Jurassic World Evolution 2 Review

The Park is Open – again

It’s been over 3 years since the original Jurassic World Evolution released on consoles and PC, and the anticipated sequel delivers on the promise of Fallen Kingdom: we’re not on an island anymore (except when we are, but more on that later).

Jurassic World Evolution 2 offers some new updates to the established gameplay from the first title, but will also be immediately familiar to players of the first – perhaps too familiar at times. However, for those unfamiliar with Evolution, it is a park building and management game where you’re tasked with creating your very own Jurassic worlds.

The core gameplay loop in Jurassic World Evolution 2 is all about building park attractions with key operation and exhibition facilities, seeing to guest and animal comfort, all while making sure you remain profitable and don’t run out of money. As you may expect, things don’t always go to plan, and chaos will come into play – from natural disasters like tornadoes and blizzards, dinosaurs growing distressed by their health and needs, and occasionally, dinosaurs breaking free and eating your guests (which is a very quick way to run out of funds).

You can help avoid unhappy dinosaurs trying to escape by making sure you’ve crafted an enclosure meeting their environmental needs, such as making sure you’ve grown the correct prehistoric flora for herbivores to feed upon, have enough water, open space, and other factors such as making sure species cohabitating a particular enclosure actually like one another.

If your dinosaurs break free you’ll need to send in ranger teams to round up the ramping threats before they cause too much mayhem, so it’s important to have them placed close by. While this may be easy in the early stages of your park, it becomes more of a challenge as your park grows and is something that will greatly affect your ability to mitigate the collapse of your park – especially as some maps are quite restrictive in size (but fret not, others are quite large).

Likewise, you’ll want to make sure you’ve researched the best facilities to contain and care for your dinos – such as the new medical center for taking care of sick and injured dinosaurs. As sick dinosaurs can die or spread illness, you’ll want to make sure your mobile veterinary teams can access the species as quickly as possible.

Research is integral to keeping your park well managed and profitable, and will also provide you the means to train your scientists whomst are integral to the core game mechanics. Scientists are hired staff required to be assigned to all management tasks such as aforementioned research, expeditions for fossils and dinosaurs, DNA synthesis, and egg incubation. 

Each scientist has three skill categories with associated levels: logistics, genetics, and welfare. The various management tasks, such as sending out a team to look for fossils, have required skills in the category or categories, therefore making sure your various staff are properly leveraged for the tasks ahead is crucial. Likewise, each scientist has a specific perk. Some simply have a higher stamina rate, meaning you can assign them more tasks in a row without them needing a break from overworking, while others may allow for things such as 50% cheaper DNA synthesis or 30% faster egg incubation. You’ll have to make hard choices to make sure you’re saving as much money and time as possible while having enough skill points for the tasks your park requires, and this staff system brings a lot of strategy into the game.

As I mentioned before, the staff can get overworked and require rest. If you’re not careful, the scientists may become disgruntled, causing setbacks in your park such as sabotage. These new functionalities make the gameplay more dynamic as you expand your park, requiring more strategy in your choices as opposed to only arbitrary wait times while tasks complete.

The way you edit the environment is far more dynamic than the first game. For example, herbivores no longer have feeders and rather require the proper plant life to support their diets. While some may feed off of ground fiber and nuts, others will feed off tall leaves. With limited space in each paddock for what you can grow, you need to be mindful about the species you place together so their dietary and general comfort needs (which include things like open space, the amount of rocks, and more) can sync up.

Then, of course, there are the park guests – the people you want to keep happy to fund your dino-park escapades. Their comfort in the park boils down to amenities such as food, shopping, and restrooms, the placement of emergency bunkers, transportation, and of course attractions. Your star attractions are the dinosaurs, and you want to make sure you have the other desired amenities in close proximity to them. Viewing galleries are a primary way for guests to see dinosaurs, and the placement of the galleries is key to make sure the guests actually have sight-lines on the various species. Guests also don’t like to travel too much by foot, so researching and placing structures such as hotels and monorail stations around your focal dino-hubs really helps maximize the success of your park.

Each level features different environmental locations with different sizes and shapes, sometimes including narrow choke points where building and movement will be restricted. Making smart use of that space to fit all the needed structures, pathways, and dinosaur paddocks is crucial. If you’re not careful, you can easily build yourself into a corner where the needed facilities cannot fit. This will affect profit, guest comfort, and your ability to properly care for the dinosaurs – this can become even worse if disaster strikes.

Another great feature is the ability to pause time and assess a situation while assigning tasks within the park or choosing building placements. When a park is large, a lot can happen at once, and this feature allows you to manage many occurrences simultaneously before resuming the action and letting your choices play out. Likewise, you can speed up time by 2 and 3 times, allowing for tasks to complete in a blink of an eye. Be careful though – if things start going wrong, every second counts.

While many of these elements existed in the first Jurassic World Evolution, there are many small quality of life adjustments across the board which make the gameplay more dynamic, and in theory, more fun.

Unlike the first game, Evolution 2 offers 4 different modes of play: Campaign, Chaos Theory, Challenge Mode, and Sandbox.

Campaign mode picks up after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, with dinosaurs now free in the mainland across various wilds in the US and elsewhere. The story picks up with Owen Grady and Claire Dearing now employed by the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) working to help humans and dinosaurs successfully co-exist. The United States Government is concerned by the potential threat dinosaurs pose, and have set up many departments to help keep a close eye on the dinos. These include the DFW and another key player: the newly formed Dangerous Species Division (DSD) of the CIA. While the DFW and DSD cooperate together, there is some tension and distrust between the government agencies, particularly as the CIA isn’t the most forthcoming about their activities with dinosaurs outside of those the DFW directly assist with.

