Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (PS2)

This game is an interesting and welcome addition to the Jurassic Park franchise and one that really explores the possibility of the premise from a business stand point, one that in the films always drove the characters to commit acts of increasing stupidity in exchange for the chance of vast wealth.
The game is basically 'Theme Park' only with a dinosaur zoo slant. You have been charged with developing the park from a bare island (which you yourself pick from a number of potential sites) into a thriving, money making behemoth.
As you develop the island you will need to build certain essential amenities such as paths, toilets, fast food stands, merchandising, sanitation etc. But also all of the cool dinosaur related building as well such as a ranger station (security) and the enclosures themselves to house your star attractions.
The dinosaurs themselves are where this game really sets itself apart. Rather than giving you a list and prices you have to find the DNA yourself by sending your teams off to dig in parts of the world with varying success. You can also buy from the DNA market, although at an inflated price.
Once you have your DNA you can start building dinosaurs and releasing them, from here you can open to guests and the fun really begins.
The game totally immerses you in this world and you face alot of critical decisions early. The dinosaurs you choose to grow all have different attraction ratings and you have to choose between on expensive star (T-Rex) or a herd of less 'showy' dinosaurs. You customers will be split into 4 categories and only catering to one will have a massive effect on your profit. You also have to choose the different ways you want to make more money from the park in order to please your backers and expand your dino roster. You can micro manage all of the prices and amenities within the park in usual 'Theme Park' style, however the game offers new and innovative ways as well. You can decide to build balloon rides or observation towers to better view the dinos and charge for them, or you can take some photos of the dinos yourself to sell to magazines.
The dinosaurs in the game act well and seemingly randomly. There is alot of interaction and if you want to create a buzz you can always mix up the carnivores and herbivores. The game has some 'ingames' than can occur at random such as a storm or a dino breakout which means you will have to act although for the most part this is a strategy based game (these can also be accessed separately through the start screen'.
I enjoyed the game alot and thought it very unique and interesting. There is also an inherent challenge as you really do have to let your park develop and grow in order to survive long enough, and profitably enough, to be able to have you truly 5* attractions. This challenge might actually be the games major weakness as sometimes you find yourself with nothing to do for 5 minutes while enough customers come through your doors to allow you to start making Raptors. I bought the game for only a few pounds in a supermarket and played it manically for 2 weeks till I felt I'd gone as far as I could go. Not a bad investment for the price of a DVD rental.