Editorials
Revisiting Site B in the Ambitious and Disastrous ‘Jurassic Park: Trespasser’
It’s no surprise that licensed games have developed a certain reputation over the years. While recent titles like Alien Isolation and Dead by Daylight suggest that licensed properties are no longer a digital death sentence, there was a time when games that managed to break free from the tie-in curse were regarded as miracles. Unfortunately, Jurassic Park: Trespasser is not one of those miracles. Loaded with bugs, baffling design choices and serious compatibility issues, this is far from a good product, and I don’t blame critics for bashing it back in 1998. However, despite its flaws, Trespasser also happens to be one of my all-time favorite games, and a unique experience that still deserves to be talked about over two decades later.
The Jurassic Park franchise is no stranger to tie-in games, having released a plethora of licensed platformers and shooters on everything from Arcade Cabinets to the NES, so with the release of 1997’s The Lost World (itself an underrated sequel that also boasts the best tie-in marketing in the franchise), DreamWorks Interactive spared no expense in creating tons of videogame adaptations. From a bizarre RTS narrated by Jeff Goldblum himself (Chaos Island) to a surprisingly violent Tekken clone (Warpath), no genre was safe from the JP brand, though it would ultimately be a FPS that brought the developers to their knees.
The First-Person renaissance was already booming during the mid-90s, with developers everywhere trying to one-up each other with new and bombastic FPS titles. While most games were still arena-shooters and arcade-y Doom clones, we also had gems like Goldeneye and (arguably) System Shock, which allowed for slower-paced exploration and worldbuilding. This goal to craft a believable interactive world was what attracted Dreamworks Interactive to the project that would eventually become known as Trespasser. Approved by Spielberg himself (much like the infamous ET on Atari), the game set out to tell a terrifying side-story within the Jurassic Park universe, focusing on hardcore survival and realistic physics over the usual over-the-top action.
As the game entered production, the developers’ laundry list of innovative features only grew, promising advanced dinosaur A.I. which would make every encounter unique, and a one-of-a-kind physics system that allowed players to interact with the world as if they were really there. The game was also meant to have a tone more similar to Michael Crichton’s original novels, trading in the (somewhat) child-friendly thrills of Spielberg’s vision for a scarier, more down-to-earth experience.
Storywise, the game would take place after The Lost World, putting players in the shoes of Anne, an original character who must fight for survival after crash-landing on the infamous Site B, where Jurassic Park’s dinosaurs were originally grown. Facing off against ravenous predators with makeshift weapons and limited ammo, Anne would also recall portions of John Hammond’s in-universe memoir, further immersing players in a prehistoric nightmare.
Clever girls. Well, almost.
Produced by Seamus Blackley, who would eventually spearhead the development of Microsoft’s Xbox, Trespasser looked like it was going to be an immersive masterpiece that would raise the bar for both licensed games and FPS titles alike. Unfortunately, over-ambition and a tight budget led to something far more disappointing winding up on store shelves. Even after a significant delay (which caused the game to be released over a year after The Lost World hit theaters), the developers were forced to cut corners and break promises in order to simply finish the game, resulting in a disappointing and poorly optimized experience for the lucky few who could actually run it on late-90s hardware.
With little time for testing, the developers had to nix the advanced A.I., making all dinosaurs permanently aggressive while also preventing them from jumping or entering buildings, lest they become entangled in level geometry and crash the game. The physics system was also simplified, with objects lacking friction and most puzzles turning into basic crate-stacking affairs. If that wasn’t enough, the engine couldn’t handle two fully interactive arms at the same time, which led the writers to explain that Anne broke one of her arms in the crash, making her look a bit silly when wielding a rifle.
Beyond the technical issues, the studio also objected to some of the developers’ horror influences, insisting that the game be more action-packed despite everything being planned as a slower-paced thriller. Couple that with countless bugs and unfinished levels, and it’s no surprise that this was widely considered the worst game of 1998, and is often cited as a prime example of the licensed game curse.
However, even with all this criticism, I think there’s a lot to love about Trespasser. There’s no denying that the developers couldn’t deliver on what they promised, but their dedication to trying something new is still admirable. When the game works, the detailed environments and lack of an HUD make it incredibly atmospheric. Even the convoluted aiming controls (which supposedly inspired Octodad and Surgeon Simulator) add tension during combat much like the awkward action in classics like Resident Evil.
Ironically, the game’s subdued horror elements make for some of its best moments, as wandering this seemingly post-apocalyptic space while dreading your next Raptor encounter can be incredibly intense. Had the developers been allowed to embrace the projects’ horrific roots, combat could have been legitimately terrifying instead of messy and annoying, and it would have been easier to forgive some of the other shortcomings.
I swear this was a majestic sight back in the 90s.
Minnie Driver‘s internal monologue as the hapless Anne is also great, and I was always entertained by her oddly charming remarks on how her chances of survival are slim. The legendary Sir Richard Attenborough also reprises his role as John Hammond for the game’s memoir sections, making these curious anecdotes about the history of inGen and Jurassic Park that much more compelling. The game might not have much in the way of a conventional narrative, but it still feels like a worthy companion piece to the JP franchise.
