User Rating: 7 | Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis PC
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis has a very attractive premise and slick audiovisual effects. The dinosaurs in their enclosures are really something to behold (even my wife, a staunch anti-computer game vigilante, "doesn't mind so much" this particular game). However, while the game is quite enjoyable initially, players will quickly discover that there is very little action and the replayability could be much stronger. The Gamespot reviewer has covered much of the game basics. I will add a few notes about shortcomings that reveal themselves as you progress through the game. First, the economic model is particularly weak. You can easily set your park entrance fee quite high, upwards of $1,500 or more. You'll be surprised that it hardly makes a dent in your attendance at that level and you'll need the money. All the way at $3,000 there is some effect, so taper it down accordingly to the $1,500-$2,000 range until your park has enough stars. After you have say, 3 1/2 stars, set it to the max. With the gate fees as such, and with the exorbitant costs of dinosaurs, park fencing, and foliage, you'll soon discover that the fees for soda stands, restrooms, attraction fees, souvenir stands, etc., are such a small part of your park's economy ($5 here and there) that they never really merit your attention. Just set them all to low prices to keep your visitors happy and never think about them again. These economic imbalances are disheartening and a major flaw when compared to the models in the premier park series, Rollercoaster Tycoon. There are inexplicable limitations on some park features. For example, when building out larger parks, you'll suddenly learn that you can't build any more fences or any more feeders! Why not?! Also, the number of guests in your park will never exceed 100 people for more than a few seconds if ever. You can have miles of pathways and gobs of dinosaurs with an entrance price of $0 and you still won't have more than 100 visitors. I'm still not sure why. With such a small number of visitors, you can see why $5 at the burger stand isn't going to make a dent in your finances when visitors are paying $1,500 at the door. Jurassic Park has a lot of cool defensive features that will spring to life should any dinosaurs (especially the large, drooling carnivorous kind) escape their enclosures. There are machine gun turrets that you can switch to manual, there are ranger helicopters with lethal weapons, special security cameras to alert you when breakouts occur, and lethal genes you can pay big dollars to incorporate into dino DNA. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? I thought so, too. Too bad you'll almost never get to use any of them. The game includes exactly one type of disaster, a twister. When a twister comes through you'll be thankful you built the special visitor shelters to protect your guests from the funnel cloud or the dinosaurs whose enclosures have been damaged. However, you'll get one twister here or there, not nearly enough to really make it exciting. After hours of working on a park, you could expect maybe one or two in that time. Sound the alarm, the visitors run to the shelters, and you repair the fences and make sure no dinosaurs get out. What about my machine gun turrets and all the security gear I invested in? Having won all the built-in missions and made lots of parks in sandbox mode with carnivores galore, I've still never used them. Supposedly dinosaurs can attack your safari ride and strand a visitor in an enclosure, but even if this happened it doesn't sound all that thrilling. This game needs a LOT more disasters or other problems that will result in dinosaur dangers. Perhaps a "disaster-on-demand" feature, such as that in the Sim City series could be incorporated. In summary, the game is intriguing and touts realistic dinosaurs reminiscent of the Carnivores series. Unfortunately, the park size restrictions, low number of guests, poor economic model, and lack of any real disaster scenarios come together to present a game with little or no challenge. You'll build a nice park and look at your dinosaurs and then wait for something interesting to happen... like a patch to make it more exciting.
