Planet Zoo Game Review
Planet Zoo (2019) is a spiritual successor to the Zoo Tycoon franchise which was widely popular in the 2000s. Unsatisfied with the watered-down modernizations of this once-great franchise, many of the original team members worked on this new game as Frontier Studios.
Planet Zoo is a management simulation, park-builder, and sandbox game in one. The goal is to make your dream zoo with animals, guests, and staff that are happy and satisfied. You can decorate to your heart’s content and provide educational resources to keep your guests, and their cash, coming back.
Gameplay involves building enclosures, managing staff, and placing guest buildings. It is by no means an action game and often requires idle periods while you wait for the money to accrue or baby animals to be born. For management-sim veterans, this is expected, but can be a downside nonetheless.
The 3-D models of the animals are impressive and its fun to watch them roam around the area you built. Landscaping and decorating objects are plentiful, but the objects your animals actually interact with are much fewer. Sadly, this game also suffers from the all-too-familiar DLC reliance, with packs that feature a handful of new animals and items costing around $5. They’re not necessary, but overpriced for what they actually provide.
One area where Planet Zoo excels is in the tutorials. The building and management systems are complex and not always super intuitive, so tutorials are a must-have. The tutorials in this game are small missions, driven by a narrative of a conversationally friendly zoo chain being taken over by (and later taken back from) a nonchalant businessman who doesn’t care for the animals.
These tutorials are fun, intuitive, and provide a genuine feeling of accomplishment when finished to their “gold” level. Although there are a few irritating bugs in these missions, you really feel like you learned the system when you are done. After these are done, you can build your new zoos with a strong grasp of the system, something other park builders can struggle with.
Each of the three game modes have different priorities. The main “Campaign” mode gives you a limited budget and animal options and allows you to create zoos all over the world. The “Challenge” mode is similar, but with specific tasks to accomplish. The “Sandbox” mode is much more freeform, with no budget and unlimited options. These modes have something for everyone and every mood.
Overall, the gameplay is fun and can be challenging, allowing the player to make their own decisions that really affect their zoo. The game probably appeals best to people who have nostalgic feelings for park-builder games from the late 90s and mid-2000s. If you’re willing to deal with the learning curve that comes with this building system, you’ll definitely have fun with Planet Zoo.
