It's a Flash Review, only because of my username... [noob]
Downloaded and played the game yesterday, suffice to say, I'll be playing it again this evening! [haha] However, with all good things...
Concerns:
Nitpicks:
Most of these are imposed by Universal, so can't be helped, but they're worth noting down.
Other Items of Comment:
Compliments:
Pretty much everything else really. I don't need to bullet-point anything here, but credit certainly goes out to Frontier here. A job well done! Everything from the terrain to the management system through to the animation of the Dinosaurs is nothing short of superb. I took some time out in my game yesterday to just observe how the Dinosaurs lived, and you guys even have them chewing their food. The lighting, the appearance of each species (and the various skin options), their movements, I don't think I could ask for much more! Each species of Dinosaur even seems to have it's own personality which is great too.
You guys - the Animators, Cosmetics Guys, Coders (all the Devs), concerns and nit-picks aside, I take my [proverbial] hat off to you on a job well done - thus far. Here's hoping DLC and further updates continue to add.
Downloaded and played the game yesterday, suffice to say, I'll be playing it again this evening! [haha] However, with all good things...
Concerns:
- Sizing of the Giganotosaurus & Spinosaurus - I know I'm not alone in thinking that they should both be bigger. I can't speak of the Giganotosaurus, as we haven't seen one in the films(?) but the Spinosaurus in JP3 certainly looks comparable in size to the Rex, and as this game has a strong focus to the JPW franchise, I'd have thought the Spinosaurus should be better scaled. Either this, or the T-Rex (and by extension, the I-Rex) need to be scaled down.
- Dinosaur life-span - I probably had a good three-four hour game yesterday, and didn't breed a Dinosaur that wasn't at least at 60%, and yet before I called it a night, all the Dinosaurs I'd started out with had died - of old age. Would be nice if they lived a little longer. If they're dying within a four-hour window at 60%, they're not likely to last much longer at 100% are they?
- Guest Interactions - there doesn't seem to be much for them to do other than wear their shoes out. No benches, no bins, no puking (I don't know why guests would do that as there are no rollercoasters to upset their stomach) but I just find their (lack of) interactions a bit... lacking. I know the focus of JWE is the Dinosaurs, but the focus of Planet Coaster was the rides, and we still had guests with a purpose. Hopefully guests can be expanded on in the future; add in entertainers and labourers, picnic areas, toilets etc? It's all about immersion.
Nitpicks:
Most of these are imposed by Universal, so can't be helped, but they're worth noting down.
- No Guest Blood - we're allowed Dino Blood (so Universal are okay with animal cruelty?) but not Human blood? :O
- No Road Rage (when driving the Jeep) - I can't run guests over - I'm not sadistic, honest!
- No Male Dinosaurs - I suppose this isn't a huge disaster, cause (as far as I am aware) it's not stated anywhere in-game that the Dinosaurs here are actually female, but when I created my first Edmontosaurus and then proceeded to name him Ed, I suddenly remembered he was actually a she, so Ed was forcibly changed to Em.
- Ascetics (or a lack of); simple things like statues and fountains, I suppose this would coincide with the immersion and guest interactions which have been mentioned above.
Other Items of Comment:
- Curving Paths/Fences - This (may) be a limitation to console players, or even the game engine itself, but (seemingly) paths can't be curved and must be placed straight (though angled). I know on Planet Coaster we could curve our paths and the fences that went with them?
- Aquatic & Avian Dinosaurs - I know the game is still new, but I do hope these creatures show up in a DLC soon. Gotta' get me a Mosasaur.
- Whilst I don't much care for the day/night cycle (I don't think it'll really add anything to the game) I do think an additional animation needs to be added so that our roaming Dinosaurs can simply rest; if the typical herbivore is comparable to a Cow or Zebra, these animals often just take time out, be it laying down in the African sand, or hiding under a tree, in a field. Dinosaurs should be able to lay down and rest.
- Depleted Dig Sites (rumour?) - haven't had this experience for myself (yet) but if it's true that we can deplete them, then that's a bad call, surely? If we're building into the newer parks as we progress through the game, and we want to maximise our Dino's to 100%, wouldn't we need renewed dig sites, rather than ones that get depleted? I'm all for a 'cool-down' feature, so maybe it would take 24hrs (real-time) before a site becomes accessible again, but to have them permanently depleted seem like a bad call.
- Owen Grady & Dr. Ian Malcolm - more specifically, their interactions. I couldn't help upon hearing them that it seems as though the actors were merely reading from a script rather than doing so 'in-character'. I get that sometimes some actors struggle when they haven't got other cast around them to bounce off, but this was noticeable, and from two (established?) actors?
Compliments:
Pretty much everything else really. I don't need to bullet-point anything here, but credit certainly goes out to Frontier here. A job well done! Everything from the terrain to the management system through to the animation of the Dinosaurs is nothing short of superb. I took some time out in my game yesterday to just observe how the Dinosaurs lived, and you guys even have them chewing their food. The lighting, the appearance of each species (and the various skin options), their movements, I don't think I could ask for much more! Each species of Dinosaur even seems to have it's own personality which is great too.
You guys - the Animators, Cosmetics Guys, Coders (all the Devs), concerns and nit-picks aside, I take my [proverbial] hat off to you on a job well done - thus far. Here's hoping DLC and further updates continue to add.
