Frontier’s prehistoric series always seemed like a younger sibling to their other park-builders, Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster, even though I’ve spent countless hours creating my ideal dinosaur park in Jurassic World Evolution 2. Many characteristics that were absent from the first two Evolution entries are present in those two games. The fact that Jurassic World Evolution 3 now seemed like a full-fledged member of the Frontier flock, along with the really extensive customization and personalization elements I’ve grown accustomed to from the studio, was what most delighted me when I got to play it. Yes, and the baby dinosaurs are also really adorable.
The events of Evolution 3 take place after Jurassic World: Dominion, when dinosaurs that were sent back into the wild in the earlier movies are finding it difficult to adapt and live independently. To help them flourish and, let’s face it, make a nice profit by showing them off to visitors who are most likely not going to eat them, park managers collaborate with the Dinosaur Integration Network. Even though we’ve learnt a lot from numerous tragedies over the years, and it’s really quite unusual at this point, we still need your signature on this waiver.
And in terms of movements and texturing, the dinosaurs that we will assist with integrating have never looked better. As someone who likes to stay current on these things, I find it quite unfortunate that some of them are still using their 1993 designs, which are based on paleontology that is now thirty years old. However, I guess it would be impossible to create a Jurassic game without the unique monster designs from the movies. Additionally, there are some more realistic models, such as the stunning Utahraptor, which was included in the basic game after being the breakout star of Evolution 2’s DLC.
The breeding system and young dinosaurs are Evolution 3’s main attractions. As you may expect, they are also really adorable.
The breeding mechanism and baby dinosaurs are, of course, Evolution 3’s main features. As you may expect, they are also really adorable. However, as adult males and females can now display modest variances in size and body shape, newborns aren’t the only ones providing variety to the roster. To make it easier to distinguish between guys and females, you can even alter the skin patterns for each gender independently. Because different species will need varying ratios of males to females in order to be happy, group dynamics must also be carefully handled. While some may coexist peacefully in the same enclosure with multiple males, others cannot. Additionally, the majority of species will not tolerate sex-based segregation, so you should have at least one of each.
The management gameplay will also revolve around breeding, where choosing parents with high ratings can increase a dinosaur’s attractiveness rating. Certain features, such as a longer lifespan or the capacity to live in harmony with other species, can even be bred for. Other than that, ensuring the dinosaurs have enough room, food, water, and the mix of terrain they want is a rather simple question of welfare. While some flying species really prefer a bare landscape that they can easily monitor from above, smaller herbivores prefer low ground cover. Additionally, nest placement must be taken into account because certain species will not, well, perform the deed if bothersome small mammals with their amusing flashing rectangles are around. At the very least, you ought to pay more for that.
In my 90-minute demo, I didn’t have the time to go into great detail about this. The way the financial management aspect is balanced also didn’t seem very clear to me. However, we did view some of the campaign layers, which included maps of Western China, Hawaii, and the Southwestern United States. Even without dinosaurs prowling around, these maps are incredibly beautiful, showcasing striking elevation variations, imposing waterfalls, and unusual vegetation. The one set in the Sichuan Basin of China, which combined the design of an alpine ski resort with the new East Asian architectural motif and an emphasis on flying species, was very appealing to me.
Overall, the fundamental routine seems a lot like Evolution 2. You employ scientists, send them on excavations to gather DNA, create new species, and then release them into the enclosure. Your breeding program takes over at that time, which is how you get the best appeal scores. The more generations a dinosaur has been breeding on its own, the more guests find it interesting than one that has been artificially nurtured. It’s a little challenging initially since it takes longer and is more difficult to produce viable offspring due to the limited compatibility between artificially incubated men and females. But with the assistance of your genetics team, this compatibility can be enhanced over the course of subsequent generations.
Researching new dig sites, enclosures, visitor amenities, park administrative buildings, and other standard tasks will also fall under the purview of your scientists. Each is paid according to their level of expertise and has a talent rating in three separate areas, as well as a unique quality, such as accelerating expeditions or lowering the cost of incubations. With only five slots and a small budget, I did find it challenging to get a good mix of skills, and I’m not sure if staff members can learn additional skills over time.
However, most of the new features aren’t related to directly managing capture and repair teams, which is still cool. It has nothing to do with breeding dinosaurs. It’s the abundance of personalization choices that are currently accessible. With several tools that each have numerous settings for raising, decreasing, smoothing, adding noise, and building ramps, terraforming is incredibly powerful. Custom ground textures can be painted. To keep the dinosaurs within, you can even construct enclosures with sharp cliff sides in place of fences.
Water has a somewhat peculiar method of working. It’s another matter entirely for aquatic creatures to use their own designated lagoons. However, merely putting groundwater in place isn’t quite the same as other park builders. You can’t simply dig a huge hole and fill it with water till it reaches a certain level. Instead, groundwater needs a level surface to begin with, and the water tool is used to fix the depth. Creating some rather deep regions for semiaquatic species to fish and wade in is made possible by this. It looks good! It simply takes some getting used to and isn’t as versatile as what you can do on dry land.
But when it comes to buildings, I was almost overwhelmed with all the new options. Jurassic World Evolution 3 has all the rotatable, resizeable, and recolorable building blocks you need to create almost anything you can think of, much like Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster. Even the pre-made constructions can be chosen, taken out, copied, and remixed, even down to the smallest details like floor tiles and roof corners. Windows can even be edited to make them look like there are various kinds of shops inside when you really zoom in for a peek.
In general, the editing tools are rather simple to use and quite impressive.
The editing tools are generally quite user-friendly and excellent. Even in the relatively short time I had, playing around with them was a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing what other people with greater creative abilities than I can accomplish with them, especially because you’ll be able to share your creations with other players by uploading them. Additionally, there are a number of pre-made building themes available, such as the East Asian-inspired set that I particularly liked, if you don’t have the time to custom-build anything.
Based on my initial impressions of Jurassic World Evolution 3, I am eager to amaze my guests and frighten my attorneys (yes, we do require you to sign that waiver). Instead of depending on the, you know, friggin’ dinosaurs to make up for part of what it was lacking, it feels like it earns its place at the table with Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster now, thanks to features like dinosaur breeding, dramatic and unique new park settings, and really powerful customization options. On October 21, we will have the opportunity to determine whether or not to approve this park in its entirety.
