I just finished the campaign. It took me about 6 hours to get through. I did speed run it like some people did. I took my time and tried to enjoy it cause I knew it was going to be short.
It was fun. It didn't last long, but it was fun. I don't know how they could have dragged that kind of gameplay out any longer without it starting to feel tedious which is some of the complaints people had about the first game. The first games campaign was about 20 to maybe 30 hours long or so. I think it kind of dragged on a little longer than it should have. I agree with people that thought it was kind of boring after a while. Where the JWE campaign had you doing basically the same things over and over again. Also doing things that made no sense at all.
The JWE2 campaign is basically a big tutorial that shows you the basics of the game. A lot of it is familiar stuff cause it's what you did in the first game. Plus some new mechanics like status checks on dinosaurs, medical checks and so on. From what I experienced in the campaign with the scientist and the new mechanics they did bring a deeper level of management to the parks. I haven't played any of the other modes yet, just campaign. If you didn't like what you were doing as far as management in the first game you won't like this cause it's just more of it. What else do you expect from a management simulator where you run a dinosaur zoo? Animals need to be fed, they need medical care and so on.
I think some of the campaign maps should be usable in the sandbox mode. They are really nice but they are also small. If they are to be used in sandbox a lot of them will need a size upgrade. Except the last campaign scenario that takes place in California. That was a pretty big map. It's not huge or anything but out of all the maps in the campaign that one could probably be put in sandbox as is. The others will need some kind of rework. Mostly size increases, especially the Arizona map. I found that I like building on the desert maps. It's interesting and really different. I wish we could have an Arizona map that's just a big wide open flat or semi-flat patch of desert to build in that doesn't have the JP San Diego amphitheater in it. The Southwest map that we currently have in sandbox is not really my idea of a good desert map. It might make for a fun challenging build in sandbox but the way it's designed just isn't set up for a fun open space build.
From what I have seen in the campaigns this game look really good. Way better than the first game and I though the first game looked good for the time it was released. The maps are really beautiful and the backgrounds, backdrops or whatever they are called Frontier created for the game also look really good. They really give the game a sense of scale and make you feel like the maps are way larger than they actually are which is probably what they are there for. The few dinosaurs I saw in the campaign also look very nice. I sent an expedition out to get the Albertosaurus and it still had that super smooth plastic looking skin from the first game. The head looks good but the body still looks smooth. It's just odd cause so many of the other dinosaurs look to have much more defined textures on them now. Is it a design choice or did some of them just get left out? I guess it's a design thing cause the head looks great.
Like I said I haven't played any of the other modes yet. But if you take your time with the campaign you can stretch it out a few hours if you spend your time watching the dinosaurs and checking out the maps. I did have to restart the last campaign mission cause I ran out of money. I think they made they money a bit tighter in the last campaign mission. Once you get a few dinosaurs in your DFW facility you will be fine though.
It did feel a bit incomplete though. I have a feeling they might extend it with some Dominion DLC later on. That or it might be it's own campaign. I think the movie getting delayed till 2022 had an impact on the campaigns length. The only other alternative is to have a really long campaign where you do the same the same things over and over again. Maybe a short fun campaign was their answer to complaints about the first games campaign?
There is still the Chaos Theory scenarios and the challenge mode which you have to play to unlock the challenge mode maps for sandbox and some other stuff. I also have a feeling that the direction they went with this game is they want people to play in sandbox and build their own parks. Which would be kind of odd considering that this game still lacks a lot of options as far as decorations and things like that. Stuff that was in the first game didn't make it in this game. Like decorative trees. We don't have access to the lagoon and aviary in sandbox if you want to build a JP themed park. No campaign maps in sandbox, no campaign game assets in sandbox. There is no JP themed aviary at all. The one you build in the campaign would be fine. But we should still have an option to use the JW style aviary if we wish cause we want more options and not less. I also think we had logs we could place in the first game and we don't have them anymore. I might be wrong about that.
My point is if they are leaning heavily on sandbox this game doesn't have enough in it to make sandbox that interesting to play, at least not for everyone who is going to play the game. There is no problem with saying go play sandbox. Just give us more options and stuff to use in sandbox.
