I've been waiting 20 years for a spiritual successor to Peter Jackson's King Kong game, and it might just be Ferocious

Despite Ferocious emerging during a modern Golden Age of dinosaur video games, with both major developers and the independent scene releasing a non-stop parade of new ways to be eaten by a T. rex, this survival game stands alone. A lot of that has to do with the atmosphere on display in both the story and gameplay trailers, one made from a "lost world" cocktail of alternate dinosaur evolutions, ancient ruins and jungles, and unrelenting violence. It also has to do with how much it resembles another game that was singular amongst its own peers: Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, one of the best movie tie-in games of all time.

Developed by OMYOG, Ferocious doesn't garner that comparison by accident. On Instagram, the developer has written about how the 2005 King Kong game was his "favorite game as a kid" and was a "big inspiration" for his decision to eventually become a game developer. Kong's massive fingerprints are all over Ferocious' trailer, right down to the number of giant man-eating crabs you'll be fighting off with a spear. However, considering the fact that Kong came out for sixth generation systems like Xbox and PlayStation 2 and legal options to play it in 2025 are a little more limited, it's worth diving into Kong's majesty to see how it bodes well for any game that seeks to replicate it.

King Kong made exploring Skull Island a blast

King Kong emerged during a particular high point for tie-in games, perhaps the last one it would ever truly have. The Warriors, certain Lord of the Rings installments, and From Russia With Love impressed as more than just stuff your parents desperately bought you when they realized that you liked something you saw on TV. Even with a pizza delivery theme that haunts players to this day, the Spider-Man 2 tie-in is the definitive game about the web-slinger for some. King Kong, with fairly close oversight by the film's director, Peter Jackson, and direction by Michel Ancel (Beyond Good & Evil, multiple Rayman installments), was also a triumph that beat any accusations of being a cheap cash-in.

Though the game takes us through the story beats of the 2005 blockbuster, from exploring the shoreline to discovering the great wall (and the big ape and creatures that dwell behind it), to fighting off some of these beasts as both Jack Driscoll and Kong, to Kong's unwilling excursion to New York City, King Kong thrives most by giving the player a sense of power. The amount of curious things one can do is truly surprising. Overrun by Megapedes and other giant insects? Set fire to the surrounding grass and torch them. Need to create a diversion? Spear some of the tinier critters like a dragonfly and toss them as bait. Need a new weapon? Ask one of your party members for theirs. Can't figure out where to go? Search around for hidden gates, and be ready to grab a bone and utilize a crewmate to unlock it.

There's nothing like a pet dinosaur

Though Peter Jackson's King Kong has certainly been successful in retrospect, earning the kind of nostalgia usually reserved for, ya know, games not based on movies, it was no slouch during its initial release. Over 4.5 million copies were sold within a year of its late 2005 release, and outlets ranging from The New York Times to Yahoo gave it nods as being better than anyone expected. The critical appraisal of the game was not too far from the positive reception the film itself got.

Whether or not Ferocious will gather the same legacy is an issue for GamesRadar+ writers in 2045 to decipher. However, by using such an underrated game as a jumping off point to start its own adventure means that Ferocious is set to possibly be a stand-out dinosaur game. There's a wealth of them on the way, including some Jurassic-branded ones, but as was proven in 2005, whether it comes to prehistoric-themed entertainment or tie-in games, there's always room for a king.

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