Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run a Jurassic Park style zoo with scientifically accurate dinosaurs? Well, I played this game called Prehistoric Kingdom and got a good taste of that experience. I spared no expense, as I went bankrupt in the game, like, 5 times.

The dinosaurs in this game are based on what we currently know about them, and they look stunning. Look, I grew up playing Zoo Tycoon, so the graphics are a little more detailed than the lumps of pixels we had in the 2000s. There are a lot of celebrities, including Trex, Spinosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Velociraptor. There are also a lot of lesser known prehistoric beasts, including Ice Age ones like wooly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. You even have Nigel Marvin from the BBC narrating facts about each creature. His cold, soulless eyes kinda creep me out, though.

To start my own Jurassic Park, I chose Costa Rica as the location, just like the original movies, and I decided to play in challenge mode. From there, I started building. I didn’t fully understand the building mechanics at first and made some really ugly buildings, but eventually, I got the hang of it.

I started with $2.5 million dollars and a 0 star rating. Honestly, $2.5 million doesn’t seem like enough for a park, let alone a park resurrecting dinosaurs. I figured that wouldn’t be enough, and my theory would later be proven right, as I watched my budget dwindle to nearly nothing.

As I built up my park and added more animals, my star rating increased, and I unlocked more and more prehistoric creatures. Like I said, these dinosaurs are meant to be scientifically accurate, so you’ll notice some differences from Hollywood dinos. The Velociraptors are feathered and pint sized, just as they were in real life. The Dilophosaurus are big and lack the neck frills and venomous spit. They have very believable behavior and movements, and they’re very fun to watch.

That said, not everything is great. The people in the park just wander aimlessly and don’t even stop and admire the exhibits. There’s also NO diversity in the people, which is a bit strange, since the dinosaurs seem to have more skin tones than the humans. Sure, the dinosaurs are the priority, but who cares about more dinosaurs, if your guests don’t care about them either? But this isn’t even the worst part about this game.

This game has ZERO consequences. For example, if you remove a fence, the giant, scary dinosaurs will not react to the people around them, and the people will not react either. It’s truly bizarre to witness these massive beasts strolling through the park as if they’re guests themselves. On top of that, the dinosaurs will also not react to each other. I put many sworn enemies together, and nothing happened. Velociraptors with Proteceratops. Nothing. Trex and hadrosaurs. Nothing. Trex and Spinosaurus. Nothing. I mean, what’s the point of even having separate enclosures?

I understand not wanting to include violence in a game, but this completely takes me out of experience. If your dinosaurs are loose or unhappy, your star rating will drop, and less people will come, but that’s all that happens. Nobody threatens to shut your park down or questions your ethics. This was a pretty serious disappointment, since much older games have more advanced interactions. Zoo Tycoon was infamous for its endless insanity.

But, hey, this game is still in early access, so there will likely be more updates and improvements as time goes on. From what I’ve seen, they’re finally adding some different races of people and giving the people actual behavior, so that’s a plus. They’re also adding park staff, which is something that is desperately needed.

As it stands, Prehistoric Kingdom is a solid game for dinosaur nerds like myself, and you will learn some cool facts as you build your park. The visuals and graphics are beautiful beyond belief, and you can observe prehistoric creatures like never before. BUT, if you want to recreate the events of Jurassic Park, this is probably not the game for you.

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