Review: Jurassic World Evolution — Don't let them escape!

As you may already know, Jurassic World Evolution is a strategy game which lets you build your own dinosaur park. The Jurassic Park franchise has been associated with numerous games and many of them have been absolutely terrible. Jurassic World Evolution not only represents a new direction, but also a chance for the beleaguered series to shine. Just like Cities: Skylines or Surviving Mars, Jurassic World Evolution is a lot of fun but challenging at the same time. The title is easy to pick up but requires a lot of skill to master due to its unpredictable natural.

Jurassic World Evolution looks absolutely amazing on Xbox One X and features crisp visuals. The colors pop and the performance is stable. While the game isn’t the most visually-breathtaking experience, it mostly stands out from the crowd due to its creature design. When you focus on the animals, that’s when the title really comes into its own. The dinosaurs are truly a sight to behold.

The game gives you complete control of an island and the ability to build a variety of structures. When you start up Jurassic World Evolution, the title gently guides you through the various features and what’s required to build a park. However, you have to balance a lot of factors – maintenance being one of the most important aspects – if you wish to succeed. Designing your own dinosaurs can come later but you first have to master the basics. This can get a little tricky but it’s manageable even for beginners.

Unfortunately, dinosaurs have a habit of escaping and bolstering recovery crews is a necessity. There are multiple ways to succeed, but slow and steady wins the race. You have to plan each building carefully and make sure your routes are easily accessible to all personnel. Haphazardly placing structures all over the place will get you nowhere. There’s no point dismantling them later on to improve the park’s layout. It’s best to plan for the future.

Discovering new dinosaurs and setting them up as attractions is at the heart of gameplay. Unfortunately, it’s a little tedious to unlock new species at the moment. Frontier Developments could’ve easily made the grind feel less severe. Buying the standard edition puts you at a disadvantage because if you pay another $5.00 you can find the Styracosaurus, Crichtonsaurus, Majungasaurus, Archaeornithomimus, and Suchomimus at dig sites. There should’ve been an easier way to unlock new dinosaurs.

Overall, Jurassic World Evolution is a great game which has a few quirks. It might not be as deep as Cities: Skylines, but it’s still a lot of fun. The fact that you can build your own Jurassic Park is a powerful force for nostalgia because many of us remember watching the movies when we were younger. Could we have managed it any better? Jurassic World Evolution gives us a chance to find out. If you love strategy games, particularly building simulators, then this is the title for you. You won’t be disappointed. Just don’t expect an incredibly deep experience.

8/10

Xbox One