By James Pearson on
The wait for many fans is finally over, and after many, many, MANY months of theorising, leaks and wishful hoping, as Frontier Developments has officially unveiled ‘Jurassic World Evolution 3’, the latest instalment in the beloved dinosaur park management series is officially on its way. Set to release later this year on October 21, the game promises to ‘expand the scope of park-building, introduce new breeding mechanics, and enhance customization tools’ to create the most immersive, creative and breath-taking experience yet. But what can you expect? And what makes this game different from the ones before? Well let’s dive into everything new and old coming to ‘Jurassic World Evolution 3’.
A Global Park-Building Experience:
One similarity to its predecessor is the global aspect of the game. You can enjoy building your dream parks across the world in many diverse environments, such as: Japan, Hawaii, and the Mediterranean. Each region presents unique challenges, requiring players to adapt their strategies accordingly, as well as offering breath-taking backdrops and scenery for your parks.
Introducing Baby Dinosaurs & Breeding Mechanics:
For the first time in the series, players can now breed their dinosaurs naturally, rather than relying solely on artificial incubation. This new system allows dinosaurs to form family units, with juvenile versions of species displaying distinct behaviours and traits. The breeding process involves a brand new nesting mechanics, where players must create suitable environments for dinosaurs to reproduce successfully. Additionally, genetic inheritance plays a role, meaning offspring may inherit traits from their parents, affecting their health, aggression, and social tendencies. This addition has been one fans have been shouting about for years, and Frontier have not disappointed. However it is worth noting they have said not all species will have offspring, although it has yet to be announced which ones will. How this new mechanic will work remains to be seen, but so far the many cute looking babies have everyone very excited to start having little baby ‘Triceratops’ and ‘T-Rex’ running around.
Expanded Customization & Terrain Tools:
Customization has been significantly upgraded, offering more control over the landscape of your parks. Players can now reshape terrain with advanced tools, creating a range of mountains, valleys, waterfalls, and intricate pathways to add literal new heights to their parks. Plus, new texture brushes will allow for even more detailed environmental sculpting, making each park feel unique and vibrant with a range of plants and trees. Additionally, fans of Planet Zoo will be familiar with this new feature, modular building has been implemented into the game providing even greater flexibility in designing attractions, enclosures, and guest facilities, allowing players full control of the aesthetic of their own parks. Plus as many fans have pointed out it seems you can finally begin to create actual zoos, akin to what we see in the real world. Just with prehistoric dinosaurs rather than giraffes, lions and bears.
Enhanced Dinosaur Behaviours & Social Interactions:
Dinosaurs in ‘Jurassic World Evolution 3’ exhibit even more realistic behaviours compared to the last game, with a couple of animations transferring over from the last game (hey they gave us baby dinos, they are allowed to make a few shortcuts). It also seems to now include: territorial disputes, mating rituals, and new species-specific interactions between young and adults. From play time to hunt time each prehistoric animal has their own unique set of animations giving them each the wow and cute factor.
Returning and Upgraded Features:
While ‘Jurassic World Evolution 3’ introduces several new mechanics, many familiar and expected ones are returning. Some with improvements, some not so much:
- Over 80 Dinosaur Species upon launch: Including marine and flying reptiles, with new genetic modification options. With returning as well as brand new species, this number does unfortunately mean many species will unfortunately be cut upon launch. Which ones, and if they will return in the future is unfortunately still unknown.
- Jeff Goldblum Returns: Dr. Ian Malcolm once again provides his voice to the trailers narration and is expected to return in the full game, alongside new and returning characters that will help guide you through the creation of your dream parks.
- Park Management Tools: More intuitive controls for handling guest satisfaction, security, and dinosaur welfare, putting you in the control room hot seat. Just remember your top priority: Don’t let the dinos eat the guests!
- Cross-Platform Sharing: The game will be playable on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. However with the new building mechanics players will now be able to upload, download and share parks, enclosures, and scenery designs via the Frontier Workshop, a mechanic long used by the Planet series of games (Planet Coaster, and Planet Zoo), fostering a new global community of park builders.
Pre-Order Bonuses & Deluxe Edition Content:
For all those eager beavers the game has been put up for official pre-order. If you choose to do so you do receive a fun treat, that being the ‘Badlands Pack’: which features scenery items inspired by the original Jurassic Park dig site. Additionally, the ‘Deluxe Edition’ is also available for preorder, coming with the same gift. It also includes four exclusive dinosaur species: ‘Proceratops’, ‘Guanlong’, ‘Thanatosdrakon’, and ‘Concavenator’, alongside bonus skins and scenery items. What more could you ask for? (Aside from getting your hands on the game now that is.)
With natural breeding, expanded customization, and a global campaign, ‘Jurassic World Evolution 3’ is shaping up to be the most immersive and ambitious entry in the series. Whether you’re a meticulous park manager or simply want to watch baby ‘Stegosaurus’ frolic in the grass, this game promises a prehistoric playground like never before. And with the game a couple of months out I’m sure plenty more goodies are yet to be revealed.
Are you ready to build the ultimate Jurassic Park? Well until October 21st Jurassic World 1 and 2 are available on Steam and the PlayStation and Xbox stores to sink your teeth into until the next step in dino management evolution arrives. Just remember - ‘life, uh, finds a way’.