It was fun. It didn't last long, but it was fun. I don't know how they could have dragged that kind of gameplay out any longer without it starting to feel tedious which is some of the complaints people had about the first game. The first games campaign was about 20 to maybe 30 hours long or so. I think it kind of dragged on a little longer than it should have. I agree with people that thought it was kind of boring after a while. Where the JWE campaign had you doing basically the same things over and over again. Also doing things that made no sense at all.
The JWE2 campaign is basically a big tutorial that shows you the basics of the game. A lot of it is familiar stuff cause it's what you did in the first game. Plus some new mechanics like status checks on dinosaurs, medical checks and so on. From what I experienced in the campaign with the scientist and the new mechanics they did bring a deeper level of management to the parks. I haven't played any of the other modes yet, just campaign. If you didn't like what you were doing as far as management in the first game you won't like this cause it's just more of it. What else do you expect from a management simulator where you run a dinosaur zoo? Animals need to be fed, they need medical care and so on.
I think some of the campaign maps should be usable in the sandbox mode. They are really nice but they are also small. If they are to be used in sandbox a lot of them will need a size upgrade. Except the last campaign scenario that takes place in California. That was a pretty big map. It's not huge or anything but out of all the maps in the campaign that one could probably be put in sandbox as is. The others will need some kind of rework. Mostly size increases, especially the Arizona map. I found that I like building on the desert maps. It's interesting and really different. I wish we could have an Arizona map that's just a big wide open flat or semi-flat patch of desert to build in that doesn't have the JP San Diego amphitheater in it. The Southwest map that we currently have in sandbox is not really my idea of a good desert map. It might make for a fun challenging build in sandbox but the way it's designed just isn't set up for a fun open space build.
From what I have seen in the campaigns this game look really good. Way better than the first game and I though the first game looked good for the time it was released. The maps are really beautiful and the backgrounds, backdrops or whatever they are called Frontier created for the game also look really good. They really give the game a sense of scale and make you feel like the maps are way larger than they actually are which is probably what they are there for. The few dinosaurs I saw in the campaign also look very nice. I sent an expedition out to get the Albertosaurus and it still had that super smooth plastic looking skin from the first game. The head looks good but the body still looks smooth. It's just odd cause so many of the other dinosaurs look to have much more defined textures on them now. Is it a design choice or did some of them just get left out? I guess it's a design thing cause the head looks great.
Like I said I haven't played any of the other modes yet. But if you take your time with the campaign you can stretch it out a few hours if you spend your time watching the dinosaurs and checking out the maps. I did have to restart the last campaign mission cause I ran out of money. I think they made they money a bit tighter in the last campaign mission. Once you get a few dinosaurs in your DFW facility you will be fine though.
It did feel a bit incomplete though. I have a feeling they might extend it with some Dominion DLC later on. That or it might be it's own campaign. I think the movie getting delayed till 2022 had an impact on the campaigns length. The only other alternative is to have a really long campaign where you do the same the same things over and over again. Maybe a short fun campaign was their answer to complaints about the first games campaign?
There is still the Chaos Theory scenarios and the challenge mode which you have to play to unlock the challenge mode maps for sandbox and some other stuff. I also have a feeling that the direction they went with this game is they want people to play in sandbox and build their own parks. Which would be kind of odd considering that this game still lacks a lot of options as far as decorations and things like that. Stuff that was in the first game didn't make it in this game. Like decorative trees. We don't have access to the lagoon and aviary in sandbox if you want to build a JP themed park. No campaign maps in sandbox, no campaign game assets in sandbox. There is no JP themed aviary at all. The one you build in the campaign would be fine. But we should still have an option to use the JW style aviary if we wish cause we want more options and not less. I also think we had logs we could place in the first game and we don't have them anymore. I might be wrong about that.
My point is if they are leaning heavily on sandbox this game doesn't have enough in it to make sandbox that interesting to play, at least not for everyone who is going to play the game. There is no problem with saying go play sandbox. Just give us more options and stuff to use in sandbox.
