Random Video Game Review - Planet Zoo

You know, something I have noticed with British game developers and publishers is that some of them release games less frequently than the likes of Ubisoft, EA and the Big 3 (Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft). Perhaps this is a good thing because by releasing games on an infrequent basis, the games being developed can get polished and have all its issues fixed and then the people making it would release it. This brings us to Frontier, a game company local to me who for the past few years have been creating theme park simulator games which has received much critical acclaim. Planet Zoo is their third game in this genre which was preceded by Planet Coaster and Jurassic World: Evolution and serves as a spiritual successor to the old Zoo Tycoon games from the 00s of which Frontier made at least one game of. In other words, this is a game where that film We Bought a Zoo is quite literally what players will do in this game as well as creating their own zoo of course. So let's see how managing a zoo can work:

Gameplay is similar to Planet Coaster in nearly every way with the exception that this is a zoo building and managing game. There is a total of 80 species of animals in the game (which includes the base and DLC ones) all of which their AIs aim to have them behave like their real life counterparts (with emotion too unlike the 2019 remake of The Lion King). Each animal as expected have requirements and needs that the player needs to offer in order for their survival in the zoo. All animals have their own genome which can be altered to change certain aspects like how long they can life for, how healthy they can be and so on. Exhibits can be made to the players liking which can also be used to meet the requirements and needs of the animals, thereby making them happy. And of course the purpose of most zoos is to ensure the survival of various species of animals and players can do just that through breeding. The game also has a campaign mode too.

Planet Zoo is a good game. Graphics are about the same as they were in the last two games Frontier made which allows the game to feel realistic. It's not easy to manage a zoo, but its good fun and a great way to bring the zoo to you in these challenging times. So yeah give it a play if you have a PC and love animals. 8/10