Jurassic World Evolution

Jurassic World Evolution is a sim management game that relies on the terrifying events of the film to provide players with excitement. Jurassic World walks a fine line between controlled chaos and clumsy execution in some ways it performs elegantly but, it stumbles just enough to fall short of greatness. The game’s mechanics are deep enough to be engrossing but, not complicated enough to scare off casual players.

Fun and Games

The game begins with the voice of Jeff Goldblum reprising his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm. He introduces players to basics of construction. After a short construction tutorial, the players are introduced to the three divisions of the parks staff, science, entertainment and security. Each division will occasionally offer contracts and when the player completes a contract, he will be given cash and an increase to his reputation.

It seems a bit counter intuitive that the player is essentially paid and rewarded by internal entities but, none the less completion of these contracts will unlock new buildings and will also give players access to story based missions from each division. There is a bit irrational complexity tied to the contract system. Each contract not only rewards players but, completing a contract for one division will lower your reputation with the other two. So much for inter-departmental cooperation. This forces the player into a ridiculous balancing act that detracts from his feeling of progress.

No Time to Waste

The game is busy. Initially, I thought that not having the ability to speed up or slow down time would cause the game to drag but, there was never a shortage of things to do. The developers got the pacing of the game just right. Players rarely feel overwhelmed but, also are never lacking new activities to involve themselves in. The game dinosaur management is a bit more realistic than its divisional management layer. Dinosaurs look and behave as you would expect. They each have their own set of preferences and needs. Learning the differences between each species is an important part of the game and will help you effectively implement your strategy.

Disaster Will Strike

No matter how solid your plans you can expect that disaster will strike. Rampaging dinosaurs, tropical storms and internal sabotage are just a few of the destructive events that you can expect to impact your park. These events provide a fun bit of chaos in the early game but, as the game wears on the events go from chaotic fun to tedious clean up. The impact of the events mid to late game seem trivial once the money starts rolling in.

Once your park is fully funded and the money is flowing you are free to splurge on some of the game’s high dollars items. Once you max out a park it is really an amazing sight. Thousands of guest wander from attraction to attraction.

Hotels can be built to increase your parks capacity, arcades and shops will entertain your guests and create revenue for you. When it is all up and working players will delight over their creation. Even the negative events can give you a sadistic smile as you watch your terrified guests flee in panic.

Pro

• Faithful adaptation of the film
• Dinosaurs are realistically modeled with authentic personalities
• Good control scheme

Cons

• Mission structure does not help move the game along
• Division reputation system feel contrived