Jurassic World Evolution returns to Nintendo Switch with an expanded Complete Edition from Frontier Developments studio.
Jurassic Park is a myth. A beautiful memory for many, despite the fact that it remained in oblivion and nostalgia for the inevitable passage of time since 1993. Although it would not be like that forever. In 2015 the franchise would change its luck. With the successful arrival of Jurassic World on the big screen, he made it clear to us once again that the idea of being in the hands of a park of Cretaceous creatures is not a good idea. We know precisely that it is not easy to play God, although this time we will try. In Jurassic World Evolution we will reincarnate extinct animals through biotechnology, we will develop new islands, and we will do it without Noah’s Arks in between.
Jurassic World Evolution (2018) returns to Nintendo Switch with an expanded Complete Edition from the Frontier Developments studio. This includes the three narrative expansions for Return to Jurassic Park, Claire’s Sanctuary, and The Secrets of Dr. Henry Wu, plus some additional downloadable packs. Let’s turn on our Switch and get in the Jeep to return to Isla Nublar. Now yes, welcome to Jurassic Park, I mean, Jurassic World Evolution Complete Edition.
God creates the dinosaur. God destroys the dinosaur. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates the dinosaur.
Jurassic Park, 1993
From extinction, to the playful-festive business
In Jurassic World Evolution we must put our resources and business skills to the test to create our own Jurassic park with all the good and bad that it entails. A business simulation game that takes into account the main premise of the saga, as well as being packed with content and details. How has our experience been? Without further ado, let’s get started on our own archeology work on Jurassic World Evolution.
Our first campaign begins on a small tropical island called Matanceros, a most unusual dinosaur reserve. Initially operated by the charismatic Dr Ian Malcom (Jeff Goldblum), we find a Jurassic World that is yet to be developed. We will take charge to build, finance and create new species in our particular park. We will not be alone, as we will also have the help of experts Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Satler (Laura Dern) who will take care of us a cable when we need it, in addition to requesting the odd mission. Our objective is clear: to make the park profitable. With this we must create our own species, accommodate them in their respective facilities, and be a sufficiently interesting tourist target for our visitors to visit us. In addition to the main campaigns, we will find different game modes; a challenge mode and a sandbox mode. Sandbox mode can be tempting from the beginning, but let’s remember that we cannot play it until we finish the campaigns. On this occasion, we are faced with a raw resource management title in the style of Zoo Tycoon or Planet Zoo, although with some other limitations.
From the beginning, the vast majority of our resources will be blocked and we will have to fulfill our tasks to unlock them little by little. As soon as we begin our adventure through the journey, they will offer us three different contracts: Science, Entertainment and Security. These three modes will provide us with missions that will help us improve our park and research, obtain construction improvements and advancements in the excavation of fossils in Jurassic World Evolution, at the same time that we obtain income in the park. These three factions are the ones that we will deal with throughout each campaign and we will have to complete them to keep our Jurassic World afloat, and this will not precisely be an easy task, since we will also have many expenses with it.
We will touch the three modalities to a greater or lesser extent during our development of the park. The science contract will be one of the reasons why visitors visit our park and why we will have to create and hatch new dinosaurs to fill the empty containment areas. Meanwhile, entertainment is focused on the well-being of our visitor to create new attractions, obtain income, and avoid the problem of going bankrupt. Of course, we cannot ignore security. Security will be another key modality, since it will be one of the elements that penalizes us the most in the game, and the last thing we want to see is a T-Rex devouring our guests. It’s amazing how quickly we’ll lose hard-earned points once we’re in trouble. Because we already anticipate that not everything will be a bed of roses.
Walking among dinosaurs
Besides the venue we cannot forget the most important. The quality of life of our dinosaurs. Struthiomimus will be our first species in the game, and our goal will be to create a suitable environment for it and for the rest of the species that we are incorporating. Once our dinosaurs are installed, we will have to feed them, prevent them from getting sick, and provide them with extensive facilities to improve their well-being. We can modify the environment, raise the ground, add trees, create lakes, and we must guarantee a good coexistence between them. The largest and most aggressive species will not be able to coexist or be close to the more docile ones, so we will need to ration our space in the park well.
This is precisely the drawback that we find in the game: the small size of the islands. In that sense, we are limited with our construction land on each of the islands, thereby affecting the number of species that we can have on each one. Even so, this idea is forgiven with the passage of time, since seeing our first creatures in the park will be a joy. This time the dinosaurs are far from extinction, as they will be full of details and we will be closer to them than ever.
Playing with bioengineering
In the game we find more than 60 species of dinosaurs. It is a shame in fact not to find aquatic species like the Mosasaurus, or more flying species like the Dimorphodon also seen in Jurassic World. Species that we expected to be able to see and manage in the game, considering that this edition includes all the DLCS to date. In this aspect, the game incorporates classic carnivorous and herbivorous species such as the T-Rex, or Triceratops, to many other lesser known hybrids. Every dinosaur performs as they would on the big screen, from the herds of Velociraptors running across the stage, to the arrival of the T-Rex stomping through the trees. Just like in the movies, we are tasked with creating our dinosaur exhibits and that means we will need DNA. To create them, we will have to send our team of paleontologists on new expeditions to recover fossils, extract the DNA in the fossil center once we have more than 50% of the genome, and incubate our dinosaurs.
