Monthly Archives: July 2018

Jurassic World Evolution Review (PC)

Written by Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

It doesn’t matter when you were born, everyone has got to be familiar with the world of Jurassic Park, or even the newer movies like Jurassic World. The Jurassic franchise is almost the mandatory introduction to dinosaurs these days, and many people have grown up watching these movies and wanting more from these mystical yet very intriguing creatures that once roamed the planet before us. While we have found many fossils over the years and have somewhat of an idea of what type of dinosaurs used to live on this planet before us, it’s been so extremely long since then that the dinosaur is an interesting creature to use for movies and video games. While Jurassic Park portrayed dinosaurs in a realistic world back then, Jurassic World and the game Jurassic World Evolution takes dinosaurs to a somewhat futuristic setting where we are able to enhance their genes to make a colorful zoo out of them.

Jumping into the game you are immediately met with the classic Jurassic tune, and I couldn’t help myself and was humming along. Jurassic Park, and now Jurassic World, have this very rich story with almost an endless amount of possibilities that haven’t really been explored yet in movies and games. This is what makes it a lot more interesting; Jurassic World Evolution or the movies isn’t just another movie or game that takes place in some fantasy middle earth setting, with humans, orcs and elves fighting each other, because what else could we possibly make in a fantasy setting? Anyway, before I start writing an entire book on how I love dinosaurs and everything around it, let’s jump into the game!

Jurassic World Evolution is a game where you build a zoo, and slowly open up the doors to the bigger and scarier dinosaurs for the tourists to check them out. As you can imagine this should be done gradually, slowly, and safely, so you know the house of cards doesn’t come crumbling all down when something happens in your park. To let the player gradually learn about the dangers of dinosaurs, and the islands you get to build the parks on, you will start on the island Isla Matanceros, where the weather is nice and a lot of the key structures are in place already. You should see this island as your tutorial, as to here you will get to know some of the dinosaurs, and what most of the basic structures do, in order to get your park going and make a profit.

Since you are managing and operating a park, you need to earn a profit to keep the lights on and the dinosaurs fed. This is where focusing on entertainment takes a big role in making sure the cash is always flowing in, instead of slowly dripping out. While having a park with fenced in dinosaurs can be nice, if there are no restaurants, shops, or even a hotel, no one is really gonna bother visiting. Just like the dinosaurs, people also need to be fed and given a temporary home while they visit the wonders of your park.

Incubating normal and simple dinosaurs isn’t what is going keep the park interesting and make the people return for another vacation at your lovely park. You also need to keep incubating new dinosaurs, preferably dinosaurs that get the adrenaline pumping for visitors. This is where the carnivores come in play. These meat-eating dinosaurs love making a show out of hunting their prey, and while you can let the rangers give them just simple meat, you can also make the carnivores hunt for it. This is a crowd pleaser for people in the viewing galleries, but since they can only see a small area of your park, you have to make sure your customers can have a nice view of everything that takes place in the park. You can do this either by making the fenced off areas slightly smaller, or you can have them run around in the gyro balls, or how I’d like to call them, human hamster balls!

Getting started in a new park is easy, and depending on the island you’re on, you can have a very easy playthrough if you just want to play casually. While the game definitely opens up more after unlocking each island through doing missions and getting good ratings on previous parks, you can also stay on the first island and just move on from there whenever you please. Besides upgrading your park, making sure power is running through each building, the dinosaurs are fed, and the people are pleased, you also get missions and contracts that you should see as challenges. While some missions are very basic, like sending an expedition to find normal fossils that you sometimes have to incubate and let loose in your park, some are made to please your research centers, be it either for entertainment, security, or science. To spice things up, some of the islands also have dangerous storms which can damage the park and also endanger the people visiting the park. Naturally you will have to build precautionary defensive structures to make sure nothing dangerous happens while one of these storms flies over, unless they damage the park and set the dinosaur loose.

Conclusion: Great (4/5)

Jurassic World Evolution is visually and audibly a solid game that should be picked up by any Jurassic Park/World fan. While the game could have a little more depth to it, and the playable zones are somewhat small and could do to be doubled at least, the game in its current state is still a ton of fun. The game lets you create a zoo full of dinosaur extremely well, and while the islands are set in their limits, you can still let your creativity go loose on however you want to build your fenced off areas. Making sure the water, gas, and power keeps running is important, but the game still puts the incentive on dinosaurs and the people visiting the park. Jurassic World Evolution offers a sandbox type of experience, and even if you are just a fan of normal simulation games where you have to make sure the cash flow is positive, and the park keeps upgrading, Jurassic World Evolution is the right simulation experience you are looking for. Again, while the game could use some bigger playable areas, and it somewhat reminds me of the latest Sim City where the playable zones were fairly limited, the game play was still a lot of fun to make up for it.

Note: A game key was provided for review purposes.

Dead by Daylight: Curtain Call Is Now Available on Europe and North America

Dead by Daylight_ Curtain Call - Launch Trailer - YouTube

The latest DLC for Dead by Daylight, Curtain Call is now on console, and was released to celebrate the two-year anniversary of Dead by Daylight. Alongside this update comes the gross, horrifying, brutal Clown killer, and a new survivor in the form of the musician Kate Denson. Now she’s trapped in this nightmare alongside the others, but is she going to be enough to stop the Clown? There are new tutorials in the game as well to help guide new players, and a new in-game store on console to build up your cosmetics for the characters in the game. There’s a lot coming to Dead by Daylight this summer, and The Clown is just the start.

