ElectricSpectre

I know, I know, Turok was a dinosaur hunter. But he wasn’t reeeally, anymore than Gordon Freeman is a combine-assassin or Mario is a gooma-exterminator. No – I want a game where the focus is on the actual dinosaur hunting, rather than solving some bigger problem and happening to kill every dinosaur that gets in your way.

The game will be an FPS, free-roaming sandbox affair set in some massive expanse of wilderness that impossibly features all your favourite videogame settings. That is to say, a desert area, a mountainous region, an active volcano/lava-cave system and a tropical waterworld. Also throw in an ice-age location for ironic value. The many species of dinosaur that call this world home will roam around in packs or solo (depending on their species obviously) and will realistically interact with (kill) other dinosaurs they may chance upon. Your job is simply to survive in this harsh environment. you have basic hunting tools – bait, something you can throw at dinosaurs to anger and stun them, and of course a sniper rifle with which to take down these magnificent beasts of yesteryear. I figure you’ll also have the ability to set up tree-hides that you can hang around in, waiting for the perfect shot, different types of camouflage and also a hanglider for swift and silent getting around.

Progress will be mission based, with unlockable tools and toys that make trapping and hunting that little bit easier. There could be an ultimate goal – e.g. complete 100 missions that will ultimately allow you to build a helicopter and escape this nightmarish island, or it could be a more passive “just live your dino-hunting life” kind of thing, with the unlockable gear and promise of exploration providing the incentive to keep playing.

I’ve already mentioned that storywise this game should be kept basic. Since actually slaughtering dinosaurs seems kind of mean (as a huge dinosaur fan I support their right to live freely amongst us) I figure the story could be handled in one of two ways. (To the thousands of game developers hanging on my every word; know that I’m not fussy about which of these options are eventually implemented. They’re all potential game-of-the-year titles, so take your pick.)

1. You are a famous big game hunter in the mould of Pete Postlethwaite in Jurassic Park 2. You have a mercenary mind-set and are out to bring down the biggest and deadliest beasts ever to walk the planet. That said, you’re only tranquillising them so that a massive chopper can descend from on high and carry them off to a mainland theme park in a big net. You are paid handsomely. You are handsome.

2. You are a tribal hunter-gatherer , the last of his kind, who lives amongst the dinosaurs. You are an expert tracker and survivalist. You are the forest. Bringing down bigger and bigger dinosaurs means more food, and more teeth with which to make deadlier weapons. In this scenario, the dino-killing is transformed from mindless slaughter into a beautiful harmony of nature. Circle of life and all that. Again, you are handsome.

This game could be built very easily if you are Ubisoft.

1. Take the Farcry 2 engine (the atmosphere and controls were absolutely spot on for this title, not to mention the fire dynamic could be put to excellent use in shepherding herds of dinosaurs off a cliff)

2. Make the environment a bit more exciting, and make the central character extremely nimble

3. PUMP IT FULL OF DINOSAURS. Then pile on a bunch of missions and achievements. For instance, how about 100 gamerpoints for surfing a triceratops over a waterfall?

Game. Of. The. Year.

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