The single player mode marks the largest departure from Jurassic World Evolution and frankly even Evolution 2’s core gameplay mechanics. Rather than building parks, worrying about guest comfort, and profits, you’re simply tasked with tracking down nuisance dinosaurs and containing, observing, and relocating them – just as normal, non-prehistoric nuisance animals are often dealt with.

As such, the levels are divided into distinct playspaces within each map: the “buildable area” for creating and maintaining the DFW’s facilities and the “wild area”. The wild area consists of large expanses of wilderness where you cannot build but can take direct control of ranger teams to drive and fly across, tracking down dinosaurs, capturing them, and bringing them back to your containment facility that you build. Primarily you will build simple operation facilities such as paleo veterinary centers, paddocks, and observation platforms for the DFW to study the dinosaurs. Essentially, you want to make sure you have the right size paddock with the right terrain inside for the dinosaurs’ comfort, and once you’ve done that, you’ve got nothing else to worry about.

As such, you wont utilize most of the game’s core gameplay features and building options in the single player which, quite frankly, is a bizarre choice in a park building and management game. In fact, the the entire single player feels like a short, snappy narrative driven tutorial for a larger game that Frontier forgot to include. The story ends abruptly, only running a few hours, with a narrative that feels like it’s just setting up the first act. While the campaign of the first Jurassic World Evolution admittedly could drag, it was much larger and felt more content complete. The sequel’s main story can be beat faster than it takes to achieve a 5-star rating on some of the challenge mode locations.

It truly feels like rather than adjust the story to account for the fact that Jurassic World Dominion was delayed, they kept the initial set up and cut the rest of campaign that would intersect too closely with the upcoming film. The story makes mention of a third party and unknown location (seemingly alluding to BioSyn), and it seems like things are just getting ready to explore that thread when the credits role unceremoniously.

If you’re a player more interested in the narrative single player campaign be warned: campaign feels more like a small expansion to the first game rather than a standalone sequel experience. While the new environments are gorgeous, you won’t spend much time in them within the context of campaign. Some levels, such as Pennsylvania’s beautiful Appalachians, aren’t even featured in the various sandbox and challenge modes.

Chaos Theory mode feels like a secondary campaign, only smaller in story scope. It does offer some expanded narrative “what if” situations which are introduced with absolutely stunning intro cut-scenes narrated by Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role of Ian Malcolm (though he sometimes sounds less like Malcolm and goes into his weird and whimsical Goldblum voice). Each level is its own standalone story with simple premises attributed to the five films: build and open Jurassic Park successfully for the first film, Build and open Jurassic Park San Diego successfully for The Lost World, Create Jurassic World and successfully remain open with the Indominus Rex for the fourth movie. However, all of those quickly become repetitive gameplay with less narrative threads as your task is simply to achieve a 5-star rating with certain arbitrary chore-like challenges thrown at you along the way. This mode is hit and miss, particularly as it limits player freedom and can quickly become a little too chaotic if you make one wrong move. Personally, I found the San Diego level to be more engaging than the other two which just felt like they dragged on too long. I’m pretty sure I spent more time on Jurassic World’s Chaos Theory level than I did the main campaign – most of my star dinosaurs dying of old age before I cleared the level.

The issue in Chaos Theory mode is that it mostly assumes you understand the intricacies of park building and management. While it does introduce you to some basics, they’re not enough to realize the long road you have ahead to reach 5-stars. The mode may have felt like less of a chore had the main campaign done more introductory legwork work to introduce the player to the expanded core park management mechanics, but as it stands, the average player may find the experience overwhelming. Spending hours on a simple ‘what if’ scenario shouldn’t be a trial by fire to learn the games core mechanics – because if you make too many mistakes, you may be forced to start from scratch.

Jurassic Park 3 and Fallen Kingdom’s Chaos Theory modes shake up the formula, and while the other three levels may last too long, these two feel too short. Fallen Kingdom’s plot essentially boils down to returning to Nublar sans a volcanic threat, scanning a few dinosaurs, and then using the removal tool to destroy the pre-built park. It’s weird – and not fun.

Jurassic Park 3 stands out, as it seems to be an actual lore expansion set between the events of Jurassic Park 3 and Jurassic World rather than a “what if”, returning to Isla Sorna to capture dinosaurs and relocate them to Isla Nublar for Jurassic World. This level plays more like the single player where you capture wild dinosaurs and create basic paddocks for their comfort only. As such, it is short, but it is also a fun break with some curious lore implications.

Challenge mode is where the game really shines and seems to find better balance between pacing, mission structure, and player expression. It features entire suite of gameplay mechanics all with the goal of reaching a 5-star rating in various locations, while contending different challenge modifiers (for example, a level where dinosaurs are more prone to sickness). While this may sound similar to the Chaos Theory mode, you have more freedom and less arbitrary requirements, allowing you to build and respond to the various challenges in the way you personally wish. Likewise, this mode offers the full suite of ways to obtain dinosaurs for your park, including finding them within the map, sending expeditions to find fossils, and occasionally expeditions to capture wild dinosaurs transporting them directly to your park. It’s a shame the game’s more narrative-driven campaigns don’t embrace this wider sandbox of gameplay, as it offers a sense of freedom and diversity critically lacking in the campaign and Chaos Theory.