Official Sea of Thieves Bilge Rat Adventures: The Sunken Curse

It’s time for a new Bilge Rat Adventure in Sea of Thieves! Below the waves lies a malevolent curse, and it’s imperative to destroy it before it can spread further. Bilge Rats offer an alternative to Trading Companies, who begrudgingly offer more to those who excel at their work. These special events net pirates Bilge Rat Doubloons, which can be redeemed for exclusive rewards. More information can be found here.

Warhammer Vermintide 2 Is Available on Xbox One Today

Vermintide_2_Screenshot_02

Fatshark is proud to announce that the hit game Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is now available on the Xbox One, and will pit Microsoft players journeying to Helmgart, to do battle with not only the Skaven but the forces of Chaos as well. There are also two versions available, the Standard Edition ($29,99/€29,99/£23,99), and the Premium Edition ($44,99/€44,99/£35,99).

Exclusive for the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Premium Edition

  • Sigmar Keep Statue
  • Helmgart Heraldry Themed Skins
  • Premium Edition Portrait Frame
  • 3x Exclusive Heroic Deeds

We are excited to bring Vermintide 2 to the Xbox community” says Martin Wahlund, CEO at Fatshark. “We are looking forward to take on Skaven and Chaos with the console gamers.

Dig or Die Leaves Steam Early Access Today

Dig or Die is a one of a kind sandbox that blends strategy elements, wrapped up in a living, breathing habitat which is constantly changing under weather conditions. It also features survival and defensive gameplay mechanics to offer an experience where their crafting/building skills are key to overcoming the world natural obstacles and preserve themselves against the attacks from native creatures. In creative mode, players have tools like create water, lava, monsters, grow plants instantly, and absorb liquids.

With a very distinct art style and a robust building system, Dig or Die stands out as a very unique sandbox game. As an employee of CRAFT & Co., a space exploration agency, your latest contract has gone awry and you find yourself stranded on a distant planet. Your objective is to establish a base and accumulate resources in order to build a spaceship and find your way back home. But when darkness falls, the monsters attack, and now you have to make sure those defenses are worthy of withstanding an assault. In addition to the current game’s version features, the full release will include 3 brand new game modes (Under the Sea, Sky World, Base Defense) and 16 random environmental events such as earthquakes, rain flood or meteor showers, happening once a day and directly impacting gameplay. Gaddy Games also expanded the soundtrack selection with 9 new tracks. Dig or Die is on Steam for 11.99 in the US and 9.29 in the UK.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Moves Code Vein Release Date to 2019

CODE VEIN - E3 2017 Trailer _ X1, PS4, PC - YouTube

Bandai Namco announced today that Code Vein’s release date will be moved to 2019, from the previously announced date of September 28th, 2018. Though its received a lot of positive reactions during the pre-release campaign, Bandai Namco decided to spend further time to develop Code Vein to ensure that the final product is as good as these expectations have been set to.

CODE VEIN has received an enormous amount of positive feedback from eager fans who have received hands-on time with in-development versions of the game over the past nine months,” said Eric Hartness, Vice President of Marketing for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. “Armed with knowledge of how well the game has already been received, we made the decision to postpone the release of CODE VEIN to further refine its gameplay in an effort to exceed the expectations fans already have of the title. It was a difficult decision to make, but we feel it is the correct one.”

No Man’s Sky – 11 Things That Have Changed Since Launch

The NEXT update is coming on July 24th for No Man’s Sky, alongside the first-time release for the Xbox One. The big question is “Exactly what has changed in No Man’s Sky?” and the fine folks at 505 Games have created this handy video to explain exactly what has changed in the exploration title. However, there is way more than that, which you can read about in the following links:

  • https://www.nomanssky.com/foundation-update/
  • https://www.nomanssky.com/pathfinder-update/
  • https://www.nomanssky.com/atlas-rises-update/

But… that would take far too long.

Dead Cells Catapults Out of Early Access in August

Dead Cells is a Metroidvania/roguelite that has been in Early Access for a while now. It’s leaving that behind on August 7th, 2018 and will be priced about 24.99, and to celebrate this, we have a sweet new trailer. The console version will have a 20% off pre-order discount (The Nintendo of America one goes live on July 18th) and will be available on PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Growth and skill come with time in Dead Cells and brings death without all of the frustration of starting from scratch every single time. Each run brings you a bit closer to greater power and is always enjoyable. It’s already available in Early Access on Steam/GoG, but comes to life officially in August.

At launch, Dead Cells will include:

  • 13 Levels – Each one with its own atmosphere, foes and secrets to discover.
  • 4 Bosses – Made by the most sadistic of the devs, raised on the salt of the testers.
  • 80 or so weapons and skills – Spears, swords, bows, freeze blast, etc.
  • 4 special powers, unlocking new areas and paths (Metroidvania gear lock items).
  • 1 Daily Run Mode Complete with leaderboards for lording it over your mates (PC version only).