Summary
The interactive experience may be a gimmick that is quickly dying out, but here it thrives. Children will adore this entertaining, decision-making experience set within Jurassic World. Keep your kids quiet for half an hour with this fun little adventure.
We review the Netflix interactive special Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure, which does not contain spoilers.
It feels like a lifetime ago that Netflix released their first major interactive experience, 2018’s feature-length, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. In the years since Netflix has continued to push their interactive specials, but the choose-your-own-adventure gimmick hasn’t quite kicked off the way they had hoped it would. Maybe directing the experience towards the child-friendly market makes more financial sense. It definitely feels like they’re on to a winner with Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure, the latest addition to the highly-lucrative dino franchise.
In this fun interactive special, players can spend thirty minutes of their day journeying through an abandoned theme park on Isla Nublar, where you must escape from ravenous dinosaurs and solve clues to find a hidden stash of food. Following on from the successful kids TV show (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous), you play as dino-expert Darius, who is joined by his teenage friends: Brooklynn (voiced by Jenna Ortega), Kenji, Ben, Yaz, and Sammy. These less-than happy campers have been stranded on the island for five seasons now and are dangerously low on snacks.
Viewers wake in a dinosaur’s nest as Darius, surrounded by unhatched eggs. There’s no time to waste, as you are soon pursued by an angry dinosaur through the jungle. You come to a cliff’s edge, where you must make your first choice of the game, do you jump into the nearest tree or slide down a vine like Tarzan. Using your remote control, you must quickly make a decision. These decisions start off harmlessly enough and you can even choose the other option if you wish to go back. This may feel like there are no consequences and that there is no skill to the game, but soon you’ll realize that making the wrong choice will end in death. Ouch!
When you die in the game, up pops Mr. DNA, the cartoon character made famous in the original Jurassic Park. Then you are whisked back to the previous point in the game, where the other, safer option plays out. This may seem redundant or inconsequential, but it does add real tension to the experience, and it is fun to be in control of your own narrative. I think children will love this aspect to the interactive special. And with so many options, it opens up the story to endless possibilities. There are so many different directions you can take.
As the story unravels, the teens uncover important footage filmed inside the raptor’s enclosure that hints at a mystery involving Brimford (voiced by Bill Nye). This crazed theme park designer worried that the dinosaurs would one day break free and take over the park, so he began to stash away food in a hidden bunker to help out any stranded guests. The starved teens decide to hunt down this hidden lair and attempt to solve Brimford’s riddles in the process. Their adventure takes them through the many perils of the park. This allows for some nice throwbacks to the Jurassic World franchise too, with smart Raptor Blue and the gyrospheres making an appearance.
There’s the usual cheesy humor and stereotypical banter between cast members that you’d expect from any given kids show, whilst the animation is of a good quality. The story itself is quite simplistic, with a few small twists, but it is the interactive element that will draw in viewers. Overall it’s an entertaining half hour of decision-making fun for your children to enjoy – something to keep them occupied for a short period of time. And setting this interactive experience within the Jurassic World brand will only add to your children’s enjoyment.
What did you think of the Netflix Interactive Special Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure? Comment below.
