Welcome back Paleontologists and Tycoons. Join us as we build a park around the ancient world with Jurassic World Evolution by Frontier Development. So, grab your fossil brush, draw up your building plans, and let showcase some dinosaurs!
REVIEW
Jurassic World Evolution Review
,What is Jurassic World Evolution?
If you haven’t watched or read Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton then I highly recommend you do so. It is a wonderful piece of Science Fiction whereby dinosaurs were brought back to life and a theme park was built to house them. But, as the character Dr. Ian Malcom states, “Life finds a way” and it was not as successful as desired to keep the dinos in their habits.
In Jurassic World Evolution, the game employs you as the next owner and curator of the islands of Las Cinco Muertes, or “The Five Deaths”. Throughout your career you aim to construct a dinosaur theme park to a 5 star rating, raise a plethora of ancient animals, keep your guests safe, and make money. Each of the islands has their own challenges from heavy storms, restricted space etc. There is also a 6th island based off the original Jurassic Park whereby you have free reign to create your perfect park.
Park Management
The game starts on the island of Isla Matanceros where you are greeted by the wonderful Jeff Goldblum reprising his role as Dr. Ian Malcom. He will serve as the constant reminder that bringing dinosaurs back is a bad idea and it’s only a matter of time until something goes wrong. You are also introduced to the other four main characters. They each advise and push the areas of finance, science, entertainment, and security.
From the get go you are guided through the beginning island with limited infrastructure. There is just enough to accept visitors. But, over time you will be advised to build and oversee facilities such as the Research Center, to research vaccines and dino genetic upgrades; Fossil and Expedicion Centers, to excavate and establish stable animals; amusements to keep your guests entertained and keep the money flowing; and stations that house jeeps and helicopters to deal with any potential situations minor or serious with the possibility of taking photos of the chaos.
Another mechanic that helps you in the right direction is the contract system. Either by manual request or by the game pushing one, a contract issues you a mission with varying parameters to complete. This could be to successfully incubate a number of dinos for the science division; maintain a certain amount of visitors; or make sure the guest don’t become your main attractions lunch within a period of time. By completing these missions you gain money, and if it’s a main mission, you can also gain new buildings, research, and dinosaur expedition sites.
The contract system, and the use of the starting island, is a nice way to get your feet wet and have the basics to hit the ground running. It can steer you through the experience and provide much in terms of learning the dynamics of the game. However, there are shortcuts keys and controls that would have been nice to run though with a fresh start park experience. For those who are new to park building, not just Jurassic Park as a franchise, there is the potential to be lost within the world and how to progress.
Aside from that, the management tools are very useful. Monitoring your excess power allowing you to plan for expansions, the need for certain amenities, and shelter coverage just in case things go wrong are all lovely bits of information. The island overview screen gives crucial insights into the areas that need development. This might be increasing the variety of dinosaurs, more food outlets, or just making sure your guests are not tasty snacks for big lizards.
A cool feature of this management system is the terrain adjustment tool, which has been used in other park sims such as Rollercoaster Tycoon. With this you can plant or deforest greenery, add or remove water bodies, and adjust the incline or decline of terrain. This is very useful in making more usable land for your buildings and for creating marvelous landscapes good enough for stunning photos. It is easy to assume that many hours will be spent trying to create the perfect landmass by enthusiasts.
Overall, the park management side of the game is great for those who are familiar with this genre of game. Plenty of information at your fingertips, all the buildings you need for your perfect park, and enough constraints to keep your mind working on solutions. The only thing that would have been nice is to start from scratch and learn from the ground up. This might benefit new players of the genre and allow for a better understanding of the park management mentality.
Dinosaur Development
For the main attraction, not only for the guests but for the players, Frontier Development have some rather magnificent specimens for us. You start off with the small to medium sized herbivores such as the Ostrich sized Gallimimus and leading onto the iconic Triceratops. Eventually, after some research, contract fulfillment, and excavation, you will gain access to the big hitters like the T-Rex. But, regardless of the species or size, each and every one of the dinosaurs are simply beautiful.
With each successful excavation and genome acquisition, the feeling of excitement is hard to escape from. Not that you would want to of course. The use of camera angles as you release your loved lizards makes the experience all the more encaptivating. From the wrinkles, detailed scales and water effects when it rains, and even the weight distribution with every footstep, the team at Frontier have put in a lot of work on their beasts of the past.
