It was a balmy spring afternoon in la casa de Jay, and the spring Steam sale was in full swing. A game I had wishlisted, Planet Zoo, was on sale for 50% off. Intrigued, I clicked on its game page, and quickly fell in love with the concept. An overly detailed zoo construction simulator, as well as a business simulation. Then I saw the expansion packs. Then I saw that it had a Southeast Asian animals DLC. I immediately grabbed the premium edition which was $50 instead of its standard price, almost $100, and impulse bought the game. Last night, on my last day before spring break came to an end, I decided to crack open the game and play it for the very first time: and wow, was it a delight! First of all, the graphics are a solid 10/10. Though I had to turn them down due to my computer nearly committing suicide because of them, the animals are realistically rendered, the environments (and sheer range of terrains, plants, decor, etc) are beautiful. I only played the Goodwin and Madagascar zoo so far, but I was blown away at the decoration and construction capabilities this game had. The animals are also well-animated, displaying realistic behaviors and unique animations that you would find them performing in real life. I found the human models a little odd, as they're more cartoony than realistic, but I guess the game needed to save funds elsewhere.
The music is also wonderful. Though I've only played for a little bit, the music provides a lovely accompaniment as I tended to animals, constructed new habitats, or puzzled over where to put my next transformer. The sound design is also great, as a lot of animals have their unique noises, and clicking every button feels so satisfying. For gameplay... I have little to review, as I haven't formally finished the tutorial section yet, but the gameplay is really the bread and butter of the game. It is intense, and super detailed, focusing on every little need and niche that every animal could possibly need. From basic needs like food and water, to needs most people wouldn't think about when taking care of animals like enrichment and terrain, to even energy resources, there's so much to keep track of it's easy to lose your head. Even constructing the habitats has a lot of elements to it too-- you have to build a sturdy, tall barrier so the animals don't jump over the ledge, or worst case scenario, break out of their cage! Not to mention other mechanics such as employee management and trading with other players across the globe. In Planet Zoo, the gameplay possibilities are endless! The interface, however is very overwhelming to new players. There are a lot of mechanics, and as a result the game developers had to figure out new icons (or shortcuts) to access these mechanics, and as a result they can become hidden within menus and buttons and drop-down areas. You have to play through the tutorial to find each and every function, and even then it's a challenge to remember it all. These challenges hinder the games' accessibility as well, because even though every button, menu, and even font is legible to users who have reading/visual issues such as dyslexia, there is just SO many that its hard to figure them all out. I have received no performance issues with the game (besides my computer heating up on the HIGHEST visual settings... turning them down to medium seems to mitigate this) to my relief, as this was a pricy purchase and I wanted to savor every moment of it before I had to refund it, if necessary. Luckily, I'm able to run the game just fine-- be wary though, it's a MEATY game and takes around 10 gb to download onto your computer. Overall, I would give Planet Zoo a solid 5/5 for players that are interested in this sort of detailed, developed gameplay. If you're a more casual gamer, I would not recommend it. But as someone who wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a child, this game is satisfying every itch and urge.
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AuthorHey, Jay Phung here. This is my blog where I reflect on various assignments from Game Design! Please enjoy your stay (´・ω・`). Archives
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