The developers’ reach definitely exceeded their grasp, but they had the courage to attempt things that then-contemporary games could only dream of. Even Valve has admitted that Trespasser was an influence on the physics-based elements of Half-Life 2, which is funny when you consider that the original Half-Life released only a few weeks after Trespasser, outshining all of its attempts at an immersion-focused FPS. Peter Jackson’s King Kong also boasted a surprisingly entertaining videogame adaptation that featured quite a few homages to Trespasser, like the absent HUD and having the protagonist blurt out how much ammo you have left before shooting dinosaurs.
Luckily, I’m not the only one that appreciates Trespasser‘s attempts at a unique survival experience, as the game has developed a robust following of fans and modders that have kept the title alive after all these years. This dedicated community routinely churns out quality-of-life improvements and compatibility solutions over at Trescom (with some of them even working on complete remakes of the game), making this the best time in history to actually try and enjoy Dreamworks Interactive’s ill-fated project.
Trespasser may not be remembered as the game-changing blockbuster that the developers had intended, but it’s still worth revisiting as a landmark in FPS history. Despite all the janky elements, the game was truly ahead of its time, and walked so that future immersive survival titles could run. If you set aside the messy presentation and install a mod or two, there are still genuine thrills to be had on Site B, whether you’re fending off velociraptors with a human skull or just appreciating a prehistoric adventure 65 million years in the making.
Five decades ago, Stephen King published the story of a bullied girl with telekinetic powers and forever changed the world of horror.
Carrie follows a high school misfit who seeks revenge for a hideous prank by psychically destroying her senior prom. The name Carrie White has become synonymous with the concept of a formal dance thanks to a flawless adaptation from Brian De Palma. Now fifty years after the film’s release, Mike Flanagan is putting his own stamp on the troubling story.
Rather than a feature film, the writer/director will expand King’s relatively slim debut novel into an eight-episode miniseries for Amazon Prime set to premiere on October 7.
Flanagan is no stranger to the world of Stephen King. A long-time Constant Reader, he first made waves with his daring adaptation of Gerald’s Game (2017), a novel many fans considered un-filmable. His underrated Doctor Sleep merges the disparate plot of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining with King’s original source material, and his 2024 genre-bending tearjerker The Life of Chuck faithfully executes one of the author’s most metaphysical novellas.
He’s currently mired in pre-production for an expansive adaptation of The Dark Tower series, keystone to King’s connected universe, and Warner Bros. recently announced that Flanagan will helm a new version of The Mist, King’s 1980 novella which sees a small Maine town overrun by otherworldly monsters.
Considering the vast array of the author’s previously unadapted material, an obvious question arises. Why reimagine Carrie in 2026? Noting the timeless nature of the content, Flanagan expressed his desire to bring the story of a bullied girl into modern times, mirroring his approach to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. He explained, “The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”
His miniseries will maintain the novel’s bloody bookends while delivering “big surprises” along the way.
A New Prom Night Nightmare
The roughly 60-second teaser introduces Summer H. Howell as Carrie White just before the moment of catastrophe. Standing in a prom dress, she smiles at her applauding classmates with an ominous crown perched upon her head. Moments later, Carrie unleashes a rage-filled scream into the night air while promgoers rush for the exit doors. But careful examination of this scene shows Carrie wearing a different, albeit dirty dress as she seems to telekinetically punish her peers.
In an exclusive first look with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explains that in his version of the story, “the events of that prom are going to be completely different.” An open trunk emitting a crimson glow does hint at the pig’s blood dumped on Carrie’s head, but it’s likely Flanagan’s formal dance will be a different kind of horror altogether. Despite these changes, the series may end with the widespread destruction outlined in the source material. Unlike any previous adaptations, King’s novel ends with the near-total destruction of Chamberlain, Maine. A flaming street in Flanagan’s trailer promises similar carnage no matter what prank sparks Carrie’s deadly revenge.
The Monstrous Addition of Social Media
On the opposite end of this fiery conclusion is an extreme act of bullying that brings together the story’s main cast. King’s novel begins as Carrie gets her first period while showering in the girls’ locker room. Completely unaware of the concept of menstruation, the sheltered girl thinks she’s bleeding to death. Her classmates respond with vitriolic rage. Led by ultra-mean girl Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), they mock the terrified teen while pelting her with tampons. Glimpses of this disturbing event reveal that Flanagan has excised the scene’s nudity while adding a seismic update. As Carrie sobs in the shower stall, Chris and her friends film the breakdown with their phones.
Other scenes note the presence of social media, bringing King’s fifty-year-old story into the digital age.
Flanagan’s adaptation promises to explore the destructive power of social media, an often invisible entity with a potential for harm rivaling Carrie’s own powers. While King’s tormented heroine suffers in front of a small group of girls, Flanagan’s version of the incident will likely become a viral video, potentially circling the globe on social media. Similar to Katt Shea’s criminally underrated The Rage: Carrie 2, which includes elements of revenge porn exploitation, Flanagan’s modern retelling will distinguish itself by exploring the nebulous cruelty of online bullying, a force ten times more powerful than the irl pranks King first envisioned.
