A wise man once said, “life finds a way.” Friends, I wholeheartedly agree with this. By now, everyone knows how obsessed I am with dinosaurs. At this point, it’s a key part of my personality. Yes, I feel sorry for my loved ones too. But they’re used to it. And that dinosaur obsession is the reason that I am here today. A silly idea came into my head, and that silly idea went right to Frontier. Turns out the idea wasn’t all that silly! Thanks to the wonderful folks at Frontier, I’ve been playing Jurassic World Evolution 2 on Xbox Series X. I’ve been obsessed with this game since it came out, and the time has come to compare PC and console versions.
A little reminder on Jurassic World Evolution 2
Jurassic World Evolution 2 is a wonderful park-building simulator, with campaign mode, chaos theory, challenge mode, and sandbox. At the point of writing, there are 7 DLCs and a Deluxe Upgrade pack available for the game (all of which I’ve reviewed!) DLC 8, Cretaceous Predator Pack is due for release later this week. I for one cannot wait to sink my teeth into that. If my count is correct, there are currently around 110 different species in the game (including DLC), with four more coming in the Cretaceous Predator Pack. Please don’t trust my maths skills in full, it was never my best subject.
Evolving World for Park Building
I’ve loved park-building simulators since I was small. One of my earliest gaming memories is playing the original Zoo Tycoon on my dad’s PC. And the first-person mode in the second game, which completely blew my tiny mind. I even played Zoo Tycoon on Nintendo DS, and the reboot on Xbox One. Hell, I even played the first Jurassic World Evolution on Nintendo Switch. All of these solidified in my mind that the park building didn’t work on anything other than PC.
However, Jurassic World Evolution 2 has completely flipped the switch in my mind on that. Admittedly, the Xbox Series X is more powerful than my PC. My PC hasn’t been upgraded since 2018 (other than with a new SSD). I prefer console gaming, which is why my upgrades went that day. I knew there would definitely be a difference in Jurassic World Evolution 2 based on that alone. What I wasn’t expecting was everything else.
Jurassic Dreams
Graphically, I was blown away. I swear, I can see every tiny little detail in every species I play with. We’re not going to talk about the near-inhuman happy noises I made at that discovery. It’s my standard reaction to dinosaurs, we’ll leave it at that. The power of current generation consoles perfectly displays the attention to detail of the development team.
Initially, I struggled with the menu. New controls took some time to adjust to. Compared to PC, it is quite different. However, once you adjust, there are no issues. It’s just an awkward transition from PC. Undoubtedly, starting off on console would ease the learning curve.
The gameplay is what really, truly surprised me. Using a controller feels so smooth, making movement across the grounds feel seamless. Building enclosures is far simpler than I had expected, as is decorating the enclosures. I also enjoy the first-person mode more on console, though that probably comes back to my console being more powerful than my PC. Getting up close and personal with so many incredible creatures makes me truly happy. My TV is also way bigger than my monitor. That definitely helps too.
Jurassic World Evolution 2: The Definitive Play
The idea behind comparing the PC and console editions of Jurassic World Evolution 2 was to find the best experience overall. After all, consoles and PCs are very different. And consoles can be far more accessible than others. I’ve talked about this game so much, to the point where even my partner is now interested in playing. And he’s not even a dinosaur fan! By now, everyone knows I have extremely high standards when it comes to Jurassic World Evolution 2 and Frontier. The Jurassic franchise holds a big, special place in my heart. Every addition I scrutinise like there’s no tomorrow. Admittedly, my standards for this game are even higher than my horror standards.
And now, I can comfortably say that whatever your platform, you will have a good experience with this game. Console gameplay is well on par with using a keyboard and mouse on PC. The implementation is fantastic. Even after fully investing myself in the game again, I am so genuinely surprised at how well Jurassic World Evolution 2 runs on console. Frontier are really showcasing how skilled their team is.
On that note, I will go back into my cage, just until there are more dinosaurs or horror games to talk about. Thank you so much Frontier for giving me the opportunity to experiment with my favourite game. The support you guys give to me and the rest of GamEir means the world to me. I’m so glad I get to play with dinosaurs from the comfort of my own bed now. My parks on PC will still be very well looked after, though. For me, very little can top the feeling I get from playing with dinosaurs.
Friends, whatever your platform of choice, go get Jurassic World Evolution 2, you will not be disappointed.
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