Now, Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues isn't to be confused with Jurassic Park: The Lost World. The Chaos Continues was released some time before the Lost World, and the Lost World received its own game which was one the Sony Playstation. Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues is strictly a video game interpretation of the events that took place after the initial deadly mishap in the park. The game begins with a pretty darn impressive cut scene, animated with voice work, explains that InGen's main competitor Biosyn is out to take control of Jurassic Park and all of its inhabitants. The problem is InGen hasn't completely abandoned hopes of regaining control of Jurassic Park. So, Biosyn sends an army of elite troops and scientists to do their dirty work. Talk about a hostile take over! Anyway, InGen's CEO John Hammond having no where else to turn is in desperate need for a hero. With Jurassic Park under siege by a well armed military force, who is he going to call? None other than Dr. Allen Grant, because when commandos start knocking on your door, the first thing that comes to mind is "I need a paleontologist". As for the rest of the story, that's about all you're going to get. That's not because I won't tell you, there really isn't much else that needs to be said. Aside from the well crafted opening cut scene, a gripping narrative Jurassic Park Part 2 is not.

     Game play is basic, The Chaos Continues is a pretty standard run and gun side-scroller. Players will select which mission they would like to begin with out of a list of 7 main missions. These missions take Dr. Grant through the dense jungles, inside park facilities, a volcano, and a mountain range. Being this is Jurassic Park, the armed commandos aren't the only thing Grant will have to contend with. Obviously, dinosaurs are going to play a factor and levels will switch between the enemies being humans and the dinosaurs. On occasion, there will be a combination of both the dinosaurs and humans, but for the most part its either one or the other. Being there are two different types of threats players will go up against there are two different sets of weapon, lethal and non-lethal. Lethal weapons are used against both dinosaurs and humans, although being InGen wants to take control over the park once again killing their star attractions is frowned upon. Next to the life gauge, there is a stock meter which is a Jurassic Park logo and a number that begins at 100. Killing dinosaurs will cause this meter to drop, and once you reach below 75...game over man. Utilizing the non lethal rounds when facing a dinosaur is a necessity, and trying to use these weapons against a human target is completely useless. Humans will have no reaction to the cattle prod (which looks like something out of a terminator movie), or the violent explosions of a tranquilizer missile (because everyone knows violent explosions will put a dinosaur to sleep...). So anyway, to make a long story short make sure you pick the right tool for the job. With my jests put aside, the side-scrolling action is actually pretty addictive and with some practice players can get very good at it. There is also an option to bring in a second player, who assumes the role of a guy named Wolfskin, and I only found out his name after looking through the instruction booklet. The co-op feature works well, and basically ensures the success of completing the mission. Its like they say, two guns are better than one.

     Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues does have plenty of quirks though. Despite its well polished graphics, and excellent sound effects, the game has plenty of glitches that can work to a players advantage or against them. For starters, on occasion dinosaurs won't react properly to Dr. Grant's presence. Some raptors will flutter on the screen, as if they're stuck position. This makes them easy pickings, but isn't necessarily fun. Some times enemies will also run straight through a wall, or over a cliff. This doesn't effect the game play, but sticks out like a sore thumb. On a more negative note, there are plenty of instances where Dr. Grant can literally fall through a stage. For no reason, Grant will simply fall off the face of the earth. The problem is, fall damage counts against your life gauge. So, every time this glitch occurs the player will lose health. The game also continuously reuses the same levels, and simply replaces the dinosaurs with humans and vise versa . Continuously seeing the same places over and over does take away from the long lasting appeal from the game, but even though they are well designed levels, the repetitive nature does tend to get annoying. One truly useless feature, which is mind boggling as to how it actually made it into the game, is the ability to dodge. Now I know you're thinking right now "how can dodging be useless?" Well, I'll tell ya. By pressing the X button, Grant slightly moves his rifle out of the way activating the dodge. The animation looks good, but the problem is dodging doesn't work. Dinosaurs and humans can simply run Grant over, knocking him down. Plus, spitting dinosaurs and armed soldiers rate of fire is set so fast, even after activating a dodge trying to fight back is impossible. Its easier just to jump or duck to avoid attacks, which still allows you to attack back.

     Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues is a far from perfect game, and there are better JP games out on the market. With that said, The Chaos Continues isn't exactly terrible either. Although it can be frustrating at times, it is a game that can easily be laughed at. So take the game for what it is, another attempt to make a dime off of the Jurassic Park logo. Despite all of its flaws its still really fun to play, especially in two player mode. In the end, isn't that what games are all about?

Written by RB

Over and Out

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