The Lost Wild Summer Game Fest Demo Preview

The dinosaur survival game The Lost Wild had appeared, for want of a better description, to be lost after its 2021 unveiling. It had gone so quiet, in fact, that we featured it in a recent magazine round-up of games announced long ago that had largely fallen silent following their debuts. We would like to believe that feature somehow summoned the game back during this week’s PlayStation State of Play. Whatever the reason, it is good to see it return, and I was even more interested to watch a 30-minute hands-off demonstration at Summer Game Fest Play Days.

The Lost Wild puts Saskia among dinosaurs

The game follows Saskia, who wakes up after a car crash to discover she is on an island overrun with dinosaurs. The live presentation opens in a strikingly realised forest under moonlight, with no permanent HUD visible on screen. As Saskia cautiously makes her way through thick vegetation from a first-person perspective, the demonstrator explains one of The Lost Wild’s central mechanics: stealth. Travelling too fast or noisily, switching on a torch, or lighting flares can alert nearby creatures to her location - including hungry carnivores.

Saskia is evidently not a combatant, though I doubt that would help much against the demo’s principal danger: an Allosaurus. This apex predator reveals itself after Saskia spots a man in a hazmat suit close to a facility. The frightened man runs towards Saskia, presumably relieved to find another person rather than a prehistoric reptile, but the Allosaurus immediately seizes him in its jaws. Saskia hurriedly crawls beneath a nearby car.

From under the vehicle, she sees the man dropped onto the ground in surprisingly one piece, before the Allosaurus picks him up again and savagely bites him in half. His bloodied lower body, with entrails exposed, collapses onto the ground while the creature seemingly detects the scent of the terrified Saskia. After several inquisitive sniffs, it returns to eating what remains of its victim: a false alarm. The dinosaurs and human characters could look more polished in this work-in-progress build, but the sequence communicates its message clearly enough: do not get caught.

Allosaurus encounters and animal behaviour

However frightening they may be, the dinosaurs in The Lost Wild are not intended as mindless, bloodthirsty monsters that exist only to turn Saskia into a meal. Great Ape Games instead wants to portray them as genuine animals that act as such. The demonstration does not reveal the full extent of that nuanced behaviour, but the Allosaurus does not seem to be deliberately pursuing Saskia. It is likely patrolling because she has entered its territory, yet players must react quickly when it notices them.

Diversions are essential. In a later moment, Saskia enters a facility and tosses a rock at an exterior light, knocking it out to attract the Allosaurus’ attention. Should distractions fail, the demo shows that she can conceal herself in long grass to get past it, slip beneath vehicles like a frightened child hiding under a bed, or simply sprint away and hope for the best. That final approach ended poorly twice for the developer demonstrating the build to us, though.

As an enthusiastic admirer of the original Jurassic Park, I have a particular fondness for dinosaur stories that are both terrifying and awe-inspiring, and The Lost Wild’s concept hits several of the right notes. The demonstration was deliberately measured and worked well as a piece of atmosphere, but I love the premise. I am also keen to see the realistic dinosaur behaviour emerge in ways beyond an Allosaurus brutally killing someone. By the time the game launches in 2027, I also hope the creatures and characters will have received more visual refinement.

The Lost Wild and Jurassic Park: Survival

It is difficult to ignore the odd, and perhaps unfortunate, coincidence that The Lost Wild shares an almost identical “run and hide from the dinosaurs” premise with another forthcoming game, Jurassic Park: Survival, albeit without Universal’s famous licence. Although The Lost Wild was revealed first, my previously mentioned affection for the franchise makes it hard not to want Saber Interactive’s forthcoming game more. I sincerely hope The Lost Wild can win me over on its own strengths, and I am interested to see whether this long-awaited project can land successfully.