That said, much like the first Jurassic World Evolution, the game still lacks a sense of personal freedom to entirely craft a park as you wish with the many facilities and attractions you would come to expect from the films. While the Gyrosphere tour returns, as does a Jurassic Park and World themed vehicle tour, no new rides or dinosaur themed attractions are present – such as the river tour, Pachy arena, or T. rex kingdom. While some of these additions may seem arbitrary, the idea of this game very much revolves around building your own park – and when each park has the same limited suite of options, it quickly becomes repetitive.

This is an issue the first game suffered from, and by result, it often times felt boring when compared to other park management titles. While this game has some new additions, and thus can be more engaging, many of the changes feel more like lateral moves. This is especially because most of the buildings, features, and dinosaurs are straight out of the first game. In fact, some species featured in the first didn’t even make the cut for the sequel.

A fun albeit small addition is the ability to customize some buildings, choosing from a few presets like Jurassic Park or Jurassic World styled walls, entrances, and decorative displays – while also being allowed to customize portions of the colors and lights. While this doesn’t effect gameplay, it does give the player more forms of expression. Although most of it is hard to notice while properly playing the game in its birds eye view.

Some of the buildings you would expect to have alternative models and skins from various eras – such as the aviary or paddock fencing – sadly do not. And while you can choose skins for your vehicles, including the pre-order and deluxe addition bonuses, in sandbox mode you cannot freely choose any skin. If you want Jurassic World-themed ranger teams, you have to choose that building style for the ranger station, and vice versa for Jurassic Park, only allowing for the bonus skins to be freely swapped in. Curiously, the DFW vehicles from campaign seem to be absent.

The ability to genetically modify your dinosaur returns allows you to adjust things like their temperament, lifespan, and of course, how they look. Each species has a variety of skins – imagine them as basic color presets and patterns. You can apply a pattern to a skin to bring out more complexity, usually resulting more contrasting colors and striping. Sadly, like the first game, you cannot actually preview the skins to know what they create and there is no proper database for all the varieties of species designs in-game.

Some of the legacy dinosaur designs also appear as skins, and they also can result in model changes. These include the Tyrannosaurs with skins from all 3 Jurassic Park films, Parasaurolophus from the two sequels, Velociraptors from all three films, the Brachiosaurs from both Jurassic Park and JP3, Stegosaurs, Triceratops, and more. Some legacy species don’t have skin that directly calls out the film its from – such as Spinosaurus, Dilophosaurus or Pachycephalosaurs – yet they do have film accurate colors achievable by choosing the correct generic skin/pattern combos. Just good luck figuring that out on your first try.

While some dinosaurs are incredibly accurate and offer a fantastic look at their film counterparts, others are lacking or have issues. For instance, Jurassic Park 3 female raptors have great colors, yet sport the quills of the males. The Allosaurus retains its look from the first game, which predates Battle at Big Rock and does not reflect Fallen Kingdom either. This means it’s an entirely canon on-screen species with entirely fictional in-game design. The Pteranodons do not have their Lost World or JP3 skin/models, and sadly the Mamenchisaurus does not reflect its design from the The Lost World which was recently shown in better detail for the first time.

The aviaries are engaging and the flying reptiles can escape from them wreaking havoc on your park – however they don’t offer much in the terms of customization, theming, or shape. The species list is on the small side, but does include the Jurassic World Pteranodons and Dimorphodons. Sadly the Dimorphodons lack the fuzzy filaments called pycnofibres that they sport in the films.

The ability to build lagoons and breed marine reptiles also makes its debut, but these facilities have even fewer customizations and gameplay options.

Despite the various frustrating inaccuracies, when the game looks good, it looks fantastic. However, it’s not always firing on all cylinders in the art department or engine performance. While some levels look gorgeous, with the environments looking rich, realistic, and detailed, others have a decidedly dated and lower detailed look which effects visual readability. The same could be said for the dinosaurs. While some species are so detailed you can see each scale and bump in crisp detail up close, others look waxy with muddier textures. That said, as the game is often played at distance from the dinosaurs, the animation, lighting and environments are what really make or breaks the visual experience.

The game suffers from some noticeable draw distance pop-in, especially with shadows which just blip in and out of existence – which can be very distracting. Likewise, lighting effects turn off and on at various distances, and while that may not be obvious when hovering in one location, as you pan across your park it jumps out more and more. This is very obvious while in “capture mode” which turns off the hud and gives you more cinematic control over the camera.

I played the game on the Xbox Series X, one of the most powerful home consoles out there, and these issues were immediately obvious. While I didn’t play the game on the less powerful Xbox One or PS4, I imagine they’re even more notable. Which brings me to the other, more important point: performance.

When things really get going this game struggles, with huge frame hitches as you zoom in and out or pan over particularly complex areas. Again, I can only guess how it runs on the less powerful machines, but it feels like a certain layer of optimization and polish is missing – further illustrated by the numerous crashes I experienced while playing. Thankfully, autosave meant not much progress was lost, although I do recommend saving frequently.

The game also suffers from frequent bugs, and while most are minor and don’t impact the game some can lead to frustrating results. Sometimes dinosaurs can become stuck in place – they attempt to move, making flying or walking motions, but they go nowhere. This leads to them slowly dying from starvation and dehydration. At the very least, that can sometimes be fixed by tranquilizing the dinosaur and relocating them. However, it’s not always that easy in an aviary as you can’t exact direct control over the task. You have to let the AI do it by deploying a drone into the aviary, and guess what: the drone can become stuck. There is no easy fix for that – I found myself destroying aviary hatcheries and rebuilding them simply to allow for a new drone that hopefully doesn’t get stuck. Unfortunately this issue popped up frequently, enough to deter me from flying reptiles in the more difficult challenge modes if possible.

