An Addictive Park Builder with Amazing Customisation
Just because you can do something, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s something you should do.
In the world of Jurassic Park, this is a common refrain, and it brings with it moral and philosophical questions that people have grappled with for years. However, dinosaurs are awesome and you can bet that in a world without consequence, we are bringing dinosaurs back, no doubt creating a sweet park to house them in.
Which is now even easier to do with the release of Jurassic World Evolution 3, a continuation of the immensely popular park sim games, where the player is tasked with creating their very own dinosaur habitat. Following the events of the first two games – Jurassic World Evolution and Jurassic World Evolution 2 – and set in the same universe as the movies, Jurassic World Evolution 3 seeks to continue building on the systems present previously.
From Expeditions to Evolution
For those that haven’t played a Jurassic World game before, in it you are tasked with all aspects of running a dinosaur themed park. This includes the obvious tasks of building enclosures, creating pathways to the different attractions, managing employees, and ensuring the park is operating smoothly. However, it also includes more tailored items to the world of Jurassic Park, like managing expeditions, researching new dinosaur genomes, and, new to Jurassic World Evolution 3, breeding and raising juvenile dinosaurs so they grow up to be happy adults.
This process is managed by a team of scientists that each have different skillsets. There are those skilled in logistics, those specialising in research, and others that focus on health management. Some scientists can cover multiple areas, but those are more expensive to hire and have increased ongoing salaries. It’s also possible to train scientists at a staff facility to increase any of their skills. They can be hyper focused in a specific area, or diversified so that they can assist with all actions around the park.
Unlocking Dinosaurs and Amenities
But the main goal of Jurassic World Evolution 3 is to unlock more dinosaurs for the park, which increases how many visitors the park has, in turn building how much it makes. Scientists get sent out on expeditions where they collect fossils and amber which can then be researched to unlock new genomes. Increasing a genome up to max increases the success rate of synthesizing new dinosaurs and even allows for some genetic modification.
Different dig sites will have different fossils, and more dig sites can be unlocked through research. You’ll also be researching new attractions, infrastructure buildings, and even medicines so that you can keep your dinosaurs happy and healthy, all while profiting off them.
These systems are explored in depth through the campaign which tasks the player with managing several different parks, all while Jeff Goldblum makes passive aggressive remarks at you as Dr. Ian Malcolm. Truly it wouldn’t be a Jurassic Park game without that.
Each park has different win conditions and tasks assigned to it. One may be focused on having a large number and variety of carnivores, where another may feel a need to fall back on giant herbivores. New parks become available as the campaign progresses and instead of being sectioned off into individual missions, there is a world map that allows any park to be selected once it is unlocked. Each functions independently from the rest, meaning funds aren’t shared and while one is being managed, the others remain in stasis.
The Joy of Terrain
This would normally prevent things from becoming too easy, because simply having one park that does really well and generates a massive amount of income would make managing the rest a breeze. However, Jurassic World Evolution 3, as a whole, isn’t very difficult. Money is virtually a non-issue as the shop buildings are very easy to set up, whether it’s a food amenity or a gift shop; each building is created by selecting a product and then adding optional features. Different types of guests, like luxury or families, then respond better to different products and features. But within the building’s menu, there are several bars that correspond to each guest’s wants and it’s as simple as finding a selection that fills those satisfaction bars.
Once a few of these shops are in place, money flows, and throughout my campaign playthrough, I never really had to actively worry about funds. In fact, I was becoming rich just because of how much money came in while engrossed in the park customisation.
And that park customisation is phenomenal. Jurassic World Evolution 3 makes turning a flat piece of land into a dynamic range of mountains, rivers, lakes, and forests incredibly fun and approachable. The dynamic water creation systems were some of my favorites to engage in. And when adjusting the environment, you can place shallow and deep water, which dinosaurs need so they don’t die. Placing water at different elevations and then connecting them automatically creates small rapids or waterfalls, which is, simply put, awesome. From there it is possible to speckle trees around the river, add wetlands and prairie, and make the perfect little spot for the dinosaurs.
However, it can occasionally be a little sensitive and there were certainly times I accidentally made a mess of things, but the elevation adjustment systems make it easy to smooth out and correct those spots before starting over. It would’ve been nice to have a rewind or undo option when creating the environments at times, but there is such a good system in Jurassic World Evolution 3, that I didn’t really mind when I made mistakes.
Sandbox Freedom
Turning a wide open field into a mountain range lined with autumn trees, rivers, and waterfalls, where dinosaurs can roam freely, is what the game is all about after all.
Once the dinosaurs are comfortable and the player is satisfied with how everything looks, it’s time to bring the park guests in. There are several attractions, from safari rides to hot air balloons, to even boating excursions. These are manually built and then – like in previous games – it’s possible to go on the excursion with the guests to see the world through their eyes.
In fact, this is possible even with the maintenance and capture crews. Any staff vehicle can be manually controlled and driven around the park. This allows players to take over actions like delivering fuel, repairing buildings, and tranquilising escaped dinosaurs. It’s also a great way to drive around and admire the park from the ground or air, taking things in from a different perspective. Just make sure to take care of any rampaging dinosaurs before admiring the scenery.
And for players looking for a more sandbox experience, there is a custom map generator included that will randomly generate new islands. The settings can be tweaked and adjusted to change the overall shape, number of mountains, and so on. It goes without saying that this is great for players that don’t want the constraints of the campaign missions, where each park needs to have more space unlocked by completing additional objectives. There is also a setting for unlimited cash, so the already easy-to-manage cash situation becomes non-existent.
A Creative, Addictive, and Visually Rich Builder
Jurassic World Evolution 3 is an incredibly satisfying park builder. The overall challenge may be lacking but the environmental and park design mechanics more than make up for that slight disappointment. That’s not even to mention the customisable blueprints that allow players to make granular changes to structures by adding decorations like tables, walls, windows, concrete blocks, trees, and so on, saving things up and using that to create a custom park that has a unique look that no one else will have.
That’s a system that people far more creative and talented than me are bound to make shine. And players that are in a similar position will be happy to hear that structures do have different styles that can easily be toggled between to create different looks and feels for the park.
Should you be a fan of Jurassic Park and enjoy a good park builder, then you need to try Jurassic World Evolution 3. The creativity that the game allows makes it an incredibly addictive experience that you are bound to keep coming back to.
Important Links
Life Finds a Way – Jurassic World Evolution 3 Hatches on Xbox, PS5 & PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/life-finds-a-way-jurassic-world-evolution-3-hatches-on-xbox-ps5-pc/
Life Finds a Way: Jurassic World Evolution 3 Announced with Juvenile Dinosaurs and October Release – https://www.thexboxhub.com/life-finds-a-way-jurassic-world-evolution-3-announced-with-juvenile-dinosaurs-and-october-release/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/jurassic-world-evolution-3/9NX7HCWL13Z9/0010
Or get the Deluxe Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/jurassic-world-evolution-3-deluxe-edition/9P7VVC7BTZNX/0010
