The Jurassic Park franchise spans decades across all forms of media. Most were introduced to the world in the 1994 film, which carries almost the same level of nostalgia as Star Wars when hearing that iconic theme by John Williams. While Star Wars has a range of action-adventure and RPG games to hang its stormtrooper helmet on, the Jurassic Park games throughout time have been largely forgettable. Their biggest issue has often been struggling with genre identity. The launch of Jurassic World Evolution in 2018 provided a different entry point, using a zoo simulator/tycoon style to create and populate a world with dinosaurs. Both parts 1 and 2 had great ideas and strong foundations, but never did they reach the depth of other Frontier games such as Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster. With Jurassic World Evolution 3 now out in the wild, the drastic improvements in QOL features and enhancements in park building finally see the series reaching its potential in providing players with a space for extreme planning and precision creativity. Whether it be the lengthy campaign managing parks across the world, difficult challenges where money and chaos are always needing balance, or the sandbox mode for pure building, JWE3 is a game that offers the full buffet in the dinosaur experience. Such is the range of options here, that I doubt we will see a Jurassic World Evolution 4. Not because this lacks quality – quite the opposite. Everything is already here, and they will update the title for years to come.
My time with park management games stems back to Roller Coaster Tycoon as a pre-teen setting up the theme park of my dreams. For some reason, those dreams included customers either puking, wetting their pants or falling from malfunctioning rides. While the seriousness of creating an excellent park is initially there, I often descended into anarchy to keep the self-indulgent thrills present. Jurassic World Evolution 3 leads players through what is very much a serious campaign. The goal here is to teach players about the many, many functions available so that both sandbox and challenge modes can be mastered without frustration in knowing how to operate a park. Despite this focused campaign, you better believe that dinosaurs on the loose will kill people. Fences will go down, innocent people will be attacked, and you will often take out your tranquiliser and put these dinosaurs down. It’s hard not to chuckle when a velociraptor tosses some random man sky high. JWE3 is very open and free in how it operates as a park sim, ensuring that the management of ancient beasts is never a stroll down a tree-lined path. But that doesn’t mean there is no chill, especially with the trusty ‘pause time’ button available. Play your way.
As mentioned, the story in campaign mode (which can take between 20 to 70 hours, depending on if you want to five-star all the parks across the world or just roll credits) exists to show you the ropes. Every strand of those ropes. This includes the basics such as creating enclosures and hiring staff, to sending scientists out on expeditions and synthesising new dinosaurs. There are the tropes of friction, disaster and triumph, but this is not a story that takes centre stage. For lovers of the IP, there are many nods to the movies and settings that may serve as exciting surprises. Jeff Goldblum also reprises his role through narration, though it does sound like he’s reading directly off a page. Many of the 90+ dinosaurs are direct connections to the film, and structures will align well to what we’ve seen on the big screen. Still, this is an extensive tutorial and does everything needed to prepare the player for the true game modes that will last hundreds of hours into the future.
Gameplay is responsive and well considered, despite playing on the PS5 knowing sim games feel more at home with a mouse and keyboard combo. The controller and its mapping connects, and I rarely found any issues once I knew where all options were accessed. Early, I did have some camera trouble. Remembering where everything was became a minor chore, though this smooths out with time spent using each feature. Most gameplay is through scanning, pointing and clicking, but you can also take the wheel of a vehicle to patrol, maintain and assess the park. Creating structures is quick, as with all the other drag and drop functions. In the early hours, most of your time will be spent setting up enclosures for dinosaurs to thrive. Increase their comfort through adding trees and water, ensure power is running through all buildings and find ways to generate new dinos. This plays into the male and female scenario needed for breeding. I got the hang of the process by about hour two or three, though the campaign does very well in drip-feeding different parts of the game through dozens of hours. By the end of the campaign, I felt competent to enter sandbox mode and create my own park without the set limitations of the campaign (though there is a build limitation on consoles through the complexity meter). Did my park look as good as the pre-made parks of the campaign? No, but you better believe I spent 45 minutes creating the perfect waterfall behind a pen of squabbling and incompatible herbivores.
Money is a central commodity in JWE3. You’ll have a range of options to make money in all the obvious ways – shops, food and drink, finding and releasing dinosaurs, hosting tours. Choosing which scientists to hire can also impact your speed in cash generation and loss. Outside of the challenge mode, money never really felt like an issue and I could toggle features throughout the park to generate more. The control room is where all the decisions are made, such as which dinosaurs to focus on when building your park. Realistically, you can’t catch ‘em all. Do you want to build aviary domes and specialise in flying dinosaurs? Wetlands and lakes for the underwater dwellers? Flat land for the show stealers, like the T-rex? This doesn’t mean limitations are strict, capable in having different sections throughout a very expansive area. One of the more impressive features of the game is how much you can alter buildings, terrain and basically anything else. When delving into blueprints, you can place so many different pieces to add personality to your park (lights, gateways, plants, statues, etc.) that no two parks will ever look even remotely the same. And then there is the ability to download any structure another player has created, plonking it into your own park. Change layouts, colours, styles and more. I am by no means an expert when creating buildings in games, but I did find a small addiction in making my café look like my local. Why? Why not? Make a mountain on one side rather than using a fence for a more natural look? Sure. The playground is there for you to do as you will.
Jurassic World Evolution 3 is the definitive Jurassic Park game, packed full of features to create the park of your dreams. This may not be an action-focused game gunning down enemies and hiding from dinosaurs, but the more I play JWE3 the more I realise that park simulation is its best genre. The visual media of Jurassic Park is best represented when seeing an oppressive dinosaur for the first time. Having the ability to generate this moment for guests just feels right. With many DLC and free updates on the horizon, dinosaur lovers may even consider this to be a forever game that lives on their console for those rainy days when you just want to tap into creativity. The connection to community, visiting their parks and using their structures adds an endless well of options. Add in a lengthy campaign full of IP-infused surprises, and this is simply one not to be missed.
Pros
- Endless options in creating the perfect park
- Definitive dinosaur experience
Cons
- Early hours can be frustrating when learning all the functions
- 30FPS on PlayStation 5