With so few changes from the first game, a shockingly short and simple campaign mode, and the various performance issues I can’t help but feel this game was rushed and surely could have benefited from a delay to release alongside Jurassic World Dominion – if not further out. I also have no doubt content was removed from the game due to the films delay – I suspect it will be released next June alongside the upcoming sequel – but this sadly contributes to what feels like an incomplete package.

Don’t get me wrong, the game can be fun, but much like the first it has the foundations of a decent park management simulation without the much needed finer level of control, freedom, and variety. The gameplay can be repetitive and oftentimes doesn’t feel rewarding. While the dinosaurs do have more behaviors this time, such as pack hunting, they’re essentially just pretty looking props to challenge you that you can’t really appreciate outside of sandbox mode – where you can turn off disasters, have unlimited cash, and can get up close taking your time without concern of park collapse. Even there, there’s not much to do with the dinos if you’re not interested in building environments and then using capture mode to grab cinematic footage of them. I just can’t help but feel there is some core gameplay element lacking here that would make it all more worth it.

While this game isn’t bad – it’s also not great. I suspect it will find its real home with modders and content creators, but the average player likely won’t entirely get what they’re looking for. Likewise, park management fans may find the gameplay more shallow than they’re used to. This was easier to forgive with the first Jurassic World Evolution, but it’s doubly frustrating with the sequel, which seems more interested in re-skinning the first game than offering a proper evolution and improvement. While I do believe Jurassic-fans will find something they enjoy in this game, if you don’t mind waiting a little, I recommend waiting for it to go on sale. 

I can’t imagine it will take too long.

Ariana Richards Teases a Possible Return to the World of Jurassic!

Jurassic Park‘s Lex Murphy, Ariana Richards, was recently interviewed by the Celebrity Catch Up podcast and offered some interesting thoughts on her career and Jurassic. Though Richards stepped away from the acting world many years ago to focus on her very successful art career, she didn’t rule out a return.

During the interview, host Genevieve took listeners through a retrospective of Richards’ film career. Richards portrayed Lex Murphy in Jurassic Park in 1993 and briefly in The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997. Things got interesting when they reached that portion of the retrospective. When asked if she would ever return to the Jurassic franchise or in Jurassic World: Dominion for adult scenes of Lex Murphy, Richards responded:

Now that is something I wouldn’t be able to comment on.”

That is certainly a very intriguing answer. She was subsequently asked if she’d ever consider a return to acting, and said she would “if the right project comes along.”

With Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum confirmed to return for major roles in Jurassic World: Dominion next summer, could an even further Jurassic reunion be in store? And in light of producer Frank Marshall’s hints that Dominion won’t be the end but the “start of a new era,” could there be a return in mind for Lex in future Jurassic projects? We’ll have to wait and see.

Excitement is high for the return of Jurassic Park‘s ‘big three’, and the possibility of Richards’ return only heightens that anticipation. We’d love to see her return, and perhaps with her brother Tim! No matter what’s in store, we celebrate the amazing Ariana Richards and wish her continued success.

You can listen to the entire Ariana Richards episode of the Celebrity Catch Up podcast here. The interview is a great listen. If nothing else, it unearths a few great stories that fans will love about Jeff Goldblum, Steven Spielberg, and the T. rex animatronic from the production of Jurassic Park.

What do you think about this interview, and how do you feel about Lex returning for Jurassic World: Dominion or other future Jurassic projects? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of the Celebrity Catch Up podcast and The Jurassic Vault.

BD Wong Shares His Appreciation for JURASSIC PARK and Excitement for JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION!

BD Wong sporting a Jurassic World: Dominion jacket while making his directorial debut on the set of “Nora From Queens.”

Jurassic Park and Jurassic World icon BD Wong (Dr. Henry Wu himself) recently joined the Lights, Camera, Barstool podcast for an interview about his life, directing and acting, and of course, Jurassic.

The interview discussed what it’s like to be an actor and director in today’s world, the classic nature of Jurassic Park, and most excitingly BD’s thoughts and excitement for next summer’s Jurassic World: Dominion.


Before we move on: This interview contains mild spoilers for Jurassic World: Dominion. If you don’t wish to see them, we advise not reading further.


When asked if he had a different appreciation for Jurassic Park as a cornerstone of cinema after all this time, he responded:

“I would say I do have a growing appreciation, and there’s a kind of depth to that appreciation. I started out doing the first movie and I didn’t take it seriously at all. First of all, it didn’t feel like I was taken seriously as a character in that first movie; they didn’t explain what happened to that person. And the fact that they didn’t explain what happened to that person opened the door for him to return… So their negligence actually became something that was an opportunity for me. And now I’ve done three more of these Jurassic World films, the third one just having been completed.”

Continuing on about his character in Jurassic World: Dominion:

“In the arc (of the Jurassic World films), the filmmakers have a real allegiance to the character, a real affection for him, and want that arc to be satisfying to the fans. And so I feel that effort being made on his behalf, and I appreciate that because I didn’t want to just do the same thing every single time. I feel like it evolves, and it evolves to a very satisfying place to me. He had this incredibly epic death in the book that just never really got delivered in the first movie. And so now we have this, no spoilers, but, this resolution and an ending that is really satisfying to me.”

