity is taken full advantage of, and releasing a teaser this June points that way. We truly believe in the theatrical experience of cinemas, and hope to see a large push to make sure that experience – something films like Jurassic require – does not go extinct.

    What do you hope to see from the first Jurassic World Dominion trailer? Sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for all the latest news!

    Introducing ‘Jurassic World Beyond the Gates’ – Live Now on Target.com!

    Something is coming, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share it with you! Jack De La Mare and I have been hard at work on an exciting partnership with Jurassic World and Target to bring you Beyond the Gates – a new collectors focused web-series where we will be revealing all new Jurassic products, while digging into the DNA that brought the items to life. 

    Not too long ago Universal began discussions about this unique collaboration, and we hit the ground running to help design a show format that we hope excites you as much as it does us, from the fans for the fans. Our friends at Universal, Mattel, and Target shared our excitement and helped support us every step along the way as we began to play in this expansive Jurassic toybox, creating this little show. 

    We were given the keys, and a chance to not only to take the Jeep and drive – but to custom design it from the ground up. We worked with a handful of talented artists – including  Lukas Vagt, Matt Henderson and Caleb Burnett – to support hatching the series, and evolve Beyond The Gates from concept to reality. This collaborative process has been a dream, and every party involved has been crucial in bringing this vision to life. 

    Today (February 17th) the first episode of Beyond the Gates made its debut exclusively on Target.com, with subsequent episodes to follow the third week of every month. Every episode feature your first look at all-new, upcoming Jurassic World reveals – and upon their reveal, they will become available for pre-order directly at Target.com. 

    Universal and ourselves not only want to use Beyond the Gates to share exclusive official content, but also to better inform the fans and collectors what is coming, when it will be available, while giving them a reliable way to secure those items for their collection before those opportunities go extinct. On top of that, we wanted to use this opportunity to let you hear directly from the masterminds who helped design the toys while taking a look at the development and evolution of the items via concept art,  prototypes, and more! 

    The first episode of Beyond the Gates is here, and features a look at two long anticipated Amber Collection dinosaurs from the original Jurassic  Park trilogy, accompanied by the expertise of Mattel’s own Chandra Hicks.

    Watch now at Target.com!

    If you’ve seen episode 1, and are looking for our ‘After Show‘ — stay tuned! We’ve hit the ground running on this project, and that one is coming in hot. As for what to expect, we’ll take a longer look at the Amber Collection reveals, hear more from Mattel’s Chandra Hicks, while showing off more concept art and early looks at the development of these toys!

    We wanted to thank Universal Pictures for being so accommodating and entrusting us to help create this fan-focused show. We have so much more to come, and can’t wait  to show you more of what waits BEYOND THE GATES.

    Colin Trevorrow Talks ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ on Comic-Con@Home Panel

    The Directors on Directing panel released today as part of San Diego Comic Con’s Comic-Con@Home. Colin Trevorrow was one of the featured directors on the panel who discussed their past, present, and future projects.

    In the panel, he touches on ‘Jurassic World’, ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, and ‘Jurassic World: Battle at Big Rock’. Check out the video below!

    Around the 5:00 mark he talks about making the emotional case for “Jurassic Park 4”.

    At 11:50 he talks about meeting with Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum and discussing them reprising their roles for ‘Dominion’.

    At 18:06 The announcement that ‘Dominion’ would resume filming (this panel was recorded in June) and the challenges they are facing. During the hiatus the script wasn’t changed much and they were able to “put several sequences through the visual effects pipeline”.

    At 24:00 Each ‘Jurassic’ movie getting more practical and ‘Dominion’ will have more animatronics than they had in the previous two. The digital extensions for animatronics have been improving so they will be able to match the textures on the animatronics. All of the dinosaurs have lighting references so they can see how light reacts with the skin and the environment. (How cool would it be to see the room with all the dinosaur references?!)

    At 29:10 ‘Battle at Big Rock’ was shot handheld in VR by Colin.

    At 33:27 changing from ‘Jurassic Park‘ to ‘Jurassic World’ took some convincing.

