Summer is my favorite time of the year because it marks the start of monster season for the entertainment industry. I’m always looking forward to seeing franchises like Jurassic Park release its blockbusters in these middle months. However, what excites me more than a dinosaur movie is a dinosaur game. I’ve been on the prowl for something that gets me up close with the most terrifying animals to ever walk the Earth. After watching the trailer for FEROCIOUS, a survival FPS set in the world of dinosaurs, I gave my monitor a standing ovation. Then, Christmas came early when its developer OMYOG and publisher tinyBuild announced an updated demo was coming to Steam Next Fest: June 2025. With Jurassic World Rebirth set to release just three weeks after Steam Next Fest, there was no better time try out FEROCIOUS.

FEROCIOUS Demo Gameplay Synopsis

In FEROCIOUS, San Win and his brother crash land on Kazanjima 2, an island inhabited by prehistoric animals off the coast of Japan. San’s brother is captured by Manifesto, a rogue militia seeking to colonize the island into their own utopia. San teams up with a local dinosaur researcher to find his brother and take down Manifesto.

The Cinematic World of FEROCIOUS

The world of FEROCIOUS blew me away. Every frame in the demo feels it belongs in a movie. This spectacular art direction is due to OMYOG’s team consisting of artists from film and theme parks. The gorgeous lighting reflects the jungle environment blanketed by dense fog. The sound design and lush flora and fauna make the island feel active and alive. The rocky geography and rich foliage further elevate the grandness of the valley.

I was mesmerized by the first look of the island. I wanted to jump off the edge in a wingsuit, and glide alongside the ancient birds and pterosaurs over the painterly prehistoric landscape.

FEROCIOUS divides the island into 5 biomes, each with distinct aesthetics, challenges, and enemies. Each biome is a semi-open map littered with puzzles to solve, items to find, and objectives to complete. The demo features the first 3 levels and takes you from mountainous shores to muddy swamps.

Exploration, Lore, and Cinematic Moments

I was initially disappointed to find out FEROCIOUS was semi-open as its captivating world deserves to be freely explored. However, FEROCIOUS satiated my hunger for exploration through intricate map design and fantastic cinematography. There are numerous locations to explore from ancient ruins of past civilizations to research and military outposts of Manifesto. Each semi-open map loops around with multiple pathways connecting different locations. You can finish a shoot-out with Manifesto at an outpost, then cut a path through tall grass to walk amongst sauropods in an open swamp.

The space in between major locations is beautiful and full of lore too, as OMYOG explains (via Steam):

“We love games that reward curious players. FEROCIOUS is full of details for the people who take the time to look around. A broken bridge with claw marks. Bones buried near a mercenary camp… We want the island to feel lived-in or, maybe more accurately, fought-over [sic]. It’s not always clear what happened, but the clues are there: footprints too large to be human, wrecked vehicles, half-eaten bodies… Cool, right?”

The natural exploration is engaging and goes beyond just walking to places. There are parkour puzzles, enemy encounters, and random events that make the world feel dynamic. One of my favorite moments was falling down a waterfall into a twisting river. As I swam through the algae, I spotted a parasaur around a bend, dipping its head to drink. When I got close, a giant diplocaulus burst out from under the water, sunk its teeth into the parasaur’s neck, then dragged it into the murky green abyss. It was a phenomenal introduction to the next biome and defined the aquatic danger in the rest of the level. These scripted moments embody “show-don’t-tell” and make FEROCIOUS that much more cinematic. You’ll never get bored of exploring the island.

Survival and Crafting

I wouldn’t call FEROCIOUS a survival game even though it is marketed as such. You have a sensitive health pool that can be frequently replenished and fortified with armor. Furthermore, campfire checkpoints are extremely abundant and allow you to save and respawn as needed. Crafting offers a wide selection of tools and weapons, such as spears, armor, and health packs. Despite its variety, crafting was largely insignificant in any challenges I encountered in the demo. The only items I regularly crafted were health packs, armor, and the occasional spear for minor stealth. Guns and bullets always the carved the most effective path through every battle. This may change in the full game.