When asked about the scale of Jurassic World: Dominion and if he could tease it at all, he said:

“I’m not allowed to give spoilers, but I will say – it is bigger. Like, they really wanted to go out with a bang, and they made the last one really big. I think it’s bigger and longer and more like a ‘film’ than just ‘another installment of‘… All the principles from Jurassic Park are in it. Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum are in it, and they’re not just like ‘Oh, look, there they are.’ They’re playing leading parts in the movie. So there’s Bryce and Chris Pratt who are the Jurassic World couple, and then there are these three honorary, huge, iconic characters that are coming back, resolving their relationships and their relationships to the whole conundrum of dinosaurs existing… and so it’s kinda big! There’s a weight to it that I like thinking about.”

You can watch a clip of that moment in the interview below:

Wong also spoke to the unique nature of production during the pandemic, saying:

“It was the first movie that came back into production after the movies all shut down last year, and that was meaningful because it set up a lot of protocols that are still being used today and that were so important to getting the industry back on its feet… The side effect of that for us was that we were all quarantined in the same hotel, and there was this kind of ‘team spirit’ feeling that came as a result of that… We were all there, working on the same scene the night of the election… and so that was memorable.”

And continuing about the scale of the film:

“But it is big… Every single person who has gone in to the studio to re-record their lines – it’s called looping – gets to see, like three minutes of the film. Every single person has come back to the group text that we have saying, “Guys, this is incredible. Like, incredibly beautifully shot and, you know, really epic. And I can’t believe that it’s even more than the other two were before it.”


You can listen to the entire interview on Apple Podcasts here, and on Spotify here. BD Wong’s portion of the episode begins at around 1:02:00.

All in all, Wong seemed extremely grateful to be able to revisit a character decades later and to be a part of the Jurassic franchise as a whole. It is thrilling to hear his excitement and affection for Jurassic World: Dominion and the Jurassic franchise.

What do you think about what BD Wong shared in this interview and what it means for the next Jurassic World film? Let us know in the comments below!

‘Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous’ Season 4 Coming This December

The third season of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous made its debut on Netflix in May of this year, continuing the story of six campers stranded on the ill-fated Isla Nublar. The season opens 6 months after the campers were left behind after the fall of Jurassic World, eventually aligning with Fallen Kingdom’s opening moments. After numerous trials and tribulations for the gregarious gang, the season closed with the kids finally sailing away from Isla Nublar…

But the number one question has been what comes next – and when?

We’ve known a 4th season is coming: Jurassic World Director Colin Trevorrow has said his favorite moments from the show will take place in it — not to mention last we saw of the campers they were unaware of something else lurking in the lower cabins of the yacht they’re now adrift upon. For our speculation on what the season will entail, I strongly suggest checking out the video below where we outline the evidence pointing to the return of Isla Sorna:

As for the release date of Camp Cretaceous Season 4, we’ve been long reporting that it would be a longer wait than normal to better align with the ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ debut. Since early this year we had been hearing Season 4 would release this December, with the fifth season dropping after Dominion in July of 2022 – and newly revealed tie-in books for the fourth season support this.

Season 4 tie-in novels Camp Cretaceous, Volume Four: The Deluxe Junior Novelization and Rescue Mission! (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous)have been revealed by the publisher and made available for Pre-Order, each sporting a January 4th release date.

Given the January 4th, 2022 release date for the books, we suspect the season will release December 24th or 17th, 2021. For some added context, every season of Camp Cretaceous has landed on Netflix on a Friday, and each season had multiple tie-in books that would release roughly 4 – 10 days later. If Season 4 adheres to the same schedule, December 24th is the most probable date.

We go into more detail about all of this in our YouTube video, including what the ‘Rescue Mission’ title may mean – so check it out!

When you take past marketing schedules for Camp Cretaceous into consideration, this means the first trailer will most likely hit in October. However, given the longer time between seasons we’re still hopeful to see something this month – perhaps on September 18th, the one year anniversary of the Camp Cretaceous premiere!

Are you looking forward to the fourth season of Camp Cretaceous, and what do you hope to see happen? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for the latest news!

New Jurassic World Dominion Footage Airs at CinemaCon

Universal has given CinemaCon attendees in Las Vegas a first look at Jurassic World Dominion. While the footage has not been released to the public at large, descriptions of what was shown have made their way online. *SPOILER WARNING* If you do not want to hear about any of the footage, now would be the time to navigate away.

The video starts out with some old footage of Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg on the set of the 1993 film while holding up the original mosquito amber cane used by John Hammond. The footage transitions to several scene from the movie including: Chris Pratt running after dinosaurs in the snow, Bryce Dallas Howard being chased by dinosaurs on rooftops, and a familiar yet updated wardrobe worn by Laura Dern as she attempts to break out of a cage. Director Colin Trevorrow told audiences that the upcoming movie is all about answering the question, “If dinosaurs lived among us, would you be safe?” The footage shown answers that question with a resounding “NO.”

Rumors also report a full scale dilophosaurus was shown during the footage, making it’s first in-person return since the original film (save for an unconfirmed hoot from the dinosaur heard in Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom). With the confirmed return of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm, this film is shaping up to be nostalgic return to form for fans everywhere. Even Alan Grant’s iconic fedora makes a return in the footage shown this week.

The likelihood of the footage hitting the internet is most likely slim, but just hearing about the presentation should give hope to fans of the franchise. With a little under a year to go before Jurassic World Dominion hit theaters, no doubt marketing for the film will start ramping up soon. Let us know what you are most excited for in Dominion in the comments below!

