Jurassic World Evolution
Frontier explains how a tiny problem can trigger a catastrophe
“If an fence breaks down in Jurassic World, well… you’ve seen the movies”
When you think of Jurassic Park you think of disaster. Of rampaging dinosaurs, storms, and malfunctioning fences. I ask Michael Brookes, game director, how much of my time playing Jurassic World Evolution will be spent dealing with this. “We don’t want the game to be a constant state of emergency where you don’t have time to enjoy creating,” he says.
“But when things go wrong, the stakes are always high. A running theme in the novels and films is small things quickly escalating, and we want you to experience that same kind of creeping emergency when you play our game.”
Storms, power outages, dinosaur breakouts, and even espionage are among the problems you’ll have to deal with. “Each disaster is quite manageable in isolation,” says Brookes. “But the challenge comes when a single emergency is left unattended and it cascades into another, and another, and another. But we want you to have time to build and explore your park as well, which will make those moments when you’re under threat even more gripping.”
Brookes adds that something he thinks a lot of management games lack is peril. “If a ride breaks down in Planet Coaster, it costs you money and time. If an electric fence breaks down in Jurassic World, well… you’ve seen the movies.” Most management games offer a sedate, relaxing experience, so it’ll be interesting to see how throwing dinosaur-themed chaos into the mix works out in Evolution.
Outside of wrestling with emergencies, you have to decide the focus of your park, whether it’s making money, or advancing cloning technology. “You’ll be given missions by the Hammond Foundation’s security, entertainment, and science divisions, and it’s up to you which opportunities you take,” says Brookes.
You could build a park that tries to appease all three divisions, but you’ll soon discover that their goals conflict. “They have competing personalities and they’ll demand different resources from you, which they do through contracts.”
One of Frontier’s goals is making “the best videogame dinosaurs ever”, as Brookes puts it, and it has been given access to models and artwork from the movies to help them with this. “But our job is very different from the work done by the film’s artists, because they know exactly how the viewer will see their dinosaurs and can frame them very specifically. But for us, Jurassic World Evolution’s dinosaurs have to feel alive from every angle. Luckily our art and animation teams really understand how to bring them to life and give them personality.”
Park Life
Another challenge will be running multiple parks. “No matter how far you advance through the campaign, you’ll be able to revisit earlier islands to complete objectives, care for your dinosaurs, or build bigger and smarter,” says Brookes. “Advancing through the game will unlock new research and dig opportunities, which will open up new bioengineering possibilities. So by returning to an earlier park, you can add or change dinosaurs and earn rewards.”
Bioengineering is one aspect of the game that sounds particularly interesting, allowing you to create your own dinosaurs, but Frontier is keeping the details of this system close to its chest. “We want Evolution to be the ultimate fan game,” says Brookes. “So whatever you do, you’ll be unlocking lore material and discovering Easter eggs drawn from the novels and movies.” Fingers crossed for a Dr Ian Malcolm cameo. Jurassic World Evolution, which is due this year, is shaping up nicely, and I’m looking forward to seeing what disasters Frontier throws at my park.