    At 56:50 Paul McCartney visited the studio while Colin and Michael Giacchino were recording the soundtrack for ‘Jurassic World’.

    Those are all the ‘Jurassic’ related clips, but I recommend watching the whole panel as Colin, Robert Rodriguez, and Joseph Kosinski give some interesting insights into the world of directing. There’s even a cool moment for Star Wars fans towards the end.

    Mysterious New Dinosaur Spotted in Recent Jurasssic World 3 Animatronic Video!

    Jurassic World 3 - Baryonyx Header

    In recent Jurassic World film entries, Dinosaur fans have been treated to a plethora of new dinosaurs which have brought new and interesting designs to the table. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom introduced a plethora of new animals to the franchise – including the Stygimoloch, Allosaurus, Baryonyx and Sinoceratops, amongst others. This was further built upon within the release of the recent short film Battle at Big Rock – which introduced not only an adult version of the Allosaurus, but also the brand new Nasutoceratops.

    Now, with new footage from behind-the-scenes production on the upcoming Jurassic project (under the production moniker of ‘Arcadia’) being released by Colin Trevorrow on Twitter earlier today, it is safe to say that the introduction of new dinosaurs is set to continue within the upcoming entry to the series. Eagle-eyed fans have been quick to spot a brand-new dinosaur lingering in the background of the footage:

    First things first – cutouts like these are typically life size, and used by the props and animatronics team to begin roughing out their actual dimensions. With that in mind, it’s important to note this dinosaur is roughly 3 – 4 feet tall, at most.

    Although the design of the creature is pretty hard to make out, we can see a dinosaur which has a long neck and slender limbs – suggesting something which will be very agile and predator-like. Fans are racking their brains as to what this new creature could be. There have been an assortment of different suggestions from community members. Some have speculated that this dinosaur may be a young Beipiaosaurus – a feathered dinosaur which existed in China during the Early Cretaceous period. This dinosaur was a species of therizinosauroid – something which may be hinted at by the way the dinosaur’s hand merges together into what appear to be large, curved claws. If we are to believe that it is this kind of dinosaur, then perhaps it may be the Therizinosaurus itself – a popular dinosaur which has already appeared in Jurassic World as a contributor to Hybrid DNA. With this in mind, it isn’t that extreme to consider that perhaps another company, such as Biosyn, may have recovered the DNA to create this creature in the fallout from Jurassic World.

    Other fans have been suggesting that this dinosaur may be a different juvenile animal – and is perhaps a younger version of a Jurassic World-style Velociraptor. If this was the case then it would not be the first time that we had seen flashbacks to younger versions of the Velociraptor – as we did see the Baby Raptor Squad appear within Fallen Kingdom. Whilst this would be an interesting way of further building apon the relationship between Owen and Blue, we don’t believe that this is a juvenile raptor, as the two designs have some distinct differences which stand out when compared to one another – particularly the longer neck, shorter head/snout, and much larger hands.

    Jurassic World 3 - Blue/New Dino Comparison

    As you can see, it’s similar to Blue, but clearly not her.

    It is safe to say that whatever these creatures end up being within the film, it is very exciting to see them presumably also getting the animatronic treatment! Many of our team here at Jurassic Outpost are hoping that this raptor-like creature will be feathered – bringing some much needed diversity into the roster of dinosaurs who are a part of the Jurassic World franchise. I think I speak for us all when I say it is very exciting to see who these dinosaurs are being created by – and for what purpose. The recent Motion Comic hints that dinosaurs are already causing chaos within the natural Ecosystem, so anyone releasing more dinosaurs into the mix is unlikely to be doing so for a good reason. But, that said, who knows? We know InGen had more facilities across the globe, so perhaps these dinosaurs are being found near or at those facilities. However it is explained, we are excited to see how the introduction of even more new dinosaurs will shape the story of Jurassic World 3.

    How do you feel about the introduction of new dinosaurs? Is there any particular dinosaur you would like to see appear in Jurassic World 3? I know I would love to see Giganotosaurus! As always, share your thoughts in the comments below, and stay tuned for more as we get it.