The Lost Wild Preview – Everyone’s Stalked By The Dinosaur

Platform:
PlayStation 5, PC

Publisher:
Annapurna Interactive

Developer:
Great Ape Games

Dinosaur survival game The Lost Wild seemed, for lack of a better word, lost since its reveal in 2021. So much so, in fact, that we included the game in our recent magazine round-up of long-announced games that had more or less gone radio silent since their debuts. We like to think that article willed the game’s reemergence during this week’s PlayStation’s State of Play into existence, but regardless of the reasoning, we’re happy to see it again, and I was even more intrigued to check out a 30-minute hands-off demo at Summer Game Fest Play Days

The game stars Saskia, a woman who awakens after a car accident to find herself on an island teeming with dinosaurs. The live demo begins in an impressively rendered moonlit forest, which is devoid of any static HUD elements. As Saskia carefully navigates the dense foliage in first-person, the demoer highlights one of the key elements of The Lost Wild: stealth. Moving too quickly or loudly, or using your flashlight or igniting flares, will alert nearby animals to your presence, which might include hungry carnivores. 

Saskia is apparently not a fighter, but even if she were, I doubt she could do much against the main threat of this demo: an Allosaurus. This apex predator makes its presence known when Saskia encounters a man wearing a hazmat suit near a facility. As the panicked man runs towards Sasikia, likely grateful to see someone who isn’t a prehistoric reptile, he’s promptly snatched by the jaws of the Allosaurus as Saskia quickly crawls under a nearby car. Underneath the vehicle, the man is dropped to the ground remarkably intact before Allosaurus scoops him back up and viciously chomps him in half. His bloody bottom half, entrails exposed, slumps to the ground as the Allosaurus seemingly catches a whiff of the terrified Saskia. After a few curious sniffs, it resumes devouring the remains of its prey – false alarm. Although the graphical fidelity of the dinosaur and characters leaves a bit to be desired in this in-development build, the scene gets its point across effectively; don’t get caught. 

As scary as they can be, The Lost Wild’s dinosaurs are not designed to be bloodthirsty monsters whose sole purpose is to make Saskia their lunch. Instead, developer Great Ape Games aims to depict them as real animals who behave accordingly. While I don’t get to see how nuanced this behavior can be, the Allosaurus doesn’t feel like it’s actively hunting Saskia. It’s roaming the area probably because this is its territory, but when it does discover the player, they need to act fast. Creating distractions is key, such as a later sequence when Saskia enters a facility and throws a rock to knock out an outdoor light to draw the Allosaurus’ attention. If distractions don’t work, the demo shows you can hide in tall grass to sneak around, slide under vehicles like a scared child cowering under a bed, or just run for it and hope for the best. That last option ended badly on two occasions for the developer playing the build for us, however.

As a passionate fan of the original Jurassic Park, I have a soft spot for scary yet awe-inspiring dinosaur media, so The Lost Wild’s premise strikes a few good chords. The demo was intentionally slow and a decent mood piece, but I love the premise. I’m also eager to witness the realistic dinosaur behaviors shine through beyond the Allosaurus murderizing someone. I also hope the animals and characters will be sharpened up by the time the game arrives in 2027. 

It’s also hard not to acknowledge the strange, perhaps unfortunate, coincidence of how The Lost Wild shares almost the same “run and hide from the dinosaurs” premise with another upcoming game, Jurassic Park: Survival, but without Universal’s popular license. While The Lost Wild was announced first, it’s hard not to pine for Saber Interactive’s upcoming game more, given my aforementioned fandom for the franchise. I truly hope The Lost Wild can woo me on its own merits, and I’m intrigued to see how this long-awaited project sticks the landing.