Jake Johnson will not appear in Jurassic World: Dominion

While initially announced in February of 2020 that Jake Johnson would be reprising his role of Lowery Cruthers in 2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion, unfortunately due to the Covid-19 outbreak and other unforeseen circumstances, he was not able to film the role that the original script had called for. In an exclusive interview with Looper, Jake announced the sad news.

When Looper asked Jake Johnson if he could tell us anything about “Jurassic World: Dominion,” he bluntly said, “Well, unfortunately, I’m not in the third one.” He clarified, “Well, I was written in, so it’s announced that I was, but what happened was the pandemic hit.” And, of course, the pandemic ruins everything.

“No, I was in it. So, Colin [Trevorrow] had written a great part. Lowery came back. It was a great conclusion. I was excited to do it. The pandemic hit, and at that time, there was a two-week quarantine. It was a bunch of stuff that I couldn’t get out and leave the family, and we kept trying to make it work. And in the end, the dates just didn’t work out for that one, which was heartbreaking because apart from being in that movie, Colin’s a very old friend.”

What are your thoughts on Jake Johnson’s Lowery not appearing in Jurassic World: Dominion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

‘Jurassic World: Evolution 2’ Announced At Summer Game Fest – Coming in 2021!

This year’s Summer Game Fest kicked off with its virtual live stream to deliver all the exciting announcements on the future of gaming. For ‘Jurassic World’ fans, of course, the big question was: will there be another game related to the franchise? That question was answered when Jeff Goldblum himself announced Frontier’s continuation of their park-building triumph with ‘Jurassic World: Evolution 2’!

Jurassic World: Evolution‘ was released on June 2018 by Frontier Developments, and was a immersive park-building game for the PC and other consoles. With the assistance of characters from the franchise, such as Claire Dearing, Dr. Henry Wu, and Ian Malcolm; players would be tasked with creating and controlling the environments for over 50 dinosaur species. This game was a quick hit with fans, especially when a classic ‘Jurassic Park’-themed DLC hit on December 2019. Ever since that final DLC, fans had been anticipating a sequel to further their creations with new elements.

‘Jurassic World: Evolution 2’ promises not only new locales, themes, and story elements from the upcoming ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ film but also a much needed expansion on the gameplay!

During Summer Fest, Goldblum dramatically announced the trailer, saying it will “elevate you to new heights”, “submerge you to new depths” and “challenge you to control chaos”. The trailer then played, showcasing pteranodons, brachiosaurs, coelophysis, snow-capped mountains, and a mosasaur! This marks the premiere of water-based prehistoric reptiles for the game!

The official press release explains in great detail the extent of this game’s expansion of what has come before:

“Based on Universal Pictures’ blockbuster film franchise and created in collaboration with Universal Games and Digital Platforms, Jurassic World Evolution 2 builds upon the ground-breaking and beloved 2018 dinosaur park management simulation. It offers players a thrilling front seat as they take charge of one of the greatest theme parks of all time.

With a brand new, immersive narrative campaign voiced by cast members from across the Jurassic World film franchise, exciting new features, four engaging game modes, and an enhanced and expanded roster of dinosaurs, Jurassic World Evolution 2 provides fans with everything they need to create authentic and compelling Jurassic World experiences.

Players will leave the Muertes Archipelago for the first time and build their own authentic Jurassic Worlds across diverse new environments, from dense forests to scorched deserts, in efforts to conserve and contain more than 75 prehistoric species. These include all-new flying and marine reptiles, brought to life with captivating realism. They’ll display brand new behaviours as they interact with each other, fight for dominance, and react intelligently to the world around them.

In Jurassic World Evolution 2, players dive into an original single player campaign featuring iconic film actors reprising their roles. Join Dr. Ian Malcolm (voiced by Jeff Goldblum), and Claire Dearing (voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard) in an immersive and exciting narrative experience set after the Earth-shattering events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Chaos Theory mode is another major addition. It offers a reimagined take on pivotal moments from the Jurassic World film franchise as players strive to make their own mark and change the course of events. Elsewhere, for those looking to unleash their creativity, Sandbox mode delivers everything players need to create their perfect Park, while Challenge mode tests their mastery of the game.

Across all modes we’ve dramatically improved our signature management and construction gameplay to give players everything needed to create their ultimate Jurassic Worlds. Whether it’s deeper management tools and creative options, fresh buildings to construct and customise, or handy shortcuts to make life easier, in Jurassic World Evolution 2, players can truly flex their managerial muscle.

Jurassic World Evolution 2 launches in late 2021 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and Xbox One.”

With the continuation of this fantastic park builder, there remains the question of whether or not we will see other game titles released soon. Will there be a continuation of the popular ‘Lego Jurassic World’ game? Or will we finally get a brand-new first-person exploration of the islands, and beyond? Only time, the ever-flowing river, will tell.

Be sure to check out our detailed analysis of the announcement trailer and screenshots below:

Are you excited for this continuation of ‘Jurassic World: Evolution’? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for more!

‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Opening to Take Place 65 Million Years in the Past & Features Seven New Species (plus Feathers)!

Hot off the heels of learning we’ll get our first look at ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ exclusively during IMAX screenings of ‘Fast and the Furious 9’, we now have details about what the exclusive preview entails!

Opening up 65 million years in the past, we will see the dinosaurs as they originally were, in their natural prehistoric environments. This includes newcomer Moros intrepidus, a small Tyrannosaurid which can be seen sporting full coat of feathery plumage in the below image. As for the larger species, sans feathers? That’s none-other than the much anticpated Giganatosaurus.

