Jurassic World Evolution Review

Ever thought you could run your own dinosaur-based theme park better than John Hammond did in the original Jurassic Park? Well now you have your own chance to do so with Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition available on the Nintendo Switch.

The complete edition of this title comes with all of the DLC previously released on the Xbox, PlayStation and PC versions. This includes the infamous DLC Return to Jurassic Park, which I’ll explain later on. This title adds plenty of new content to enjoy on the Switch version but does the game hold up?

Graphically, Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition looks terrible, the trees have no details, the ground has horrid looking textures and the frame rate feels like an incredible 20FPS as you are turning around your camera and looking at your park. Whilst some of these changes were perhaps necessary to enable this demanding game to run on Switch, you have to keep in mind that back when the game originally launched for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the game performed horribly but looked gorgeous.

Let’s talk about the DLC Return to Jurassic Park. This DLC has you changing and fixing the original island from the 1993 film and includes new items such as the original raptor pens and new looks for places like the adventure centre. The DLC features around seven missions and even has you going back to Isla Sorna, (the second movie’s island). It acts as a huge nostalgia-filled journey that brought back all of the feelings that I felt when I watched the original films. This DLC also introduces the new Dinosaur Tour ride that allows guests to take a tour of the park that you can design to allow the guests to get the proper experience that John Hammond wanted them to have back in 1993.

The sound in this title is simply beautiful, from the score of the movies to the terrifying growl of a Tyrannosaurus rex. All of these sounds are taken directly from the films and sound steller! From the terrifying snarl of a Velociraptor to the screaming victims being spat on by a Dilophosaurus. The sounds of your guests walking through the shopping high street filled with more dinosaur merchandise than you can feast your eyes on.

Another major DLC expansion included in the complete edition is Claire’s Sanctuary, which again includes seven new missions that have you saving dinosaurs from an exploding volcano similar to the new movies. The DLC includes three new dinosaurs, from a Tyrannosaurus-based dinosaur to a duck-looking dino this DLC adds a lot more gameplay and features for you to enjoy.

Finally, the last DLC added was The Secrets of Dr.Wu which adds new dinos, two new locations and four new missions. There are five new dinos in total with these ranging from a friendly Olorotitan to a terrifyingly scary Spinoraptor. This DLC does in fact add hybrid dinosaurs into the mix with the Spinoraptor being half Spinosaurus and half Velociraptor.

The base game basically plays like this; you have a large plot of land to do with as you so choose. You complete objectives to increase your technology and dino research and in turn able to earn in-game currency and unlock new and fascinating dinosaurs. Whilst trying to earn these new dinos you also have to manage guest satisfaction, making them happy by placing stores, plotting down plants and having a wide variety of dinosaurs to view while they are at your park. All of these things will increase your park rating and allow you to have more guests.

A huge factor of Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition is managing park security, you can do this by having strong enclosures, having a lot of beefed up security, or you can quite simply keep your dinosaurs happy, by matching their needs in your habitat. This will reduce the likelihood of them trying to escape from your park and eat all of your guests, however, even if all of these conditions are met, life finds a way.