The Camp Cretaceous Dinosaur Pack has arrived in Jurassic World Evolution 2 – and it is accompanied by a whole plethora of brand-new free additions for Update 1.2. This article is going to give you an overview and our initial thoughts. For those of you eager to dive in straight away – do it. The free update brings a wealth of fan-requested features and you will not be disappointed. For those of you still on the fence – let’s take a closer look!
Up first we have the Dinosaur Pack itself. It retails for 7.99 here in the UK and adds the brand-new Monolophosaurus, the deadly Scorpios-Rex, and also several new skins and variants for animals which were already in Jurassic World Evolution 2. Both of the new animals are fantastic. The Monolophosaurus has the cartoonish depth and texture which we saw in the design in the show, whilst the Scorpios-Rex features the same spine-tingling roar which we saw it do throughout it’s time present in the third season of the show. Both of the new animals have a suite of unique animations, and both have a plethora of skins available – matching all we’ve come to expect from the game. I really like the Scorpios and how well the game catches it’s sickly appearance in the show.
The other additions are nice in their own right. The Ouranosaurus redesign captures the more unique head which the version in the show featured, and the redesign for Pierce the Kentrosaurus looks good too – even if it is a little chunky compared to the animal we see in the show. All of the other skins feel authentic to their in-show counterparts, with Bumpy in particular being the stand-out here. I would have loved to have seen a couple of bits of Camp Cretaceous themed scenery (the treehouse, specifically!) included as a part of this pack, but for the price point I really can’t fault the fact that it isn’t included here. Of course, it wouldn’t be right to finish this section without touching on the gorgeous new ‘Parasaurolophus Lux’ – of which there are two included in the DLC. These animals are absolutely stunning, and really help to add a unique new dimension to nighttime parks when mixed in with a herd of other herbivores. Overall, the CC Dinosaur pack gets a big thumbs up from me!
As if the paid DLC wasn’t enough, however, Update 1.2 packs in a slew of new features. There are refinements made to the sandbox – with construction and breeding of dinosaurs now taking much less time by default. You can play with how long you want this process to last, but this combined with the ability to turn off scientists really makes for a much for streamlined sandbox experience. I know many of the hurdles for the sandbox experience were points of contention within the community upon the game’s initial release, so it is fantastic to see Frontier being so willing and open to reflecting and changing the core of this game mode to really tailor it towards becoming the definitive Jurassic World builder. I also love the ability to now add in expeditions and other things in the sandbox, and the update to now have all the dinosaurs unlocked is very welcome for me as a player who hasn’t fully sunk enough time into the game to unlock everything just yet. This gives me a lot more flexibility when it comes to my screenshot sessions, so I am all for it!
Two big additions in the free update are the first-person camera mode, and also the ability to place down a greater variety of scenery within your parks. Touching on the first point about the first-person mode, this pleasantly surprised me. It essentially functions as an on-the-ground capture mode, but with several additional elements baked in – including the ability to ‘crouch’ and also the ability to turn a flashlight on and off. The seamless nature of switching into the first-person camera mode is a piece of UI mastery – and is something which the Frontier team have really managed to get feeling smooth. This wasn’t a feature I knew I wanted until I saw just how smoothly it fits into the gameplay loop of Evolution 2. The new scenery pieces also have me elated. Everything from shipping containers to dinosaur cages and Spinosaurus skeletons can be placed in our parks now – providing much more diversity in terms of scenery then we have had before. When I reviewed this game last year this was exactly the next step I wanted to see it take – so seeing the Frontier team actively listening to the community is very rewarding, as this is absolutely a update which bakes in a lot of new features to the core gameplay loop of the game. There are lots of other great new additions too – but as someone who has just dipped his toes in for some gameplay time after a busy work day, I am very happy with what I have uncovered so far.
Both the Camp Cretaceous Dinosaur Pack and Update 1.2 show how in-touch Frontier are with their community. There are lots of great inclusions here which really pave the way for this game to further grow and evolve as we approach the release of Jurassic World Dominion. If you enjoyed Camp Cretaceous then I think you’ll enjoy this dinosaur pack, and if you haven’t played the game for some time then I think Update 1.2 really is a worthy time to step back in and get hands on with the game once more.
That’s my initial thoughts on the DLC – but I’d love to hear what you think so far! Let me know in the comments below, and stay tuned to The Jurassic Park Podcast for all of the latest Jurassic News.
Written by: Tom Jurassic