Back in the laboratory we will be able to create our species and the higher the percentage of genome that we have obtained, the more chances our species will have of surviving the incubation period. Like everything, obviously, each incubation will require a large sum of money, and sometimes it will be scarce. One of the clear drawbacks in this regard is the use of the timer. Both incubating dinosaurs, building attractions, processing fossils, and just about every other action comes with a two- or three-minute timer. This concept would not have been badly planned for a game designed for mobile (with its own energy bars and micropayments), but on other types of platforms such as Switch or PC it does not work so well, and sometimes it is tremendously heavy. If we already dedicate an entire life to the game just to build and hatch species, with the use of the timer we will dedicate two.
Portable Dinosaurs: Arrival on Switch
We cannot deny that the Frontier studio has done a good job with the title, although there are notable differences from the PC version to the Switch version, and it was to be expected. In this case it is not a surprise to discover that the biggest change in the game is in the visuals. One of the first aspects that we detect when we turn on the game is the resolution. While in TV mode it looks good, in portable mode it looks very low and poor resolution. If we try to zoom or use photo mode in portable mode, we will see that difference much more. Dinosaurs are more alive than ever and full of detail, but once we zoom in on them the image quality will be drastically reduced with an obvious downgrate. With the arrival of Switch the resolution has been reduced considerably, once again in an effort to ensure stable performance (thereby adding a lot of additional content), and although it is not the best result, we can say that together it works.
Given how detailed the entirety of Jurassic World Evolution is, it’s easy to think that the controls would be fiddly for the Nintendo version as well. However, in this case, the study has succeeded in mapping the PC and console controls to the Joy-Cons, without making the process excessively complicated or clunky. Quite intuitively, we will have our entire menu and arsenal of actions on the left side of the screen, facilitating the use of each one, and obtaining a clear screen at all times. Something that is appreciated precisely in this type of simulators designed for a console like Switch.
In every free moment we have, we will dedicate ourselves to tasks large or small, such as choosing research projects, building new infrastructures, electrical systems, and incubating our own young. We can also use vehicles to be able to move comfortably around the site, either with helicopters or Jeeps, being able to fly over the park or go deep into the island at the wheel. The vehicles will serve us both to move around, replenish food, use the photo mode, and to shoot tranquilizer darts at the maddened dinosaurs. In this regard, it will be essential to have armed security posts and shelters at hand in case of emergency, lest we have the odd disappointment.
Return to the gates of Jurassic Park
We cannot deny that the star of the game is the dinosaurs. This continues to be the reason for entering both the virtual park and the title as a whole. An advantageous title in terms of species, but poor in resource management. It is surprising that the Frontier studio, which precisely has experience in the genre of simulation and park management (Disneyland Adventures or Roller Coaster Tycoon 3), has not applied more concepts of Planet Zoo or Zoo Tycoon; such as the use of ecosystems, more financial improvements, incorporation of sea creatures, and more customization options for the park itself. A title that feels somewhat limited in terms of creation, exterior customization, even financial management, in this case focusing much more on species.
In contrast, it is still enjoyable. We can say that Jurassic World Evolution, far from being perfect, is a title that keeps the essence of the franchise quite intact. In this one, we have lived a unique and nostalgic experience that reminds us why we love the saga so much. Jurassic Park fans will enjoy the title with the -short- arrival of the charismatic Dr. Ian Malcom or Owen Grady on our screens, with the appearance of the iconic dinosaurs from the first movies, and with the return to the original park from 1993 with the “Return to Jurassic Park” campaign. However, even for newcomers it is also easy to succumb to the lure of the title and the idea of raising tens of thousands of dinosaurs. In Jurassic World Evolution Complete Edition we will enjoy each of the species, our journey through their islands, and we will do so accompanied by the most beloved characters of the franchise together with the masterful soundtrack by John Williams.
THE BEST
- The level of detail of dinosaurs
- The approach to the cinematographic universe of the franchise
- Its soundtrack and the brief cameos of its protagonists
WORST
- More freedom of management and customization is needed
- The absence of aquatic creatures in a Complete Edition
- Resolution in laptop mode is very low and poor
CONCLUSION
The experience in Jurassic World Evolution Complete Edition is satisfactory although it has some other shortcomings. Its strong point is the species above all, although our possibilities of maneuver in the game will be quite limited at all times. Starting from this, fans of this style of simulators will feel at home, creating new species, changing market prices and planning areas of our enclosure so that our visitors enjoy their stay. A good adaptation of the franchise, but room for improvement, and that feels somewhat weak and below expectations.
