Jurassic World Evolution 2’s Dominion Biosyn’s DLC adds boatloads of new content, some of which serves as unnecessary bloat and other parts which show off the best aspects of the game as a whole.
Frontier Developments released the Dominion Biosyn DLC to Jurassic World Evolution 2 on June 14th. The DLC adds a brand new narrative component of the game, alongside dozens of extra content for players to enjoy. Jurassic World Evolution 2 was already a massive improvement over its previous iteration and each following piece of DLC only serves to improve what was already there.
The content within is 2 campaign levels serving as a prequel to Jurassic World: Dominion, a Chaos Theory mode all wrapped up with some new content ranging from buildings, ways of research, maps, and lastly (and most importantly) brand new dinosaurs and dinosaur skins.
In terms of the gameplay, nothing in the expansion’s core experience is world-shattering. Facilities still require all the basics that are notable from Jurassic World Evolution 2. Paths, Power, rangers, and more are required to maintain this park the same as the rest. However, in a more unique fashion, many buildings within the DLC utilise the hyperloop, an underground train that moves people around at incredibly fast speeds.
The story is decent having players tell the story of Biosyn as they attempt to compete with Ingen to create the ‘dream that Masrani and Hammond failed to conjure’. The narrative has a lot of references to Jurassic World: Dominion and in doing so compliments the movie well, although I would advise seeing the film before playing this DLC, the references work much better in hindsight as opposed to the other way around.
The dialogue is shoddy at best with every character feeling as emotionless as the last. Even beyond that, the dialogue generally is poor and leads to a lot of cringeworthy moments while playing. However, due to the nature of the game, the plot is not necessarily the most important aspect of Dominion Biosyn.
There are a few extra mechanics added to the Dominion Biosyn expansion. Most notably the Amber mines and the Hyperloop system. The hyperloop system was an interesting idea that ultimately serves as a massive quality of life saver. Your scientist can now bounce around quickly on this train system which is a huge improvement. Managing the links can be a little taxing, especially as your park grows in size, or even worse when you’re in sandbox mode.
The amber mines add another layer to research as you have to slowly unlock new areas of the mines in order for you to research dinosaur types to unlock their corresponding nodes. These two things are the major shifts in terms of Jurassic World Evolution 2’s common gameplay loop.
The Dominion Biosyn expansion also includes another Chaos Theory mode. This shakes up the game a little bit more, with players experiencing the outside of Owen’s cabin. In this small dino sanctuary, you must defend your home from poachers who will destroy your fences and try to steal your dinos. You can counter them through the use of poacher detection equipment, or even better… Just ramming them off the road.
Yep, you read that right. This Chaos Theory mode relies a lot on taking direct control of the ranger vehicles whether that is in herding the dinosaurs or as mentioned previously, crashing into poachers with the ranger car. It is a nice change of pace from the rather calm and slow burn of the base game experience, and while the car controls are still clunky, it still manages to be a fun addition to an already entertaining expansion.
However, the real meat of the Dominion Biosyn expansion comes in the form of the new genomes surrounding Dinos, alongside the new Dinosaurs that you can add to your own park. Infamous dinos like Pyroraptors, Dimetredons, Theizinosaurus, Giganotosaurus, and Quetzalcoatlus are all present in this DLC.
This in conjunction with the new skins allows for more and more dinosaur customisation which is ultimately one of Jurassic World Evolution 2’s best features. In addition to this, the game as usual also presents us with more content. In terms of the new buildings added, the invisible fence takes the trophy. Allowing players to fully see the Dinos without having to look through a fence is a welcome change of pace and grants players a lot of creative freedom in how they design their park.
The two new maps added in Dominion Biosyn are tremendous. Both the Biosyn Sanctuary and the Sierra Nevada are brilliant and truly allow for large amounts of freedom in park construction, both in the expansion’s campaign alongside the game’s fantastic sandbox mode. Additionally, these are also some of the most gorgeous maps that Frontier Developments have made, from sweeping vistas to grizzly snowy landscapes the environments manage to maintain a certain amount of uniqueness in a game brimming with so many worlds to explore.
Overall, Dominion Biosyn is a tremendous addition to a game that was already of a high quality. While the narrative focus that the DLC takes is a little bloated, and much of the dialogue feels wooden and gimmicky, it still compliments the plot of Jurassic World: Dominion rather well. The new Chaos Theory mode is a fun new addition and all of this is neatly connected to the pile of new content added with this expansion. The new dinos, new gameplay tools like the invisible fences, and more all add to what is a great addition to Jurassic World Evolution 2.
Dominion Biosyn is available alongside the base game of Jurassic World Evolution 2 on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 4/5. You can buy purchase both the base game and this expansion in the Dominion Biosyn bundle which includes the base game alongside this great expansion.
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