Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually run and own a theme park but with a different element of thrills and wonders or perhaps be a fan of the Jurassic Park films. Jurassic Park Operation Genesis is the game for you. Build your very own Jurassic Park and became a five-star attraction for the world to enjoy. This game is a must have for any fan of the films and for the types of players that love to play Zoo Tycoon and Roller Coaster Tycoon. This game is quite old but still has this reviewer playing it for hours on end.
About
Jurassic Park Operation Genesis is a construction and management simulation game, much like Tycoon games. It’s not only based off the films but the novel as well. The main point in this game is to build a 5 star theme park with dinosaurs much like john Hammond tried in the films but failed. You start from scratch with an island of your choice. You will choice the size, mountain range, rivers and plantation on this island to give you a landscape to start making you wonderful theme park. You will research dinosaur DNA to make them be able to come to life before your eyes and for you then to put them on show for the world to see. Build rides, paths, enclosures and much more to make that park of your dreams. The game also feature the iconic attraction which is the safari ride as seen in the first Jurassic Park film so that your guests can get close and personal with the beasts.
Game play
The players objective in the game is to make a theme park which has dinosaurs as the main attraction. You will need to make a park which is big enough to house all the dinosaurs, can hold a large capacity of people and has enough attractions for them to love the theme park on top of that you have to make sure that the park is always safe and protected, this is from the dinosaur residents and also bad storms that will come once in a while. The safety of the park is a big feature in the game because if one of the carnivores was to break out of their pen and try to re-enact his brothers from the film then you park will suffer majorly. You will need to use the right fences with the right dinosaurs and also make sure that you have rangers on guard and at their posts at all times to make your park a safe haven for the guests. One of the problems or things I come across in the game is without any cheats it will take some time to get dinosaurs, money and research certain things. Please don’t let this put you off the game because this game is brilliant when you finally get into it and have a truly amazing theme park to look after. You use dig sites in-game to obtain the DNA to make new dinosaurs. You will send and use the dig teams to dig at certain sites and try to find fossils that will have enough DNA for you then to research it and be able to have that dinosaurs on show at your park.
Feeding the dinosaurs is also a major part in the game. You will have to make sure that you but feeders in the pens so that it will dispense food for the dinosaurs on regular basis. You will need to but the herbivore feeder in the herbivore pen and vice versa with the carnivores. The last thing you want is for all the dinosaurs to start dying of hunger because it means you will then have to spend more money on getting more dinosaurs
Dinosaurs will also get ill which I thought was a really good feature to add to the game. If a dinosaur gets ill in your park you will need to treat it or it could potential die and the disease could spread throughout the park causing massive problems and can get really annoying if left unattended. You need to research these diseases so that you can get the vaccines for the dinosaurs so when they start getting ill you can treat them no problem and have them back on their feet in no time roaming around again.
The game is very technical at times which is really good. You need to make sure that the herbivores have enough trees around them and friendly dinosaurs for them to socialize with, whereas the carnivores will not like it if you but lots of feeders in their pen so that there are lots of goats and cows running around because they don’t like the idea of not being able to hunt. Also the dinosaurs will react to the guests in the park. If dinosaurs were to break out the pen and see a human depending on the species it will react to the human. If it’s a carnivore then it’s most likely going to make a meal of them and you then get in trouble with you bosses and start losing stars. Once you 
start losing starts for bad reasons you will find it hard to get them back so make sure you look after your park well and keep it maintained.
You also have the option on the main screen to do some mission. These missions will give you tasks to complete and once completed you move onto the next one. There are only ten missions which is not a lot really and can be complete quiet easily to be fair but they will teach you some helpful and handy things when it comes to you making you theme park and handling certain events.
In all fairness the best mode in my opinion is Site B. After you have complete all the missions you will unlock Site B. Site B was put in the game to be more like the island in the second film The Lost World where dinosaurs could roam freely and do whatever they wanted. The player is able to place eight hatcheries (the things that make the dinosaurs) and release sixty dinosaurs (which is a shame you are caped at sixty) onto the island to live there life as if they were alive. Site B also allows the dinosaurs to not get stressed by certain things and to not get ill. As long as the dinosaurs have all the fundamentals to live then they will do so and the play can just sit back and watch the dinosaurs and see how they go about their daily lives.
The Positives and Negatives
+ Make you own theme park off the blockbuster film which is Jurassic Park (any fans dream)
+ See if you have what it takes to run a 5 star theme park
+ See dinosaurs come to life and live their lives to as if they were real
+ So realistic in a sense of a management game and also handling the livestock (disease and really life problems effect in-game)
– Hard to get money
– Takes a while for the game to actually start and get properly fun and enjoyable
– Get quite hard to manage everything later on in the game
– Natural disasters can ruin a game for you if you have a large park.
The Score
When playing this game I can have hours upon hours of fun. You relive the films but from you own perspective. You see these amazing creatures come to life in a way that makes you feel as if you were actually there. The game has lots of potential replay value because you will never make the same park again and the same things will never happen twice (like they did the first time). If you a fan of the films and you loved the soundtrack and the cast then you can enjoy this in-game to, with the soundtrack there for you to listen to while building your own park and the cast of the film helping you to progress and build you park what could go wrong. I’m going to this game a well-earned and deserved 5/5 because it blow my mind when I first played it and it still does now.
This game is fairly old and only available on the original Xbox, Playstation 2 and the PC
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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