Jurassic World Aftermath Collection review for Nintendo Switch

Two things about Jurassic World Aftermath Collection that you may want to know going into it:

1. it?s set, as its title implies, in between Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; and
2. it was originally a VR game for Oculus Quest before being ported over to the Switch.

The first of those is probably much less important. While in theory the game is tied to the more recent Jurassic Park movies, realistically all you need to know is that your character is stuck on Isla Nublar, and you need to escape before the dinosaurs get you. There?s a plot, sure, and it features some stellar voice acting to help move the story along (which I?ll return to in a bit), but really, the key attraction here is that if you?ve ever wanted an entire game that combines some of the more intense parts of the first Jurassic Park movie ? specifically, the kitchen scene, and the one where Ellie is trying to turn power back on in the bunker ? this delivers on that.

The game?s VR origins are a little more relevant. It?s first-person, as you?d expect, but your character also moves fairly slowly ? presumably a holdover from when motion sickness would have been a concern. On top of that, it’s not the most demanding game in terms of gameplay, since most of what you?re doing here is walking slowly to avoid being detected by some persistent velociraptors (and the odd other dinosaur threat), and then solving fairly basic puzzles.

I?d hasten to add, however, that even if Jurassic World Aftermath isn?t demanding, it?s still a challenge. Those raptors pop up everywhere, and you never know when you?re going to spin around and find your death staring you right in the face. This is a stealth game, so the slow movements fit in fairly well.

Besides that, whatever the game lacks in terms of groundbreaking gameplay, it more than makes up for it in its atmosphere. Everything is shown in cel-shaded, comic book-like graphics, which probably makes the game scarier than if it had tried to mimic the movies. Because there?s no uncanny valley to get lost in, you focus on what you?re seeing, and the abandoned theme park is more than spooky enough to freak you out.

On top of that, Jurassic World Aftermath features some stellar voice acting from Laura Bailey, who turns in a great performance as the person guiding you across the island. Save for a few guest vocal appearances from Jeff Goldblum and BD Wong, Bailey carries the weight of the entire story on her back, and the range she?s able to display as no more than a voice on the other end of a radio is astounding. It?s not often that voice acting jumps out at me, so the fact Bailey?s work did should tell you a lot.

In fact, I?d go as far as saying that Bailey pretty much single-handedly makes Jurassic World Aftermath Collection a worthwhile experience. Without her, this is a decent (if a little slow-moving) stealth game. With her literally guiding you through the ruins of the infamous theme park, the whole thing becomes worth your time and money

Coatsink Software provided us with a Jurassic World Aftermath Collection Switch code for review purposes.