The IMAX® exclusive allows fans to see the biggest, boldest chapter in the Jurassic series yet on the biggest screen and in the most thrilling way possible. “As part of our celebration welcoming moviegoers back into theaters this summer, we couldn’t think of a more perfect way to say, ‘thank you’ to the hundreds of millions of Jurassic and Fast fans around the world,” said Jim Orr, President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution for Universal Pictures. “This first look at Jurassic World: Dominion that Colin and his team put together is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Even better, there’s simply no more perfect place to experience both the Dominion Preview and F9 than on a massive IMAX® screen. This really is the ultimate movie-fan experience.” 

The five-minute Special Extended Preview of Jurassic World: Dominion, which audiences will be able to experience in full-screen 1:90:1 IMAX® aspect ratio,includes a prologue to the film’s narrative and is set 65 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs roamed the entire Earth. The breathtaking, action-packed scenes, featuring Oscar® winner Michael Giacchino’s iconic score, reveal what Earth looked like long before humans existed and tell the origin story of how dinosaur DNA first came to be carried by a mythic mosquito. The Preview features seven new species of dinosaurs, created by the legendary Industrial Light & Magic, that have never been seen in any Jurassic film before. But the Preview doesn’t end there and holds some real trademark Jurassic surprises with dinosaurs later roaming an Earth that is decidedly less theirs alone. 

“Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to see dinosaurs in their natural habitat,” director Colin Trevorrow says. “It may have taken a few decades, but with a little help from ILM, Universal and Amblin, it has finally happened. This Preview is just a glimpse of the film we’ve made. It’s an epic celebration of everything Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton created, and I can’t wait to share it with the world next summer.”

The Preview will be available at IMAX® screenings of F9 in more than 40 countries and territories including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, United Kingdom, Ukraine, United States and Vietnam. (In countries where F9 is opening earlier than June 25, the Preview will be available on opening day on IMAX® screens in those markets.)

“This sequence was made to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Luckily, IMAX theaters are back, and all over the world we’re returning to theaters because movies bring us closer together,” Trevorrow says. “I think we need that shared experience right now … maybe more than we ever have.”

This is a big day for Jurassic World, Park, and Paleontology (with a major caveat) fans alike. The appearance of feathered dinosaurs in the Jurassic franchise has been long requested, and it seems Dominion has spared no expense in giving them their much anticipated exciting debut.

As for what else the preview will showcase? We hear there will be lots of exciting T. rex action, modern day (and perhaps prehistoric), which will steal the show. Likewise, Dreadnoughtus, Quetzalcoatlus, Oviraptor, Nasutoceratops, and Iguanodon will showcase in the opening – all being entirely new, other than Nasutoceratops which featured in Battle at Big Rock.

As for the paleontological caveat — it seems Giganatosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex will cross paths, which is well, quite absurdly fictional. Not only were they from two separate continents, they were separated by more time than when man evolved from primates. In an age of misinformation, that’s frustrating to hear, as this will greatly misinform the public about these animals, and be a huge hinderance for proper paleo-science education.

That rant aside, it is incredibly exciting to hear so many new species will feature, and we cannot wait to see their paleo-accurate depictions. We can’t help but wonder how much the prehistoric Tyrannosaurus Rex design, featured on the poster with small hair-like feathers, will vary from its de-extinct Jurassic Park iteration. Likewise, will Mattel or other merch manufactures bring these designs to life? It certainly would make a great display with them next to one another!

Be sure to check out our breakdown of the footage here:

Tickets for ‘F9’ are on sale now — be sure to pick up your IMAX screening today!

5-Minute Preview of ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ to Premiere with ‘Fast & Furious 9 IMAX’ Screenings!

Hold on to your butts, because this Jurassic June is going to be a proper celebration of the franchise. After weeks of rumors and speculation, we now know more about the plans for ‘Jurassic World Dominion’s’ heavily teased trailer: revealed by Dr. Alan Grant himself it’ll premiere with a scene from the film exclusively during IMAX screenings of ‘Fast and the Furious 9’!

This all-new poster seems to show a mosquito biting a dinosaur over 65-million years ago, which is full of exciting possibilities if it’s not just for the poster – especially with the tagline “It All Started Here”. We imagine we’ll know lots more soon.

UPDATE: It seems we are traveling back in time with Jurassic World Dominion, seeing the dinosaurs in their habitat prior to cloning. Most excitingly, this includes the debut of feathered dinosaurs within the franchise! Take a look at the all-new look at the opening of the film courtesy of Rob Keyes of Screenrant.

We had earlier speculated about a ‘F9’ trailer connection, and it’s great to have further details and confirmation about how the exclusive preview will make its debut. While there is no word yet on what exactly the footage will entail, we suspect it may be an extended scene from the film leading into the trailer itself, with the aforementioned scene remaining exclusive to IMAX screenings only. However, we do suspect trailer itself without the extended sequence will be available online soon after.

While ‘Fast 9’ doesn’t hit theaters until June 25th, tomorrow (June 10th) is the year-out release date of the upcoming Jurassic Park sequel — so we fully suspect we may get even more news then! Further, while it remains unconfirmed, it seems Empire Magazine will have a preview of the footage to come, including an interview with director Colin Trevorrow.

Empire Magazine has been a long time partner with Universal and Colin Trevorrow for the Jurassic World franchise, and with Colin’s recent hints about news hitting soon, it certainly seems like the stars are aligning.

Further, tomorrow may have even more in store for Jurassic fans, with the official opening of the Velocicoaster resort, and a rumored Jurassic World game reveal at Summer Game Fest. While the latter remains unconfirmed, Geoff Keighly has been dropping Jurassic hints on Twitter, which certainly coincide with Jeff Goldbum’s involvement in the show – not to mention Frontier Developments, the Jurassic World Evolution developers, are partnered with Summer Game Fest.

