Well, this is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a piece of DLC and if I’m going to take a look at some DLC, it may as well be a game I rather enjoy. Developer Skyhook Games and publisher Curve Digital actually won me over with Lawn Mowing Simulator last year, as my review proves. And now, mowing the lawn just got a little bit prehistoric with Lawn Mowing Simulator: Dino Safari.
Dino Safari first opened its doors in 1994 to capitalise on the mainstream obsession with all things prehistoric, and is proudly still going strong today. This beloved local location is one of the area’s premier tourist attractions, transporting kids and adults alike into a bygone time around its proud central volcano. There are four main zones containing eight dinosaurs whose grounds need maintaining… if you’re brave enough!
As I have already reviewed the main game (click here), I don’t really need to go into all the gameplay mechanics and such. If you have played Lawn Mowing Simulator previously, then you know what to expect in terms of gameplay here. What you get with this DLC are four new areas to mow. You get Raptor Enclosure, Cretaceous Canyon, Herbivore Valley and T-Rex Paddock. Now, the dinosaurs here are not real, this is not you taking a trip to Jurassic Park to maintain their grass. Nor does your mower double up as a time machine for you to travel back 200 million years ago. The Dino Safari DLC has you cutting the grass of areas inhabited by animatronic dinosaurs of a child-friendly tourist attraction. So you don’t need to worry about running over the foot of a T-Rex and it eating you.
The four new areas give you additional career contracts and even six new achievements to unlock. As with the base game, Dino Safari is crammed with some really great details. The ambient and calming sounds are still here. Only now, they are accompanied with some dino roars and so on. There are new assets to help sell the fact that you are now in a dino attraction, faux electric fences, dino nests full of eggs, volcanoes in the background… and dino-themed rubbish bins. The dinosaurs themselves look great, they have that very animatronic feel to them, as the animations are intentionally jerky and slightly awkward looking.
Priced at £4.99 (slightly cheaper if you buy it via Game Pass) this is a nice little addition to the base game. You get a few more lawns to mow and can even ride a mower between a T-Rex’s legs too. Lawn Mowing Simulator is a game that I have a lot of love for, it’s peaceful and relaxing, with a really great career mode. So more of it is always nice to see Throwing some (animatronic) dinosaurs into the mix wasn’t what I was expecting at all but I’m really glad this Dino Safari DLC exists. It’s just a great bit of harmless fun.
Little Bits of Gaming & Movies 