Jurassic World: Evolution Review – Needs A Little More Bite

Platforms: Xbox One, PS4 and PC Reviewed On: PC Developer: Frontier Developments Publisher: Frontier Developments Singleplayer: Yes Multiplayer: No

As a young human being back in the 90’s Jurassic Park was a film I watched countless times. I can vividly recall countless scenes from it, like the ripples in the glass of water, the way the T-Rex was sniffing around the cars and the initial wonder of seeing dinosaurs. And like so many kids the film was responsible for making me love dinosaurs. So the idea of a game that lets me make my very own Jurassic Park has my undivided attention. Oh, it’s Jurassic World now? My Bad.

It seems Frontier love the dinosaurs just as much as me because whenever you release one into an enclosure you’re treated to a lovely low-down camera shot of the beast emerging into its new home. The attention to detail and animations are superb; the vicious Velociraptor charges out, ready to attack anything that moves; the plodding Diplodocus uses its long neck to peer out before stomping into the paddock; and the mighty T-Rex simply strides out, sniffs the air, roars and proceeds to be fucking awesome. Watching the dinosaurs meet and interact is fascinating stuff, and while there might not be enough varied behaviors to keep you watching them for more than a few minutes the child in me can’t help but delight in getting to see these ancient behemoths brought to life.

Getting these islands up and running is just a case of placing down various buildings. You’ll need some power, some pylons and some substations to deliver that power, and then from there you can move on to making your first enclosure which requires a special building designed to incubate dinosaurs. Around that you can stick down a gate for rangers to get access and some fencing, as well as some viewing areas and feeding stations. A bit of added water and trees and you’re ready to go!

Well, almost. You also need to get the dinosaurs, and that means building an Expedition Center from which you can dispatch dig teams to fossil sites. In a Fossil Center these preserved remains can then have the DNA removed from them in order to begin constructing the dinosaurs genome, although this can take a while and a lot of fossils. The better the genome the higher the chance you’ll be able to successfully incubate a dinosaur, and the higher the rating the animal will have as your guests value authenticity, which is a tad funny since this game goes for the traditional Jurassic Park look versus the fact that we now know dinosaurs like the Velociraptors were covered in feathers.

The sandbox mode is a bit of an issue, too. By going through the regular islands you can unlock the final zone – which, in a nice touch, is actually the same island as the original Jurassic Park takes place on – where you can play with an unlimited budget. However, you can’t turn the unlimited cash off, so that’s a real shame. An update could easily fix this, though.

But while I do clearly have some issues with Jurassic Park: Evolution as a whole that didn’t stop me from becoming absorbed for hours on end, grinning when I released new dinosaurs into my park and enjoying the act of building my own little fantasy version of the movie I grew up watching, even if it doesn’t have the depth to keep you coming back again and again like other games in the genre do. Frontier’s last game, Planet Coaster, took a while to grow and really fulfill its own potential after release, and I’m hoping the same thing will happen here and that it doesn’t just get abandoned due to it being a licensed title.

Right, now it’s time to make a park full of killer dinosaurs and then let them run riot among the guests. Hehehehehehehehehehehehe.