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  • Interview With Jurassic Park: The Game’s Alan Johnson of Telltale Games

     
    This last year saw developer Telltale Games release a rather unique title into the console/PC downloadable library; a point and click adventure, Back to the Future. Harkening back to the golden days of PC adventure titles, Back to the Future was released in an episodic format, with 5 episodes being spread out over the course of many months. 
     
    The game ended up being a quirky, brilliant little title that perfectly captured the spirit and tone of the Back to the Future movie franchise. Gameplay was simplistic and extremely easy to pick up, and the story was engaging, easily earning a spot in the Back to the Future canon.
     
    Can Telltale strike gold twice? It seems they are certainly willing to try, as they are tackling yet another massively popular franchise, trading in Deloreans and flux capacitors for velociraptors and dismemberment. Yes, this time around, Telltale is going to tackle Jurassic Park, creating another adventure game in the style of Heavy Rain.
     
    Gaming Examiner recently got a chance to sit down and ask a few questions to Alan Johnson of Telltale Games.
     

     
    Gaming Examiner: Back to the Future was a fantastic game which really brought back the overall tone and spirit of the movies. Jurassic Park: The Game looks to do the same thing. Both games used a gameplay style that was all but dead; the point-and-click adventure (which was very reminiscent of classic Sierra titles such as King’s Quest and Full Throttle). With today’s audiences more interested in online deathmatches and quick, simple “pick up and play” gameplay, what led to the decision to adopt this gameplay style?
     
    Alan Johnson: Telltale Games has been working hard through our seven year history to refine and redefine adventure gaming. From our early days making games based on Jeff Smith’s Bone and Steve Purcell’s Sam & Max to where we are now, we’re constantly looking for the best way to tell a great story in a video game be it through the more traditional point-and-click fashion or to where we are with Jurassic Park, where there’s still plenty of investigation and puzzle solving, but with some tense reaction-based gameplay to convey the danger and terror of surviving (or trying to survive) a dinosaur attack.
     
    GE: Back to the Future had a very cartoony style; Jurassic Park looks to be the complete opposite of that with gorgeous, realistic models and environments. What led to the decision behind the art styles for each game?
     
    AJ: We make sure that our games’ styles work within the universe that the original creators of the property we’re working on made. Jurassic Park benefits from a more realistic look, especially in the effort to re-create the cinematic touchstones that Steven Spielberg did in his 1993 blockbuster film.
     

     
    GE: Due to the style of games that you have recently made, are there any plans to revive any classic point-and-click games, such as a King’s Quest game?
     
    AJ: We’re currently working on a King’s Quest title, though it’s not due out for some time.
     
    GE: Jurassic Park and Back to the Future are both based on wildly successful movie franchises. You are also developing The Walking Dead: The Game and a Law and Order: LA game. Why did you decide to pursue well known movies/TV shows, and are there any plans in the future to adapt more movies/TV shows into games?
     
    AJ: Telltale has an unmatched sophistication in storytelling in licensed intellectual property and we strive to pick up licenses that we’re excited about in the studio and where we feel a great story can be told; The Walking Dead and Law and Order both being universes where this is the case. We’re consistently looking at properties across the spectrum of movies, TV, comic books, you name it, to create a game based on.

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