Guns-Blazing Dino-Chaos

FEROCIOUS is predominantly a chaotic first-person shooter. Gunplay completely overshadows stealth. There are tons of guns to choose from, and ammo is so overwhelmingly abundant that you never have to stop shooting. To add to the chaos, you can control certain dinosaur species using a communicator device to aid you in battle. Spraying bullets through the absolute chaos of a rampaging dinosaur is the strongest and most thrilling gameplay element of FEROCIOUS. Each dinosaur’s special ability changes up its combat style. Dryosaurs can bait scorpions into fighting other enemies. Titanoceratops rams its horns through structures and walls. Raptors call on their pack to unleash hell on an unsuspecting patrol. Nevertheless, there are no friends on Kazanjima 2. The wild instincts of dinosaurs threaten everyone including you.

FEROCIOUS Dinosaurs

As expected from a dinosaur game, FEROCIOUS features all the iconic dinosaurs from media and more. The demo introduces soaring pterosaurs, pack-hunting raptors, and friendly dryosaurs. Other terrifying prehistoric creatures include giant scorpions, hiding in dense brush to slice you into pieces, and diplocaulus’ that drag you down to the depths of the rivers. OMYOG opted for creativity over accuracy when designing the dinosaurs as they explained in a developer update:

“Our design approach was more like this: Based on what we know about dinosaurs today, how can we make these creatures cool and believable, while giving them a slightly monstrous twist?”

The dinosaur designs are grounded in their recognizable counterparts, but also have a hellish twist that keeps things fresh in a longstanding genre. Additionally, the narrative of FEROCIOUS justifies this creative choice since Kazanjima 2 is a breakaway dinosaur ecosystem that survived extinction. This means everything on the island has had an additional 66 million years to become bigger and nastier natural horrors.

The Prehistory of FEROCIOUS

Click on any reviews or comments under videos of FEROCIOUS and you’ll see comparisons to Far Cry, Turok, and Ark: Survival Evolved. Usually, heavy comparisons to previous titles are detrimental to a game’s success in two ways. Players would rather play its established precursors, or worse, criticize the game for being a rip-off. However, FEROCIOUS is thriving off these comparisons to several popular titles in its genre. Players point to how it cohesively blends all the best elements of its precursors from the gameplay mechanics to the world building. Additionally, FEROCIOUS not only pulls inspiration from videogames, but from TV and movies as well.

Not a Far Cry from Far Cry

FEROCIOUS mainly overlaps with Turok, and Ark: Survival Evolved in its prehistoric setting, however it plays nearly identically to Far Cry. The games share enemy outposts, radio towers, parkour puzzles, and, of course, tons of guns. The dinosaur companions resemble Far Cry Primal’s animal companions which could be tamed and commanded in battle. Even the healing animations, like fixing a dislocated finger and wrapping up a gaping wound, are identical to Far Cry. FEROCIOUS is basically a modern day dinosaur Far Cry game, and I am all for it. The audience reception to FEROCIOUS has been overwhelmingly positive as players have been wishing for a dinosaur themed Far Cry since Far Cry Primal and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. OMYOG beat Ubisoft to the punch and players are excited to see how another developer can innovate this subgenre of FPS.

TV and Film

Upon starting the game, I was immediately reminded of Skull Island from King Kong. The intro cinematic shows San Win crashing onto Kazanjima 2 by boat, a classic trope of the Kong franchise featured in King Kong (2005) and Netflix’s animated series Skull Island (2023). The jungle is blanketed in a hazy fog and peppered with abandoned research facilities characteristic of Isla Sorna from Jurassic Park 3 (2001). Manifesto’s breakaway society is reminiscent of the militaristic colonies in the prehistoric Earth of Terra Nova (2011). Lastly, the game trailer and demo ending teased a mechanical exosuit, compact like the AMPs of Avatar (2009) and explosively armed like Titanfall.

Final Thoughts

FEROCIOUS’s demo is a promising preview of a dinosaur survival FPS set in a world inspired by the greatest tropes of the genre. It’s gorgeous graphics and captivating cinematography transport you to the distant past. Its chaotic gunplay and ferocious dinosaurs deliver a thrilling experience that I am looking forward to immersing myself in the full release. I can’t wait to see where OMYOG takes FEROCIOUS and I hope we get another peak later this year.

FEROCIOUS’s demo was part of Steam Next Fest: June 2025. The game’s early playtest has concluded and a public demo is now available. A release date has not been announced.