So for this review I’m throwing two things together. This past two weeks the new Jurassic World film came out as well as a sort-of tie-in video game. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is now out in cinemas and Jurassic World Evolution is available to buy digitally now (and a hard copy is being released on the 3rd of July).
The first half of this review will be the film portion, followed by the game review. So with that being said, up first:
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
This film is a sequel to the 2015 film Jurassic World which was a sequel/reboot of 1993’s Jurassic Park and, five films in to the Jurassic franchise, it’s safe to say that they can still find new ways to make dinosaurs interesting, entertaining and even a little bit scary.
So i’ll give you the cons first…
Really, there isn’t any. But if I had to give you one it would be that the film doesn’t spend long enough on the island itself. And some people may find that a relief as we have already had four films set on dinosaur islands, but this time I felt the film had earned the return to the Isla Nublar and I really would have enjoyed seeing more of the ruined and destroyed theme park. However, this con was definitely not a deal breaker.
Now on to the pros…
First of all, the acting was solid. Now we’ve all come to expect this from Chris Pratt and he’s no different here, once again giving a stellar performance, but the stand out acting comes from newcomers Justice Smith (Franklin), Daniella Pineda (Zia) and Rafe Spall (Eli). All three of these actors are welcome additions to the franchise even if Franklin and Zia go missing for a small section of the film (but this doesn’t really affect the plot or film as a whole).
Another pro was the action, especially in the final act of the movie. The action on the island is pretty standard, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. Some dinosaurs fight each other and run around but the true, spectacular action comes when our heroes return to America. I won’t discuss any spoilers, but the final two acts of the movie are some of the most intense and exciting action sequences I’ve seen in a film for a while.
The final pro in this movie was the emotional heartbeat of the film. For a Jurassic film I didn’t expect to be as emotional as I was. The movie plays on the fact that these are real animals with real feelings, something that was hinted at and played on in the first Jurassic World. It’s used well here and really adds a different dimension to the experience.
So, overall, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is well worth the watch and is on par, if not better, than the original Jurassic World and does come pretty close to the original Jurassic Park. I can’t recommend it enough (I’ll give my rating at the end of the article).
Jurassic World Evolution
Did you ever play the old game Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis? If you did then you’ve pretty much played this game. But thats no reason not to play it.
Jurassic World Evolution is a new Jurassic World Theme Park builder/management game by Frontier, the studio that created the highly successful Planet Coaster. The game is available on PC, Xbox One and PS4, only digitally right now but a hardcopy version of the game is out in July.
So the cons for this game…
First of all, the terrain and building placement controls in this game are quite poor. The terrain editor is a bit fiddily and can be quite difficult to manage and the placement of buildings can sometimes be affected by the terrain but the game doesn’t tell you how to fix the issue. This isn’t that big of a con, and it doesn’t break the game, but it can be quite frustrating and I’m hopjng it gets fixed in the next update.
The only other con for this game, that is a major issue, is the lack of water or flying dinosaurs. At the moment there are only land dinosaurs available. This means there’s no giant Mosasaurs and no bird cage for any Pterodactyls. I’m hoping they’ll be added in some free updates or even some DLC, and there is some coming up for the new film, but right now, I’m quite disappointed.
Now on to the pros…
This game looks stunning. From the details on the dinosaurs, to the designs of the buildings, every aspect of this game is beautiful. And the best thing is, there is hardly any lag or drop in frame rates which is especially great if youre playing on console. Honestly, I have spent quite some time just looking at the details on the dinosaurs, Frontier truly did a great job on the design.
Another pro is the fact that you are able to drive a jeep to heal dinosaurs and also pilot a helicopter in order to tranquilise an escpaed dino. These two aspects add a lot to the game because it allows you to easily get up close and personal to your own dinosaurs as well as letting you drive around your park at eye level, really allowing you to feel immersed in the game world.
The controls in this game are also pretty solid. Most people would be concerned as there’s a lot of menus to navigate and sometimes these kinds of games don’t translate well to a console (just look at Sims 4 on PS4 or Xbox). But thankfully Frontier have found a way to make these menus easy to navigate as well as giving the player plenty of options for them to change the settings to how they like.
Now the final pro for this game is just how fun and entertaining it is. You can have hours of entertainment either by building up your park and making it successful or even just by letting your dinosaurs loose on the island and letting them eat the guests. The game lets you do both and how you choose to play it is entirely up to you. There is both a ‘campaign’ as welll as a sandbox mode, however to unlock everything for the sandbox mode, you first have to unlock them in the campaign.
Overall, Jurassic World Evolution is a great game, especially if you’re a fan of theme park builders or management games. Go check it out!
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom: 4.5/5
Jurassic World Evolution: 5/5
Connor Mountford 