Game review: Planet Coaster 2 (PC)
The excellent Planet Coaster gets a sequel in Planet Coaster 2, but does it live up to its predecessor?
Frontier Developments have dominated the theme park management simulator market since 2004's Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and its expansions Soaked! and Wild!, which introduced water parks and zoos to the game. This was followed by the moderately received Thrillville in 2006. 2013's Zoo Tycoon and 2015's Screamride, developed exclusively for Microsoft's consoles. These titles allowed the studio to experiment and refine its ride and park game mechanics for the release of the original Planet Coaster in 2016.
Despite several DLC add-ons, Planet Coaster never got the water park or zoo expansions fans craved. Instead, Frontier released the well-received Jurassic World Evolution dinosaur park management game in 2018 (with a sequel in 2021) and Planet Zoo in 2019.
Planet Coaster 2 has not been an easy game to review. In a year of disappointing sequels and lacklustre would-be tent-pole games, it's deflating when games that should be slam dunks falter. You don't want to be writing a review of the game that you want it to be, making excuses for the inexcusable, nor do you want to take cheap shots airing frustrations that others may not share.
It took a while for me to warm to Planet Coaster 2, which, in many ways, is an improvement over the last game. At the same time, however, it makes some questionable missteps.
The game invites players to build and manage their theme parks the same as in its predecessor. The game is broken down into a few game modes. The campaign had me rejuvenating aging parks via goals that also serve to introduce new players to the game.
As an alternative for players who like to learn on the job, so to speak, the sandbox mode can be used to tailor the game to individual players' tastes. You can set the game up to be as challenging as you like, with all the management, budgeting and research requirements or unlock everything and give yourself infinite cash for a creative experience.
The franchise mode gives players the chance to create a thriving theme park empire consisting of several parks across a geographic area. These can be played solo but are intended to be played with friends.
Whichever mode you choose to play, your success or failure can be seen in the faces of your park's visitors. Not only are guests expecting fun and excitement, but they also need feeding and facilities. Of course, food, beverages, and gift shops are also great sources of revenue.
Maintaining parks requires the hiring of staff such as mechanics and janitors. These staff can be tasked with maintaining their areas or just roam the park. Too few and rides will break down and paths become littered.
The biggest change for Planet Coaster 2 is that takes the established gameplay of the first game and finally allows players to build pools and create water parks. This is a feature that I expected of any Planet Coaster sequel, considering we never got water parks in the first game.
The other addition borrows the utility management from Jurassic World Evolution, and the requirement to supply electricity and filtered water to the various attractions. Whilst an obvious mechanic for a management game (or even a Jurassic Park game- where it's required to contain dangerous animals), it is a bit of a chore, adding an extra layer of micromanagement, especially when it doesn't quite work.
Whilst I appreciated the pools and water-themed rides, playing through the campaign game there's a lot of gameplay that just doesn't feel intuitive, making completing the tasks difficult. On one such occasion, I had to set up a marketing campaign, but having forgotten the short tutorial in the intro mission, I had no idea where to find the marketing page in the park management section. Checking on the internet, I found it buried under the guests' tab.
I get it that they are building upon an established game framework, but it still seems a little rough around the edges. Like they skimped on the beta testing. Don't get me wrong, the developer is not displaying the same level of hubris as those responsible for the failures that are Kerbal Space Program 2 and Cities Skylines 2- two sequels to beloved, perfectly honed games that have recently fallen on their faces- but still…
There are also pathing issues and sometimes guests will flat out refuse to experience a ride. I've also had rides that continuously fail and others that fate out refused to be energised, no matter how many power generators I hook up. To be fair, though, since release, I have seen a marked improvement in the game as developers iron out the bugs.
Rubbing salt in the wound, somewhat, is the Vintage Funfair Ride Pack DLC. Launched on day one. The pack features the basic rides that you'd have thought could have been included in the main game. Frontier has become keen on DLC releases with their other park management games, like Planet Zoo, but this is a bit cheeky. The pack features ten rides for 30 bucks. I don't know about you, but I don't think you should be paying extra to put a roundabout in your park. Since reviewing the game, another very slim DLC pack has also been released, so I expect this to be the way Frontier will go with this game.
There's a lot to like about the game. It's still as engrossing as the first one and the addition of pools makes for some interesting and creative parks.
The game visuals are polished to a shine. Even busy parks with thousands of visitors run smoothly and without any stuttering. The lighting, as well, is superb. The game looks absolutely stunning as it is, but at nighttime, it's next level. Being able to move and position lights and observing the effect of the scene in real-time is incredible, allowing for some amazingly intricate lighting designs.
After a while, I was able to work around the game's quirks and rough edges to produce some fantastic theme parks. The real joy of the game is in crafting the park of your dreams and watching guests as they delight in your creations.
The management side, as well, will appeal to those who like to look under the hood and efficiently manage park profit, ride performance and staff optimisation. The tools are all there, although, like with the park creation, they are not particularly intuitive at times.
I'm glad I sat on this review while Frontier sorted out some of the niggles with Planet Coaster 2. It still takes some getting used to (I found the undo shortcut very handy for when things go bad), but I was able to create some spectacular parks and had a lot of fun. The game is only going to get better over time, although I do hope that they make the DLC packs better value for money.
Verdict: 8/10
