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The world of Jurassic World Evolution 2 continues to grow via downloadable content, and Frontier has delivered the best expansion DLC yet with Dominion Biosyn. The expansion directly ties into the latest movie, Jurassic World: Dominion, and once again features characters from the movie, as well as introducing a whole load of new content and new gameplay.
Players now have the chance to take control of Biosyn Genetics, a rival company to John Hammond’s InGen, who, despite first appearing in Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park novel (on which the entire franchise is based) made their first live-action appearance in the recently released Jurassic World: Dominion.
If you haven’t seen Jurassic World: Dominion then you should note that the later portions of the main campaign contain spoilers of the movie, since it runs concurrently alongside the movie. Since I haven’t seen the movie yet, this is where I stopped playing the campaign and then switched to experiencing all the new DLC content in sandbox mode.
Dominion Biosyn Campaign
At first glance, the Dominion Biosyn looks incredibly similar to the rest of Jurassic World Evolution, and with the same format of building enclosures, checking on your dinosaurs, and sending scientists on expeditions around the world, you might think that there isn’t anything new. However, the expansion is quick to introduce you to some key new aspects not found in any other campaigns. The first notable addition is the Hyperloop which allows your scientists to travel underground to viewing platforms that you can place around the map. Invisible fencing for your dinosaur enclosures is also a neat addition as it allows you to create enclosures that appear more open and aesthetically pleasing.
Another addition is the presence of an Amber Mine. It works the same way as the expeditions, although instead, you must research dinosaur types to unlock nodes which will then pave the way to access lower levels of the mine.
Once you’ve completed the early tasks of the campaign, you are introduced to a sort of Act II. This is the section that is more tied to the new films, so this is where I stopped playing the campaign.
The New Chaos
What kind of Jurassic World expansion would be without some much-expected chaos? And there’s no better place to find that than in the Chaos Theory mode, now fully complete with levels based on all six Jurassic Park/World movies.
In the Jurassic World: Dominion level, you will take over Owen Grady’s ranch as it becomes a safe haven for dinosaurs. Here, a new gameplay mechanic has been introduced — poachers. This is a great new challenge that will keep you on your toes as you will now have to deal with poachers attempting to steal your dinosaurs, all while doing your usual Jurassic World Evolution rounds. Previously, I’ve never found the need to directly control the ranger cars (unless the game forced me to) and I typically left the AI system to do the driving, but now you must manually herd dinosaurs and dissuade poachers.
New Pre-Historic Wonders
As with all previous DLC, Dominion Biosyn comes with some new dinosaurs for players to manage. However, some may be disappointed to find that the expansion only introduces four new species: Pyroraptor, Therizinosaurus, Dimetrodon, and the Quetzalcoatlus. But the lack of new dinosaurs is certainly made up with the inclusion of new skins for species already in the game, including a 2022 variant of the Gigantosaurus and more excitingly, a feathered version of the T. Rex!
The relatively high price for the DLC (£15.99) may put some people off, but there are so many great additions as well as the quality of life changes that will help players run their parks a little more smoothly. When compared to the previous DLC from both Jurassic World Evolution and this sequel, it’s easy for me to say that this is possibly the best expansion we’ve had so far.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.