Welcome... To Jurassic Park (Jurassic World Evoultion)



Game: Jurassic World Evolution
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows
Played On: Xbox One
Price: £39.99 ( But free in Games with gold till 15th jan 2020)
Available on Xbox Game Pass: No

Today I’m taking about the free game this month Jurassic World Evolution. Frontier developments and Universal’s 2018 offering about the aforementioned film franchise. I thought I’d throw this one out there as it’s will currently cost you nothing on Xbox One as long as you have Xbox Live Gold.

So another video game based on a movie right?? As any gamer knows games based on a movie always turn out so fantastically... not. So will this one be any different?? Well here’s the thing and it’s genius, this game actually has nothing to do with the movies, I mean yes there’s dinosaurs but don’t worry, you’re not Chris Pratt running around doing things slightly related to the movie, oh no. This game is Zoo Tycoon and Theme Park World but with... well... sharper teeth.

Now these games have enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in the past few years, with nostalgia for games like Theme Hospital and The Sims bringing a very nice boom for these games. So let’s break this one down. Now this games only been free for just over 10 days as I write this and Christmas has been busy so I’ve got about 10/15 hours in the game but have only done around half of the campaign.

So what’s on offer, as I said there’s a campaign as well as two other game modes to choose from, Challenge mode and Sandbox mode, and they are all exactly what you expect. But let’s talk about the campaign as that’s what I’ve been playing. Your job is to fix the various ‘island theme parks’ each island has a different and distinct challenge to it rounding off things you can learn, whether it be financial challenges or angry dinosaurs. The first island as you’d expect is very much a hold your hand exercise in getting used to the game.

In the campaign there are three things to choose from, science, entertainment and security. There’s is a mission for each and doing these unlock other things for you. To get these missions you must do contracts that contains various miscellaneous tasks. But beware, focusing on one thing will anger the others and that can lead to them ‘sabotaging’ your island, so make sure you’re even in what you choose to do.

Through this you are guided by some familiar voices, most noticeably Jeff Goldblum and Bryce Dallas Howard, sadly Chris Pratt is the only absentee, obviously too busy. But this makes the game a lot more fun and immersive. The graphics are very very good too.

There are a lot of mechanics in this game, far too many for me to detail but this keeps the game at a fast pace, sometimes too fast but this keeps the element of challenge high and you’re never left just watching a screen and waiting for money to build. But everything seems to have multiple elements to it. Especially the way you gain dinosaurs for the park, which takes research and gathering fossils. There’s so much detail in everything, I could honestly make this post a novel but I’ll just implore you download this game and find out for yourself.

One element I must talk about is the helicopter (which is used to tranquillise rogue dinosaurs) and the ranger station car (which is used for pretty much everything in the park) these can be automated but where’s the fun in that? I’d much rather take the helicopter out and enjoy the views of the park or drive around and get close to these dinosaurs. Also the car gives you the option to take photos of you’re new creatures and this is a great way to build money.

Slight criticism would be it can be a nuisance with the camera clicking the right place but it’s really not that annoying.

So overall how do we rate this game, it’s fun, a lot of fun, in fact it’s a heap of fun. If like me you’re a huge fan of the genre then it’s a great addition to the collection. It keeps true to the genre whist employing the fun feel of a huge film franchise as well. So whilst it’s free it’s an obvious download. I mean as a free game what’s to lose? But maybe even keep an eye out for a second hand copy at under £20 if you enjoy the genre as you won’t regret it.

8.5/10

As always let me know your thoughts here or follow me on Twitter @Peterlinsdell to throw abuse at me and keep up to date for all posts.

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