I have always been a dinosaur fan. Since I was a child I was fascinated by those monstrous creatures who used to roam the plains of North America and the once seabed of Texas. I loved reading books about the new and exciting discoveries on how these creatures looked, lived, and died.
Then in 1993, Speilberg decided it was time to show the world how majestic these creatures truly were. I went to the opening of Jurassic Park. I stood in line waiting to get in to watch this one-of-a-kind movie. I had never seen anything like it. There on the great big screen was a walking dinosaur in all its majesty. I knew it was just CGI, but it looked and sounded so real. I, like many others, was in awe of what Spielberg had accomplished. An entirely new generation was hooked on dinosaurs because of him. I could not wait for each of the sequels to the Jurassic Park movie. I stood in line for each of the sequels and watched with anticipation for anything new.
After the premiere of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, I thought it was over. Speilberg had finished his epic movie as he did with Star Wars. Then Frontier games announced the release of a video game, Jurassic World Evolution, inspired by the Jurassic movie franchise. I was thrilled. I had to get it. I bought it on my XBOX as soon as it was released. I was hooked, not only because I thought the animations of the dinosaurs were amazing, but because it was the type of game I loved. It was a management game.
I got to create and run Jurassic Park myself. I had to build it and make sure that the attendees were subjected to an entertaining visit while I managed all the other things that went along with such an experience. I put over 300 hours into that game trying to build the perfect park experience and meet all the challenges. I did not think that Frontier could top such a well-built game.
I have to say that I was wrong! Frontier outdid themselves this time. Jurassic World Evolution 2 feels like an entirely new experience. The game mechanics are essentially the same, but they built in some new mechanisms that make the game both more interesting and more challenging at the same time.
The development team at Frontier listened to their player base and incorporated many of the features requested by the community. The most requested feature was greater control over the look of the park and Frontier delivered.
Unlike other Frontier titles like Planet Coaster or Planet Zoo, I would describe Jurassic World Evolution as a Management Simulation Building Game. The focus of the game was on the management of the park, animals, and employees and less on the aesthetics and creativity in designing the park and habitats.
Jurassic World Evolution 2, is still a Management Simulation Building Game like its predecessor, but the development team gave the player base more control over the aesthetics of the park and the habitats. They incorporated modules into the buildings which players could choose from and recolor. They included more decorative pieces as well as more control over terrain and habitat vegetation. It is still not at the level of a Planet Zoo, but it does provide greater variety.
I have always been a Management fan first, so Jurassic World Evolution was a winner for me. The sequel doesn’t disappoint on this aspect. There is plenty more to manage this time around. Not only are you to look after the comfort level of your dinosaurs, but now you have to ensure they remain healthy with the new Med Units. They also added an entirely new dimension to staff. You now have to hire scientists to perform certain tasks and manage their salaries so that your park does not go broke. Don’t worry, you still have the storms, sabotage, escaping dinosaurs, and needy customers like before.
Jurassic World Evolution 2 added a new mode – Chaos Theory. This mode asks whether you could make the parks from each of the six Jurassic series movies work. You are allowed to build and run the parks. It is your job to succeed where others failed. You are given a blank slate, but it is still a guided progression, with many of the original characters from the movies guiding you throughout the building experience.
The game also comes with a sandbox mode. Here you can turn off all the features you find annoying in the game and just concentrate on building parks, genetically modified dinosaurs, and hot dealing with the management side of the game. The sandbox mode comes with eight biomes for players to build their parks. The eight biomes are based on United States biomes as Jurassic World Evolution 2 is set after the release of the dinosaurs in the movie Jurassic World Evolution: Fallen Kingdom.
This brings us to the Campaign mode in the game. I found it lacking. The campaign mode was lacking substance and story. It was more of a walkthrough tutorial for new players who had never played the prior game. I’m hoping that the lack of substance is because they were waiting for the release of the movie Jurassic World: Dominion this year. I think we will see a huge update after the premiere of the movie and I’m hoping that update will include an expansion of the Campaign mode.
All in all, I highly recommend this game to the fans of the movies, but also die-hard management simulation players. For those of us who played the prior version, it is an improvement above and beyond our imagination. For those of you who are new to the game, I can guarantee you will find it entertaining for hours. Whether you are a sandbox builder, dinosaur enthusiast, or a management addict, Jurassic World Evolution 2 has something for everyone.