Jurassic World Evolution 3 expands on what the first two entries in the series achieved by giving players more control over their fantasy theme parks. It’s packed with dinosaurs for the adoring public to admire, resulting in what could be the best instalment yet.
The premise of Jurassic World Evolution 3 is simple. With resources at your disposal, you’re required to build a dream dinosaur theme park that not only generates enough profit to keep your investors happy, but also your guests safe from harm. That being said, a loose Tyrannosaurus Rex running rampant once in a while is okay, right?
Once the Jurassic World Evolution 3 story campaign gets into swing, you’ll have more theme parks to maintain, and this time, it’s not just in the North American region. Jurassic World Evolution 3 has gone global, and I’m not just talking about when you send palaeontologists on an expedition for resources and DNA.
In the Jurassic World Evolution 3 campaign, there are several new locations, including Japan, China, Italy, Malta, and more. Much like the various parks in North America, these will have their own challenges, including shareholder demands that not only require certain financial targets to be met, but they will also want specific dinosaurs to attract guests, some of which are hybrids that most likely will put your guests in danger if you’re not careful. But hey, shareholders want that green, so nothing else matters, right? Each park will also have unique weather conditions to worry about, but a Nevada sandstorm or torrential rain in Hawaii might be the least of your concerns. I’ll leave it at that.
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Without giving too much away, the returning campaign offers tons of new locations to build your best (or worst parks), each with plenty of story missions and side quests to keep you busy for months on end. There’s even a new fun story questline that relates to a fanatical group that wants you to ruin your parks from the inside or else. I’ll say no more. Oh, and yes, Jeff Goldblum returns to narrate as Dr Ian Malcom.
In terms of what dinosaurs you can create with DNA, you have the favourites including the aforementioned Tyrannosaurus Rex, as well as Velociraptors, Caiuajara, Mosasaurus, and more, each with their own personality traits. There are even semi-aquatic dinosaurs that can traverse both water and land. Hybrid dinosaurs from previous games that were once DLC are now in the base game too, including the Indominus Rex from Jurassic World, the Indoraptor from Fallen Kingdom and the Scorpius Rex from Camp Cretaceous.
Creating dinosaurs in Jurassic World Evolution 3 has evolved (sorry, I tried not to go there). Rather than just being able to create dinosaurs, whether traditional or hybrid DNA, for the first time in the series, you can now natively breed them in your park and create generations of dinosaur families.
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By having male and female dinosaurs in a pen with a nest, they will create dinosaur babies (thankfully, you’ll see no hanky panky), and best of all, those dinosaur babies will carry personality traits and distinctive features of their parents. This not only allows you to create more unique dinosaurs, but you’ll also feel a closer connection to them as you warm to their personalities. That is, unless they turn out nothing like their parents and bring chaos, which is a possibility.
As for attractions to keep visitors happy (aside from the dinosaurs), there are tons of structures available such as hotels, shops, restaurants, and so forth. But now you can offer personal dinosaur encounters as well as park tours in a jeep or hot air balloon. There are more options than ever when it comes to the facilities of the park, whether it’s for guests or maintenance.
Most importantly, how does Jurassic World Evolution 3 feel on consoles? If you’re familiar with previous games, there won't be much of a steep learning curve, but that’s not to say that there aren't new tricks to learn.
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If you’re new to this series on console, all the options, features, and quests can feel a bit daunting, but trust me, after 30 minutes (or so) of playing, you’ll be role-playing as John Hammond in no time. Saying that, hopefully, your park won't be as much of a disaster as his. However, when disaster strikes, that is also where a lot of fun can be found as you frantically try to tranquillise a pack of Velociraptors before they make their own version of a human Big Mac at one of your on-location fast food joints.
Pretty much everything you need to use is found in the left toolbar, whether it's building new pens, employee work stations, entertainment structures, or accessing tools to sculpt terrain, hire, fire and whatnot. In fact, I found the user interface much easier to navigate compared to previous games. It’s more condensed and organised, which makes for a more enjoyable experience overall.
I just mentioned sculpting the terrain in Jurassic World Evolution 3, which is now more in-depth than ever before. Not only are there more foliage options, but the density, depth, slopes, and radius of all terrains can now be adjusted. These features may seem subtle, but I would imagine that they will result in more unique theme parks from the community.
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There are also new security camera features, so that you can keep a closer tab on your dinosaurs more so than ever before. For example, players can use drones in the aviator cage, giving you a closer look at their behaviour or what illnesses they may have, resulting in you being able to dispatch the correct care team more efficiently.
In terms of other modes, you have the returning challenge mode, which assigns you objectives to complete under unique circumstances, such as extra volatile dinosaurs to maintain, ungodly weather conditions, and intense financial restrictions. For something more chill, sandbox also returns, which allows you to build a dream park with no financial restrictions or objectives to achieve.
One of the biggest new features of Jurassic World Evolution 3 is the ‘Workshop’, which is basically community creations, something that we have seen in the console versions of Planet Coaster.
During my review time, what I was able to download from the community was quite limited at that time, but I was able to sample structures such as a hatchery, viewing gallery, control centre, and more. What’s more, you can also upload your own creations for others to use. I can only imagine what creations the community will come up with once the game passes its release date. Best of all, this feature is cross-platform for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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Visually, Jurassic World Evolution 3 looks better than its predecessors, which should be a given for a third entry in the series, taking you from the deserts of Nevada to the sunny climates of Hawaii and the beautiful landscapes of Japan. The dinosaurs look exceptionally detailed, and the user interface is crisp and easy to digest. Everything about this game is easy on the eye.
If there was one snag, at least on the original PlayStation 5 console, it would be the long loading times booting into a game from the main menu or going to and from various park locations. However, once the game is in full swing, it all runs very smoothly and looks gorgeous.
Jurassic World Evolution 3 is, without a doubt, the best game in the series yet. It gives you more tools to create the best parks possible, and that’s without the added content that the community will eventually produce. The sim management genre might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you love the Jurassic Park and World movies, I have no doubt you’ll love this game. If you give it a chance, Jurassic World Evolution 3 might just be your surprise hit of the year.
Pros: Easy to navigate user interface, new locations bring greater variety, community creations will add tons of new content
Cons: Long loading times
For fans of: Previous Jurassic World Evolution games, Two Point Museum, Planet Coaster 2
8/10: Excellent
Jurassic World Evolution 3 is out now on PC, PlayStation 5 (version tested) and Xbox Series X/S. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.
Topics: Reviews, PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Xbox, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X