The game allows players to construct lagoons to contain prehistoric marine reptiles. Animals in the game will gradually expand their territories and some may fight for alpha status.
Similar to the first game, Evolution 2 is a business simulation in which the player constructs a Jurassic World prehistoric theme park. The game features more than 75 prehistoric species, including various dinosaurs, pterosaurs and marine reptiles. Players need to build enclosures, aviaries and lagoons to contain these animals for visitors' viewing.[1] These animals have different needs, such as the type of food they eat and the extent of forestation they require in their habitat, that must be met to keep them healthy and satisfied. The game features a dynamic territory system which sees animals combating against each other for resources if they live in the same habitat. Their territories are constantly shifting depending on the resources available in their habitat.[2] When compared with its predecessors, the game features a more complex artificial intelligence for the prehistoric species, which will now hunt in packs and interact with others more frequently and realistically. The terrain tool was completely reworked, with players needing to plant the appropriate trees and shrubs for the herbivores to eat.[3]
Players need to build various facilities and recruit scientists for research and incubating the prehistoric species. The scientists recruited offer different gameplay benefits, but overworked and disgruntled workers will sabotage the park and intentionally let the animals escape. To incubate a prehistoric animal, the player must first extract their DNA from their fossils. Their DNA can be adjusted to give the animals unique traits, such as resilience towards a certain kind of disease.[4] Players also need to recruit rangers and veterinarians in order to keep the animals happy and healthy. To entertain the guests, players can construct different rides such as the Gyrospheres, which can now pass through multiple enclosures and be attacked by prehistoric animals.[5] Guests are categorized into different groups with different interests. For instance, nature lovers are more keen to see herbivores, while adventurists are more interested in seeing carnivores. Amenities such as toilets, gift shops and restaurants also need to be constructed and players can customize them with different modules and decorations in order to meet the needs of different guests.[6]
Unlike the first game, which is set on an archipelago, Evolution 2 is set in the contiguous United States and features various biomes such as forests and deserts, with each providing unique challenges for the player while they are designing their parks.[7] The maps featured in the game are significantly larger than those in the first game.[6] The game features various modes, including a campaign mode which is set after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, a "Chaos Theory" mode which revisits key narrative moments in the films (such as constructing the Jurassic Park facility near San Diego, as seen in The Lost World: Jurassic Park) and the Challenge and Sandbox modes also return.[2]Jeff Goldblum and Bryce Dallas Howard return to provide the voice for Ian Malcolm and Claire Dearing respectively.[8]
Development and release
Official Logo for Jurassic World Evolution 2
Like its predecessor, Jurassic World Evolution 2 was developed and published by Frontier Developments. The game was announced by Goldblum in June 2021 during Summer Game Fest.[9] The game's campaign mode is considered canon with the films, taking place prior to the 2022 film Jurassic World Dominion. Frontier worked closely with Universal Pictures, ensuring that the game fits into the studio's future plans for the franchise. The company was given access to Universal's collection of sound effects and theme music from the films.[10]
Like its predecessor, Jurassic World Evolution 2 will be supported post-launch with the release of paid DLC and free updates. The first DLC, the Early Cretaceous Pack, was released a month after the game's launch and adds four creatures from that era.[12][13] The second DLC pack adds dinosaurs from the DreamWorks animated show Camp Cretaceous, and was released on March 8, 2022.[14] The game's first expansion, the Dominion Biosyn Expansion, features a new campaign, new species, and new appearances based on Jurassic World Dominion, and released on June 14, 2022, four days after the film's release in the United States.[15]
The game’s third DLC pack, the Late Cretaceous Pack—released on September 15, 2022–added 4 species from the later part of the period. The game's second expansion, the Dominion Malta Expansion, also featured a new campaign, new species, and new appearances based on Jurassic World Dominion, and was released on December 8, 2022. The game’s fourth DLC pack, the Feathered Species Pack, was released in March 2023, featuring three fully feathered dinosaurs and one pterosaur. A free update that adds decorations inspired by the first movie was released on June 8, 2023 in advance of its 30th anniversary. Four lagoon species were added to the game in the Prehistoric Marine Species Pack, which was released on August 10, 2023. The sixth DLC pack, the Cretaceous Predator Pack, was released on November 30, 2023, featuring 4 theropods from the period.
DLC and free content updates released for Jurassic World Evolution 2
The Camp Cretaceous Dinosaur Pack adds 2 new species from the eponymous show from DreamWorks Animation, Monolophosaurus, and the fictional hybrid Scorpios rex. The DLC also features an alternate model for Ouranosaurus and Kentrosaurus, as the show featured a design that significantly differed from the in-game's models. The pack also adds skins based on several individual dinosaurs from the series: a T-Rex skin based on Big Eatie, a Carnotaurus skin based on Toro, an Ankylosaurus skin based on Bumpy, and Baryonyx skins based on Grim, Limbo, and Chaos. The pack also features 2 skins for the Parasaurolophus based on the fictional Parasaurolophus lux, an artificially created, bioluminescent species of Parasaurolophus. All added dinosaurs and skins were featured in the first 4 seasons of Camp Cretaceous.
The Late Cretaceous Pack adds the Barbaridactylus, Styxosaurus, Australovenator, and Alamosaurus as hatchable species. The pack also introduced bioluminescent patterns, referred to as Lux, for the Styxosaurus.
Dominion Malta Expansion
December 8, 2022
The Dominion Malta Expansion adds a new campaign based on scenes featuring an underground market in Malta, also featured in Jurassic World Dominion and is set before the events of the film. The campaign features characters Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), Barry Sembène (Omar Sy), and Soyona Santos (Dichen Lachman). The expansion also adds new buildings, a new mechanic named the "Dinosaur Exchange", where players buy and trade Dinosaur species in the black market as opposed to finding fossils and genomes in dig sites, three new islands based around the Mediterranean archipelago, and several new species: Atrociraptor, Lystrosaurus, Moros intrepidus, and Oviraptor. The expansion also features four additional variant skins for existing species, Allosaurus, Dimorphodon, Iguanodon, and Carnotaurus, based on their appearances in Dominion.
The Prehistoric Marine Species Pack adds the Archelon, Dunkleosteus, Nothosaurus, and Shonisaurus as hatchable species. The pack also introduces Lux patterns for the Nothosaurus, as well as a Lagoon Rock Platform to accommodate it and the Archelon.
The Secret Species Pack reintroduces the fictional hybrids Ankylodocus, Spinoraptor, and Stegoceratops from Jurassic World Evolution, while also introducing the fictional hybrid Spinoceratops from Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, as hatchable species. The pack also introduces Lux patterns for all four hybrids, as well as the Indominus rex and Indoraptor.[16]
PCGames N awarded the game 7: "Improves on its predecessor in clever ways and still boasts the most gorgeous dinosaurs ever made in a game. But dealing with disastrous events beyond your control still isn't any fun, even if it's thematic for the Jurassic Park IP".[26]
Early sales on the PC were lower than expected, as the game was released during the same week as several other high-profile PC games. The home console versions sold as expected, and the game had approximately 500,000 players across all platforms within two weeks of its release. Frontier expected the game to raise more revenue than its predecessor within its first year, in part because of the upcoming release of Jurassic World Dominion.[27]
