I’ve always enjoyed what Frontier can deliver with their management simulation games. Whether that be the thrills of a theme park or the delights of a zoo. Well, Jurassic World Evolution 3 delivers another great business management game, building on the second to include more. More building tools and more features in general. Including a pretty big development in how dinosaurs can come to be in the park.

The campaign is the best place to start, what with it being the way Jurassic World Evolution 3 introduces its mechanics. Powering the park. Keeping it maintained. Hiring scientists, using them for research, synthesising dinosaurs, and expeditions. Placing amenities and attractions, along with building the enclosures to hold the dinosaurs. Using the environmental tools to make sure those dinosaurs are happy with where they are being held.

The story objectives waste no time in introducing the one big thing that might seem small. Dinosaur breeding. As said in the story narration, people want to see the juvenile dinosaurs. And why wouldn’t they when they’re so cute! So, all it takes is placing a nesting ground within an enclosure, and nature will take the reigns on new additions. Though it’s not so simple as that.

Some species won’t mind where the nest is placed, while others have specific demands for its use. Such as being completely hidden from view by guests. The happiness of the dinosaurs is also important, as they won’t start breeding if they have any issues with their environment. But make sure they are happy, and the new additions will soon start arriving from the eggs.

Frontier have made sure there’s a lot of depth to the system behind-the-scenes. Adults are more protective of their young, and feel sad when separated. The young will be friendly to start, especially from the same batch of eggs. But later rivalries might develop between them. As for the adults, they might find a bond with a particular other dinosaur and only breed with them. It’s quite nice to just be watching the goings on with this prehistoric life.

The campaign starts in North America, where the Dinosaur Integration Network is wanting to help the world build dinosaur parks across the world. To do so, they want some professionals to assess their work at this starting site. Which naturally means Ian Malcolm is back, voiced by Jeff Goldblum and being his usual self where dinosaurs are concerned. The interactions happening during the story are fun, with a few references to the movies made.

Soon enough, the campaign expands beyond North America, taking in sights across Asia, Europe, and the other continents of the world. Each park has different objectives to complete as part of the story, then for completionists overall park objectives needed to get it up to a five-star rating. All the while, the story keeps bringing in new things. Whether teaching new mechanics or by unlocking new research.

One thing I liked about Jurassic World Evolution 2 was the ability to get down on the ground and do things myself. Take control of the maintenance, ranger, or medical vehicles to perform their duties myself. And now I can really get down to the guest’s level with a first-person mode that allows me to simply walk through the park. While I can’t go into any of the buildings, I can still enjoy the viewing galleries and the transport options available.

Then there’s the capture mode, which allows me to take the camera anywhere I like to grab a photo. Doing so from vehicles is fine, especially since those photos bring in some money. But unrestricted movement for a photo mode is especially great at lining up some truly grand photos. It’s not something I’ve messed around with too much at present, but I know I’m going to get stuck in as I continue to progress through the campaign.

Away from the campaign is the challenge mode, which offers up some harder scenarios to try. Whether that be a park in financial trouble, building a safari-style park, or simply taking a photography expedition. These challenges are timed, with it expected that all objectives are completed before the time runs out. There are three difficulty modes, with changes to either time or objectives happening between them.

Then there’s the sandbox, which offers a lot. There are so many options to curate an experience here. The various needs – even those of the dinosaurs – can be turned off. The experience had here can be as peaceful or as fierce as a person wants. Naturally, since I wanted to experiment with a few things, I opted for that peaceful experience. Though as yet I haven’t simply created one enclosure to put all the dinos in.

The terrain tools have been expanded for Jurassic World Evolution 3, offering a lot more control for how the world should look. High cliffs can be turned into slopes, or flattened altogether. Mountains can be made from flat ground. And the best part of the terrain options comes in the form of waterfalls. Water placed will react to the terrain, flowing around anywhere impassable and down any slopes.

Even the building options, for as little as I’ve used them, have been expanded greatly. Exact more control over where objects are placed with the advanced movement mode. Create varied and unique buildings with the modular building tools. And then put them into the Frontier Workshop for others to use. It’s something I’ll be experimenting with in the sandbox mode, seeing what is possible with all these tools.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 is a grand time for a fan of business management games. And a fan of dinos. A very nice campaign, some extra challenges, and a nice chill time in the sandbox. Everything works great to build some truly great parks with some truly great dinosaurs. As such, an easy recommendation from me. And yes, I love listening to the main Jurassic Park theme that plays on the menu screen.

Images Taken From:
Jurassic World Evolution 3 | Xbox Series S