Frontier are the kings of park builders, and as they preside over their domain, they ensure that players of their premiere titles like Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster have a steady feed of exciting new additions to keep their parks vibrant and exciting for all those digital visitors. Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the latest to get some DLC love, with the arrival of the Marine Pack, bringing a batch of new water-based creatures to the dino-disaster simulator.
The Marine Pack’s headline new addition is four new beasts, all of which are ready to be thrown straight into your lagoon or aquarium. The smallest of these is the Nothosaurus, a crocodilian type that can walk on land as well as swim menacingly through the water with its paddle-like fins and webbed toes. It has some truly hideous teeth, and it’s safe to say that I would not be going for a dip in the sea if this thing was still in it.
The second new swimmer is the Archelon, a prehistoric giant turtle. Compared to the Nothosaurus, it’s positively cute, and significantly larger, reaching 5m in length and weighing an astonishing 3 tonnes. Despite its ‘cute’ appearance, it is an expert hunter and a carnivore, though I still think I’d rather meet one of them than a Nothosaurus.
Third up is Dunkleosteus, and it’s, well, a big fish. When I say it’s a big fish, it’s fundamentally an ugly shark, and while it has no teeth, it has two bone plates that can snap shut with a bite force that’s greater than an Allosaurus. It’s a menacing thing to look at, and Frontier have continued their stellar modelling work in bringing this long-dead creature back to life. As with the whole of Jurassic World Evolution 2, it’s truly a remarkable feat.
The final Marine Pack resident is the Shonisaurus. This one is an Ichthyosaur, and is one of the largest marine reptiles to swim the world’s oceans. It can grow up to 15m, and in your JWE2 lagoon, it’s one step behind the Mosasaurus. The Shonisaurus is considerably more graceful than some of its toothier peers, and bears a greater resemblance to modern dolphins than it does to a dinosaur.
It’s great to see Frontier giving some love to the lagoon and expanding the possibilities for your water attraction, bringing the total number of creatures you can release here to twelve. I love that you can now create the most dangerous fish tank the world has ever known, and it really adds something new to your parks.
Alongside the new creatures, you’re getting a new update that brings a batch of improvements and additions, including a Lagoon Viewing Dome. Your visitors can access this via tunnel and you can hop in there yourself to get a true sense of the size and scale of these incredible prehistoric marine species.
The other, slightly more underwhelming addition is the Lagoon Rock Platform, which is the sole new piece of furniture that you can add to decorate your water arena. Now, it is cool that the Archeon and the Nothosaurus can pull themselves onto it to bask in the sun, but Frontier could probably have done more to decorate and alter your lagoons on the surface. Here’s hoping this is still something that we might see in a further update, especially as the longer you spend with the game the more ways you find to build and design your park; when the rest of the park is looking fantastic, you want the lagoon to be able to match it, especially when its full of incredible creatures.
The Jurassic World Evolution 2 Marine Pack DLC continues the exceptional work that Frontier has done with this prehistoric park builder, and for those that are thoroughly addicted to its dinosaur-breeding charms this is yet another essential purchase.