When considering the dinosaurs for your park, you will have to think about various aspects. Once you gain enough fossil DNA from expeditions, more precisely 50% or more, you can start incubating. However, there is a chance of failure and they won’t survive the process. Upgrades to the Hammond Lab and more DNA finds will increase this to and beyond the 100% threshold.
Other features include modifying the genome with traits from existing animals in the world. These might include improvements to its lifespan, resilience to disease, increased ferociousness, and better defense against attack. Selecting these traits increase the rating of the dinosaur which in turn attracts more visitors. However, this will decrease the incubation viability so it is a risky trade off.
Once you have incubated your dinosaur you then have to take care of them. From feeding them, treating them when they get sick, and making sure you satisfy their social and habit needs. Each one is different but, with a bit of planning, you can create some very profitable enclosures housing many dinosaurs.
Overall, the dinosaurs are very well designed and executed. From their behaviour, requirements, and out right beauty, these beast are rightfully the stars of this game. Creating an enclosure purely to drive around in your jeep taking photos is an understandable course of action. However, there have been instances where the indicators for its requirements weren’t entirely accurate. For instance, the social element dictates how many of the same species it requires around it before it is comfortable. It changes red when it isn’t sufficient and blue when its fine. But, there have been instances where it has been blue but they have still run amok and smashed through the walls. Something to take into consideration and monitor closely.
The “Five Deaths”
Moving onto the islands of Las Cinco Muertes, each one provides a unique challenge. The first, Isla Matanceros, serves as your “tutorial level”. With a focus on developing your understanding of the core game mechanics and basic park management, this island gets your feet sufficiently wet.
The following islands, Isla Muerta, Tacano, and Pena all give varying challenges. These range from heavy storms, twisters, and restricted park space respectively. By developing your understanding and skills from the “tutorial”, the aim is to refine the parks efficiency and provide a better, more impactful experience for your guests. Also, keeping them safe from mother nature and increasing threats of dinosaur breakouts becomes more of a focus.
As for the last challenge island, Isla Sorna, the focus becomes managing a park where the dinosaurs are in control of the environment. The enormous landmass is entirely in nature’s grasp and requires some fineness to provide a decent turnover in finances but also keeping the guests safe. Clever utilisation of monorails are key here. This challenge was very fun and mind wracking to say the least.
Part way through your experience of the game, Isla Nubla becomes available. This is the original location for Jurassic Park and allows you to build, entertain, and enjoy at your will. There are no constraints or goals other than to have fun. You could let the dinosaurs run rampant if you want to. Or, create an island size enclosure and let nature take over. Needless to say, this island will see repeated “Restart” button presses in a good way.
Overall, the islands of this dino park simulator are entertaining and increasingly challenging. Not only that but they are very stunning visually. However, it would be slightly more useful if the main challenge of each island would present aiding contracts a bit sooner. When a freak storm destroys your progress and releases your only T-Rex onto the poor helpless guests, it can create a frown and considerations to restart. If the a contract detailing preparations for the operation before hand is presented, at least you can blame yourself more for ignoring it.
Overall Conclusion
For an overall evaluation of Jurassic Park Evolution, the game is very beautiful. The team has spent a lot of time and effort making each dinosaur look, sound, and feel powerful and majestic. This can be said for the scenery and weather too. Seeing the heavy rain wash over the scales of a brachiosaurus and the trees it walks through on a background of a blazing sunset is just spectacular.
As for the park management, it is engaging enough to keep you going from challenge to challenge. I can see newcomers to the genre getting a little lost with the mechanics as there isn’t a “from the ground up” introduction. But, it is simple enough and doesn’t take all that long to get used to everything. The micromanagement of your assets, refining your finances, and keeping your specialist teams happy with contact fulfillment keeps your mind active whilst you keep your carnivores from devouring the wrong warm blooded living things.
Lasty, the question has to be asked, “Is it replayable?”. And the answer is yes. There is enough for any player to play it through at least a couple of times. The addition of the “free mode” can keep you to make your perfect park of varying versions. One thing to be said, however, it is disappointing to see the lack of airborne and aquatic features and enclosures. Raising pterodactyl and the potential dangers of them flying off with your guests feels very entertaining. But, who knows, there might be expansions in the future that might add these features in.
8
