Jurassic World Evolution 2 (2024)

Jurassic World Evolution 2 is a business simulation game developed and published by Frontier Developments, as a sequel to Jurassic World Evolution. It was released on November 9th 2021, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.^[1]

Like its predecessor, Evolution 2 is a park building simulation, in which players must build and manage their own Jurassic World theme park, with greater levels of customisation and more realistic animal behaviours. In addition to dinosaurs, Evolution 2 also includes the highly requested addition of both pterosaurs and marine reptiles.

The game features a campaign mode based following the events of the 2018 film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, in which players must contain and conserve dinosaurs and other prehistoric species, while working alongside characters from the film franchise including Claire Dearing and Ian Malcolm. The campaign takes place beyond Isla Nublar and the Muertes Archipelago and in a number of environments from across the world, each with its own unique challenges.

In addition to the story campaign, Sandbox Mode and Challenge Mode return from the first Evolution, along with the new Chaos Theory Mode, in which players are challenged with various "what-if" scenarios from all five movies of the Jurassic franchise.

Gameplay

Game Modes

Evolution 2 has four Game Modes, Campaign Mode, Challenge Mode, Sandbox Mode and the new Chaos Theory Mode. The narrative Campaign mode includes actors from the Jurassic film franchise, such as Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm and Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing. In the campaign, players are tasked with conserving and containing prehistoric animals in a variety of environments across the world, set after the cataclysmic events of the 2018 film Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom.^[2]

Challenge Mode returns in Evolution 2, with four difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard and Jurassic. Challenge Mode features new conditions which place constraints on the game, such as limiting the number of species allowed on a particular map, as well as bespoke challenges with tasks unique to each level.^[3] Like the first game, players earn unique species cosmetics by achieving five stars on each difficulty level.^[3]

The game also features the return of Sandbox Mode, which offers players unlimited freedom to create the park of their dreams. These freedoms include unlimited money, the ability to adjust the weather and the time of day and modify the behaviour of the animals in the park.^[3] Maps from the Campaign, Challenge Mode and Chaos Theory are available to use in Sandbox, though content must first be unlocked through research in the other modes.^[3]

A major new addition to the series is Chaos Theory mode, which allows players to experience key moments from each movie in the franchise, with each level set in a different era and location from the movies.^[2]

Park Customisation

Like its predecessor, Evolution 2 tasks players with creating their own theme park, populating it with prehistoric species from around the world and ensuring that they remain safely contained away from the park's visitors. The game's setting is more diverse than its predecessor, with players able to build their park in a variety of new environments, from alpine forested areas, to scorching deserts. Each of these new biomes offer players new challenges to build their parks, such as snowstorms in cold environments, which cover the entire park with snow.^[2][4]

Park customisation has improved from the first game, with players able to construct and customise buildings in a variety of ways, from their colour to the amenities offered to guests.^[2] Guest buildings can be fully customised, including the physical characteristics of the building itself, to decorations such as trees, skeletons and flags to improve the area around it.^[4] Standalone decorations, such as tables, chairs, lights and plants can also be placed around the park.^[5]

Guest buildings are split into two main types: Amenities and Attractions. Amenities can be fully customised, both internally and externally, with internal modifications allowing the player to cater the building for each type of quest and ultimately maximise profits.^[5] The building's exterior can also be modified, from its colour, decorations, signage and entrance styles.^[5]

All of the available maps in Evolution 2 are considerably larger than those of the first game, allowing players to create expansive reserves containing many different prehistoric animals and facilities.^[4] Enclosure design has also been improved, with greater levels of customisation, allowing players to use both paint brush tools and individually placed foliage and rocks to expand on each exhibit. This extends to Aviaries, which can be customised to the same level.^[4]

Park Management

Guests have been significantly improved from the first game, with guest moods divided into four categories: General, Adventure, Nature and Luxury. Each guest type will gravitate toward areas which suit their interests, with adventurous guests particularly interested in carnivorous dinosaurs.^[4] The number of guests of each group can be seen in the Management screen, allowing the player to tailor their amenities and attractions to cater for each group.^[6]

Scientists are a new addition to Evolution 2, which can be hired to oversee the creation of modification of the extinct animals. Scientists have individual traits and bonuses, and can be tasked with various jobs in the park. If a scientist becomes overworked, they may attempt to sabotage the park.^[6]

Prehistoric animals

At launch, Evolution 2 will feature over 75 species of prehistoric animals, many of which will be returning dinosaurs from the previous game, such as Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Brachiosaurus.^[7] As well as new dinosaurs, such as Amargasaurus and Coelophysis, Evolution 2 also includes the highly requested addition of both pterosaurs, such as Pteranodon and Dimorphodon, and marine reptiles such as Mosasaurus.^[2]

Animal behaviour and welfare

Animals in Evolution 2 react intelligently to the world around them to a greater degree than in the first game, and have new animations and behaviours in their interactions with other animals and their environment.^[2] In the new territory system, animals explore their environment and settle in a habitat which suits their needs, claiming it as their own. Territories belonging to different species of dinosaur can exist within the same enclosure, which displays as a white outline on the ground, changing dynamically based on the dinosaur's changing needs. While many species can coexist harmoniously, others can come into conflict if their territories overlap.^[4]

Herbivores no longer require feeders, and instead feed on different types of foliage, with each species having their own preference.^[4]

Hunting and combat is more dynamic than the first game, with certain species, such as Velociraptor being able to hunt in packs to take down larger prey, while the "face-off" system used in the first game has similarly been removed.^[4] Prey animals are also able to escape predators, though may need to treated by a veterinary unit.^[8]

Animal welfare has also been expanded, with the addition of the Paleo-Medical Facility, where dinosaurs can be transported if they cannot be treated in their own enclosure. This facility also includes a Mobile Veterinary Unit, which can be directly controlled by the player.^[4] In order to keep track of each animal's health and happiness, players can build a Ranger Post, which can be placed in an enclosure to perform welfare checks on all animals in the enclosure.^[4]

Like the first game, animals can escape from their enclosure if their needs are not met, a behavior which now extends to pterosaurs, such as Pteranodon, which can break out of their aviary and cause chaos around the park, requiring the player to dispatch ranger teams to track them down.^[4]

Genetic modification

In Evolution 2, genetic material for each species is found through expeditions to dig-sites, and obtained by extracting fossils. Rather than incubating one animal at a time, players can now incubate an entire clutch of eggs, and alter their behaviour by tweaking the DNA of each individual. Additionally, each species has seven unique patterns, with roughly twelve different colours which players can apply. When the animals have finished incubating, they can be released simultaneously from the Lab.^[4] The ability to release several animals simultaneously allows players to populate their parks far more quickly.^[8]

Players can also Remote Release animals directly from a hatchery to a different area of the map, allowing for more efficient park designs. Other modes will include wild animals roaming the map, requiring players to create enclosures to suit their needs.^[8]

Release

Evolution 2 is scheduled to be released worldwide on November 9, 2021. Players who pre-ordered any version of the game before the November 9th will receive three unique vehicle skins inspired by 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park to use across their Ranger Team, Capture Team, and Mobile Vet Unit teams in Challenge and Sandbox modes.^[1]

Editions

Alongside the standard edition, the Deluxe Edition of Evolution 2 was announced to be released on the same day. It consists of the base game and the Deluxe Upgrade Pack which adds five additional prehistoric animals including marine and flying reptiles, six unique building signs, and three vehicle skins inspired by the Dinosaur Protection Group to use in Sandbox and Challenge Modes.^[1]

Production credits

Staff

Voice cast

Gallery

References

External links

• Official website
• Jurassic World Evolution 2 on Wikipedia