Planet Zoo Review friv game – How to build a zoo without going bust

/by

Tycoon Planet Zoo recently celebrated its second anniversary of launch. During this time, the game received several major additions and attracted a lot of fans. We decided to try our hand at the difficult task of managing a zoo, and we, seduced by beautiful graphics, detailed animal behavior and a detailed economic model. We share our impressions of the game in the review.

Friv2Online Studio has extensive experience in creating management games: since 2000, the British have released projects of various kinds in this genre, from the RollerCoaster Tycoon series of amusement park simulators to the Jurassic World Evolution line of park management strategies with dinosaurs .

Planet Zoo is from the same opera: in this game you have to take charge of the zoo and lead it to prosperity. It won’t be easy, but it’s damn exciting.

The game opens with a career mode that serves as a tutorial for beginners. However, it is also worth going through for those who already have experience playing tycoons: firstly, for the sake of interesting missions, and secondly, because it explains some non-obvious things and, in general, helps to get used to the zoo management process.

Here, mentors are always ready to help the player, who will help to understand all the intricacies of game mechanics and will give the opportunity to immediately try them out in practice. Scenarios range from a panda conservation project to the construction of an Arctic research park that combines profit making and exploration of the frigid region’s wildlife.

There are few plot quests in Planet Zoo – some dozen, however, given the slowness of the gameplay in this genre, you can spend a good two dozen hours in them, especially if you want to close all the quests for the maximum three-star rating. To do this, you need to complete all the goals, but if there is no desire, you can earn the required minimum of one star in the scenario and move on to the next one.

In addition, the developers have prepared several scenarios for the time being. Here it is already important not only to fulfill orders, but also to try to do it as quickly as possible. Such a challenge for those who want to challenge their experience and capabilities.

When career growth reaches a peak, it’s time to start building your own zoo. The game has a “sandbox” where you can give free rein to your imagination, without restricting yourself with restrictions in the form of finances and eco-points. And if you want difficulties, you can go to the online franchise mode, and try to fulfill the goals of the community, which change periodically.

In multiplayer, you can also trade animals , which opens up scope for speculation: sell high, buy low, track demand for rare goods, create shortages and satisfy demand. Players shape the market in Planet Zoo multiplayer, which sometimes leads to funny stories like rare animal prices skyrocketing and the shop filling up with low-end species.

Being a zookeeper is not easy. Many factors need to be taken into account, ranging from the needs of animals and staff to the wishes of visitors. All work falls on the shoulders of the manager, including planning the park, building aviaries, placing generators and office space, purchasing and crossing animals, and much more.

There are so many tools for construction that the eyes run wide. And when using them, it is necessary to remember the characteristics of different types of animals. For example, a chimpanzee will easily climb over a chain-link wall and escape into the wild. And the bear may experience stress if you install transparent walls: he does not like the attention of onlookers. In order not to anger the beast and at the same time give visitors the opportunity to admire it, you can place a wall that is transparent on one side, but in this case a financial issue arises. There you go, spin it however you want.

But this is only the beginning. Each species needs a characteristic cover: give it tall grass, and that likes to bask on the rocks. It is necessary to arrange drinkers and feeders, dig ponds and scatter animal toys around the aviary. And also attach veterinarians and caretakers to it so that they look after the condition of the animals and clean the territory.

Keeping track of all the needs of the “inhabitants” of the zoo is difficult. Luckily, Planet Zoo has a detailed “zoopedia” that contains comprehensive information about each species, as well as recommendations for care. Here you can quickly find out what kind of food the animal prefers, whether it likes to live alone or in a group, whether it will tolerate neighbors of other species, and what measures should be taken so that it does not run away.

Another useful option is filters. When building and filling enclosures, you can filter objects for a specific species and no longer worry about incompatibilities.

Outside the enclosures, too, there is a lot of work. You have to somehow attract visitors to them – that means you need to lay paths, place information boards and loudspeakers, and place donation baskets nearby. People want to eat and drink, so it is necessary to build shops and tents, as well as toilets.

Energy-consuming buildings and facilities require power generators to cover a certain area – but their appearance is not very popular with visitors, which means they need to be placed so that they do not catch the eye of vacationers. Finally, it is required to take care of the staff: lay special paths for official use so that visitors do not meddle on them, build recreation facilities, and so on.

Not everything in park management is implemented equally conveniently. The interface in Planet Zoo is quite overloaded with elements, it can be difficult to quickly find what you need. You have to use search or filters, which again takes extra minutes of time. It is not always possible to place buildings and fences on the territory: nothing seems to interfere, and when you try to install an object, we get a message that this cannot be done.

Of course, now, after two years since the release of the game, Frontier Developments is unlikely to take care of a radical change in the interface, so you have to put up with what you have. With a little practice, the menu items you need are found faster, and you no longer have to go to the reference book for the choice of toys for animals.

At the same time, you often break away from the gameplay to watch the animals. The developers paid a lot of attention to the behavior of the inhabitants of the zoo, so Planet Zoo can be used as an accomplice to study the habits of exotic animals. Watching deer play with a huge ball, chimpanzees jump on a multi-level simulator, and a tapir wallow in the mud is a pleasure.

Planet Zoo has a lot of expansions with different biomes and new animal species. Their geography covers almost all places on the globe, from the Arctic to South America. Of particular interest is the recent DLC Europe Pack, which includes European-inspired decor, an exciting new scenario, and five animal species, including some that may also be found in Russia .

It is no less interesting to watch how visitors approach the enclosures and examine the animals. By clicking on each of them, you can find out what the guest is dissatisfied with, what he liked, literally read his thoughts. And if he behaves inappropriately, call security and escort him out of the zoo: I had to do this with one teenage girl who really enjoyed turning over bins and kicking information stands.

The game looks good, although in some places it lacks detail. There are no serious bugs in it, however, there are often problems with object collisions. Models of visitors constantly pass through each other and fall into the steps. It’s not annoying, but you can’t ignore visual bugs either.

In Planet Zoo, you can disappear for a long time. The game is addictive with its measured gameplay, thoughtful planning and amusing tests. Although the online component feels superfluous, the interface makes you spend hours studying yourself, and there is too much micromanagement, in the end the project gives positive emotions.

a2706362d89db625241fe2559e6c231d