A Completely Reimagined White Family
In addition to modernizing these canon events, Flanagan hints at updates to Carrie’s oppressive upbringing at the hands of her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan). Dead before the novel begins, we never meet Carrie’s domineering father Ralph, known to carry a bible alongside his gun. Flanagan’s White household will be an altogether different beast. In his version of the story, Carrie and her mother have been hidden away in the unassuming home, forced out of hiding by Ralph’s unexpected death. Perhaps we will finally meet this elusive man whose shadow hangs over his wife and child. Considering the White family’s fundamentalist lifestyle, this reimagining hints at tradwife culture and a home ruled by staunch patriarchal control.
Whereas King’s Carrie has been tormented by her classmates since Kindergarten, Flanagan’s Carrie will be a wide-eyed newcomer to public school, eager to make friends and engage with her peers. We glimpse Carrie cozying up to Chris and the equally popular Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) as she navigates a new social scene. Of course, we know this kindness is part of an elaborate plot designed to lull Carrie into a false sense of camaraderie, setting up an atrocious act of public humiliation. These brief moments of feigned compassion put Sue’s own complicity into question. Will Flanagan’s version of the character find the courage to defend Carrie from vicious bullies or will she succumb to peer pressure and join in the mob mentality?
Perhaps the biggest deviation from King’s original text is the relationship between Carrie and her mother. King’s Margaret White is a horrifically abusive religious zealot whose worldview has been hardened by internalized misogyny. She shames Carrie for menstruating, locks her in a closet to “pray,” and regrets not killing her child in infancy. She’s also responsible for Carrie’s social ostracization. Known to berate her neighbors for their “sins,” Margaret forces her daughter to live by an extreme code of conduct and disallows any potential friends lest they corrupt the girl with their worldly ways.
Flanagan’s version of the character is perhaps just as much a victim as Carrie herself. Also trapped inside her home, his Margaret is overly vigilant, her own trauma manifesting as strict control. Describing a more sympathetic depiction of the iconic villain, Flanagan explains, “Our Margaret White is a woman who fiercely loves her daughter and wants to protect her from this world … [She] doesn’t know how to do that and thinks the way to protect her is to close her off; not punitively, but to create this private utopia.”
Despite this potential softening, Sloyan’s Margaret may still have a sharp edge. Though she has appeared in many Flanagan projects, from Hush (2016) to The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), she is best known for her role as the abhorrent Bev Keane in the poignant saga Midnight Mass (2021). Perhaps inspired by King’s Margaret White, Bev is pious and sadistic, willing to punish anyone who does not adhere to her warped approximation of Catholicism.
Flanagan specifically wrote Margaret with Sloyan in mind, likely remembering the actress’s eerie ability to create deceptive empathy and shift our allegiances on a dime.
Expanding Stephen King’s Telekinetic Universe
While most of King’s story deals with an unthinkable prom night in Chamberlain, Maine, large sections of the semi-epistolary novel see experts debating the nature of telekinesis. Do Carrie’s frightening abilities represent a new phase in human evolution or is the prom night carnage merely a fluke? King settles the debate with a shocking denouement in which a young mother recounts her infant daughter’s ability to dangle her crib toys in midair. We’re left to wonder if she will become another tormented girl who surprises the world with metaphysical strength.
Flanagan plans to build out this brief scene while amplifying themes of female empowerment. After introducing our main cast of characters, episode two will open with an unrelated story in which we meet another girl with the TK gene. Each subsequent chapter will expand this world, building out a roster of telekinetic young women. Considering King’s fondness for stories about powerful kids, often described as possessing “the shining,” Constant Readers will no doubt have their eyes peeled for various Easter Eggs nodding to the author’s vast catalogue.
Giving Carrie Her Own Voice
Perhaps the most striking distinction in Flanagan’s new trailer is the extent to which we hear Carrie’s voice. The sneak peek is fully narrated by the titular prom queen as she demands accountability. “I want to know why,” she explains while detailing Chris’ elaborate plan. Aside from the aforementioned coda, King’s book essentially ends with the aftermath of the prom night tragedy, leaving little time for Carrie to reflect. His shifting narrative does bring the reader into her fragile mind, though not before she’s been cowed by relentless cruelty. We watch Carrie sink into bloodthirsty revenge, but never hear a considered desire for justice or repair.
Flanagan’s original monologue allows Carrie to voice her pain and mourn the life she could have had. We’re also treated to a mug shot-style photo of Chris with a bruised and bandaged face, implying that the mean girl will have to answer for her senseless sadism.
Flanagan is known for filling his series adaptations with heartwrenching speeches that cut to the heart of his thematic intentions, and this teaser seems to follow suit. After years of fans, critics, and scholars analyzing Carrie’s pain, perhaps his modern retelling will offer the titular anti-hero a chance to finally speak for herself.
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