There is a new Half-Life 2 mod on the horizon - one that lets you explore Jurassic Park pretty much in its entirety.
Jurassic Life is an entirely fan-made project led by a modest but super driven group of modders, who have spent an unbelievable number of years carefully recreating (and reinventing) the classic Jurassic Park world using the Source engine. The development process can be traced back all the way to 2006, but since then the team had to "put the project on ice" for a few years.
Until recently, that is.
In October 2019, the Jurassic Life team released a new trailer showcasing the project's process, ending with the tantalizingly vague ETA of "When it's ready." Fast forward to two days ago, when a brand new, updated trailer landed on YouTube, fittingly entitled "Life Finds a Way." The devs say that "with help from old and new team members we are near the end of our journey." And what a journey it has been! Finally, after around fourteen years - fourteen years - of development, it seems Jurassic Life will be finding its way onto our screens in 2020. We're not sure exactly when in 2020, but still.
Although the trailer shows a fantastic experience that seems like it'll feel more like its own standalone game rather than a Half-Life 2 mod, the team wishes to emphasize that what you see now is still pretty unpolished. Presumably by the time it's released, it'll have more of a sleeker finish.
In terms of the storyline, it will reportedly form parallels with the original while modifying it to make it a richer gaming experience. It will essentially take the form of a side story to the main plotline seen in the original film (and is thus set in the same timeframe of the first movie), so a lot will be recognizable for classic Jurassic fans. But it seems there'll be just the right amount of freshness and originality, too.
The game will be a first-person shooter, and evidently you'll be encountering some of our favorite dinosaurs first-hand as warden Robert Muldoon, hired to keep order in the infamous Jurassic Park located on Isla Nublar.
As with the recently-completed Black Mesa, we again find ourselves in awe of those in the gaming community who dedicate their time and resources to recreating our favorite nerdy childhood stories.
Source: DSOG