While we’re not certain if all these reveals are tied together or not, we’re convinced this month will be a fun one for fans of everything Jurassic.

Be sure to stay tuned – there will be a lot more to cover soon!

Confirmed: ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Trailer Coming Soon! Will it Release with ‘Fast & Furious 9’ this June?

Update: Producer Frank Marshall has taken to Twitter to confirm a trailer is indeed coming soon! No word yet if it will be tied to ‘F9’, or perhaps drop on June 11th – read on to get our detailed breakdown of what we expect, and when!

The road to the upcoming 6th installment of the Jurassic Park franchise, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ has been long, with many expected twists and turns, being pushed back from 2021 to 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic. This has left a drought of Jurassic news, outside of the ongoing animated series ‘Camp Cretaceous’, and anticipation is running high to learn more about the upcoming sequel.

This of course leads to the big question: when will we see the first trailer for ‘Dominion’? Speculation has run rampant, and while there are many logical milestones, nothing has been certain due to the way the entire film industry has been shaken up from Covid19. Thankfully, the wait won’t be long.

We have been hearing the trailer is targeting this Summer, which is something our friends at NeoJurassic podcast had also reported. In fact, we originally heard it was looking to release in August –  however, that information dates back to prior to the release of Season 2 of ‘Camp Cretaceous’.

So if not August, when is the trailer due to hit? While we don’t have an exact confirmation, we’re fairly confident it will be released this June alongside ‘Fast & Furious 9’.

The first ‘Dominion’ trailer will likely skew towards the teaser variety, only giving a glimpse of what’s to come without showing off too many new elements. We’re big fans of well made trailers – something we feel Jurassic World has previously missed the boat on with their spoiler-laden output. We’re hopeful that ‘Jurassic World 3’ curbs that trend, taking inspiration from more curated teaser experiences like ‘Cloverfield’, or trailers like ‘The Force Awakens’.

Conversely, perhaps a one-off experience, akin to ‘Battle at Big Rock’ will serve as the film’s first tease. The end of ‘BaBR’ set the tone with numerous dinosaur encounters on mainland, and we’ve since been awaiting a followup on the concept, which is filled with opportunity for content prior to Dominions release. This could serve as more curated teaser, and speaking to Hollywood Reporter director Colin Trevorrow revealed that something related to Dominion is indeed coming soon:

“It’s going to be sooner than you think. I can’t talk about it just yet. We’ve got something fun planned, and it has everything to do with getting people back into the movie theaters.”

– Colin Trevorrow

‘Fast & Furious 9’ is hitting US theaters this June 25th, a timely release roughly a year out from Dominions June 10th, 2022 date. Outside of Jurassic, the Fast & Furious series is Universal’s largest theatrical performer, and we’re sure that the studio is keen to supercharge its theatrical run this summer with as many incentives as possible, and ‘Dominion’ marketing is certainly one way to do so. 

Taking that concept further, perhaps Universal aims to release ‘Big Rock’ style one-offs marketing the sequel with all their appropriate upcoming theatrical tentpoles. This could serve as a proper blitz to really revitalize theaters, all while hyping up ‘Dominion’ without actually showcasing scenes or spoilers from the films. Movies like ‘Old’ (July 23rd) and ‘Halloween Kills’ (October 15th) may also be spots to watch – that said, we feel confident that whatever is planned, ‘F9’ sits at the center of it.

Releasing the trailer in June makes a lot of sense for other reasons: we learned a long while back that ‘Jurassic World: Evolution 2’ was in development, and planned to release near Dominion. The game heavily features elements from the new film such as the new varied environments, companies and facilities, characters, and of course, dinosaurs. While Dominion’s delay did push Evolutions plans back, we’re hearing it’s likely the game will have a debut trailer at Gamescom in August.

We’re not sure how ‘Dominion’ will be supported after the trailer drops, as the proper story-centric marketing push isn’t expected to kick off until closer to February 2022 alongside a larger trailer we assume will be timed with the SuperBowl. However, that leaves the curious omission of November & December 2021, a time period typically reserved for the first trailer of new Jurassic films. Perhaps instead of a trailer at that time, a behind the scenes video will hit teasing what’s to come, building anticipation for the larger marketing push planned soon after?

It’s also possible that the November/December 2021 timeslot may be passed up by ‘Dominion’ marketing, as we’re expecting a 4th season of Netflix’s ‘Camp Cretaceous’ around that time. While ‘JWCC’ is standalone, Colin Trevorrow has repeatedly teased it has larger ties to ‘Dominion’, so it may serve a similar role in pushing audiences to look forward to the upcoming sequel. Considering how much the film industry has been struggling to find its footing again due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe building a momentous push to build anticipation, spread awareness, and drive audiences to want to return to theaters with ‘Dominion’ is key. Quite frankly, this film is one of the few currently capable of such, perhaps more-so than Disney’s upcoming Marvel offerings. 

With ‘Star Wars’ taking some time away from the theatrical space, Jurassic is at an even better position to expand its brand awareness and loyalty over the coming year. We’re quite hopeful this budding opportunity is taken full advantage of, and releasing a teaser this June points that way. We truly believe in the theatrical experience of cinemas, and hope to see a large push to make sure that experience – something films like Jurassic require – does not go extinct.

What do you hope to see from the first Jurassic World Dominion trailer? Sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for all the latest news!