Hello Enthusiasts,
My favorite computer game when I was younger was Sim Theme Park. I would spend hours building a park, managing the budget, making sure the guests were satisfied, reading their comments on what could be better, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I've been trying to find an up-to-date version of that game that is just as satisfying, but nothing seems to live up to that. The Roller Coaster Tycoon games are fun, but they seemed to be missing something, some missing ingredient that brought Sim Theme Park to the next level . So when I heard that there was a new theme park builder available with a Jurassic Park theme to it (but not the mobile game), I decided to give it a go. Today, I will be reviewing Jurassic World Evolution.
The game has you traveling to the same grouping of islands that we've seen in the movies, which are called the Muertes Archipelago in game. You go from one island to another to either build a park from scratch or expand the few existing facilities to create a successful Jurassic Park. You're in charge of security, you'll pay for teams to dig up fossils that can be used to rebuild the genomes of more dinosaurs, you have to ensure the welfare of the dinos, as well as a ton of other tasks. To guide you through these tasks, you have a team of advisors that will chime in and offer you objectives that will help lead you in the right direction to build your park. Some of these people are new faces, while others are recurring characters from the films, including Dr. Ian Malcom who is voiced in-game by Jeff Goldblum. As you build one park up and increase its overall rating, the other islands will slowly open up to you, all of which come with their own obstacles to overcome. When you do unlock the original island, Isla Nublar, you will be treated to a sandbox experience where you can use any research from your other islands, and you have unlimited funds to build with. It's only with getting parks to a full five star rating and completing tasks for the various teams that you unlock all of the content in this game, so it does incentives the player to keep going after all five islands have been opened up.
I found that a lot worked with the game. It does allow you to do a lot on your own without directly following the missions, but the missions are mostly helpful in advancing the park. I loved keeping track of everything and building my own paddocks for the dinosaurs, as well as ensuring that I was keeping certain dinosaurs separate unless I was looking for them to fight. The management system for the stores and restaurants in the park is more than I expected, allowing me to control what food is served and what price to charge, keeping in mind that guests won't pay ridiculous prices. The game also has you place viewing areas for the dinosaurs, and a paddock with a poorly planning viewing area won't bring in as many guests as one where they can see most of the area where the creatures roam. The game also incorporates a decent bit of detail in regard to caring for the dinosaurs. They all have specific needs in regard to what food they eat, having access to water, and how much space and foliage they require to be comfortable. If the dinosaurs aren't kept comfortable, they will become aggressive and break through their fences. If this happens, your guests will being in danger and you'll need to have a team tranquilize the creature. The dinosaurs can also get sick and need to have a ranger team medicate them in order for them to survive. It's all of this extra detail that keeps the game interesting as you build your parks and increase your revenue, because there are always possible issues that can arise.
While I don't have a lot to complain about here, there are some things that bug me with this game. One of my biggest problems is not being able to transfer funds from one park to another. At one point I had a park that was making over $800,000 a minute, but I couldn't send any of that over to my park that kept getting hit with storms and needed the cash to make repairs. I also feel like the terrain adjustment tool could use a bit more detail. An easy fix would be something that lets me know the actual elevation of an area so I can try to match it with other nearby areas for building purposes instead of having me try to eyeball it. That has been a bit of a recurring frustration as I've been playing through these islands. Also, a small complaint, but there's no way to change the color of the buildings in the game. There's an entire system of researching different DNA sequences so you can have different colored dinosaurs of the same species, yet I don't have the option to paint any of my buildings a different color. I know it's petty, but it feels like a simple mechanic that could have been included and would have added another layer of enjoyment for me.
With all of that being said, this is a great theme park builder. It incorporates some of my favorite elements from other builders, plus it has the added fun of maintaining dinosaurs. It does have some issues, but it is overall a solid recommend from me if you enjoy these types of games at all.
I give Jurassic World: Evolution an 8.5 out of 10.
Sincerely,
The Bored Enthusiast
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