Planet Zoo 2 Review

A lively, vibrant sequel with appealing visual upgrades and expanded mechanics.

Running my dream zoo in Planet Zoo is always a little different from the fun landscapes of Planet Coaster or the fantastic dino parks of Jurassic World Evolution. All these gorgeous animals and birds are real species that we share on this planet and in some cases we have put them on the endangered list. So I was glad that the Frontier sequel this time around had a deeper emphasis on environmental protection as a central goal, even if certain parts of it—like the wildlife sanctuaries—felt a little less than they could have been.

When it comes to the day-to-day tasks of building the enclosure, hiring staff, and caring for the animals, things haven't changed since the original Planet Zoo. As such, it's more like a gentle evolution than a wildly ambitious one. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you played the first game, you will have no problem with this game. There are many more options for adding detail, but building a functional zoo doesn't require learning them all.

The species list is also quite impressive, with over 130 creatures of various sizes on display. Some of these are exhibit-based, meaning they live in smaller terrariums and don't have all the same features as larger terrariums. And only about half of the list are eligible to eventually be released into the wild—more on that below. But at no point did Liszt ever feel stingy. I even learned about a new species of horse!

The addition of Birds and Aquariums is the first big, shiny new feature that isn't just visual. And the flexibility allowed by this system is impressive. Whereas in Jurassic World Evolution, creating habitats for swimmers and flies was all about snapping together large, modular pieces, Planet Zoo 2 gives you great control over the shape, appearance, and in the case of aquariums, even the depth of an exhibit.

I was really excited when I found out that you can make glass tunnels through the aquarium exhibit. You can even build your entire zoo this way, as long as you stick to species that can easily share water houses. Some species fight each other or try to eat each other when they are placed together, like in the first zoo of the planet. But there are also aquatic and semi-aquatic organisms that have different needs in terms of water temperature and salinity. If you want to have freshwater and saltwater exhibits in the same zoo, you even need two different filtration networks, which was an extra level of planning and realism that I enjoyed.

This brings me to the big advantage that sets Planet Zoo 2 apart from its rollercoaster- and dino-based sister games: it's actually a challenging economic simulation. Of course, in sandbox mode, you can turn off almost anything you don't want to deal with - from employee happiness to animal aging to the concept of money. But as someone who feels the difficulty of keeping the lights on is part of the experience, I'm glad to find that it's not entirely trivial.

If you check out my review of Planet Coaster 2 , you'll remember that I was blown away by the fact that I could ditch a flat ride and a few vending machines, walk away from my PC, and come back to basically make unlimited money from my sad little park. I did a similar experiment in Planet Zoo 2, building a small exhibit with just warthogs to start with and using my guests as much as possible to make a profit. This did not work. And that's great!

Between six different types of staff to manage, complex guest and animal needs, and the fact that visitors can be realistically picky about ticket prices if they don't think they're getting their money's worth, Planet Zoo 2 has a lot to chew on, even before you start moving into the rich breeding and conservation systems. There are still a few bits of the admin panel that feel a little undercooked. Your sustainability rating is only based on the type of power generators and trash cans you install, which is a trivial choice with no major downsides that I never thought about again after earning five stars before the gates opened. But the other components of building my zoo reputation really gave me something to strive for.

Customization possibilities are also greatly expanded, as almost all buildings now have fully modeled interiors that guests and staff can interact with. You can design your perfect lounge, inside and out, and even change the kitchens where the animals' food is prepared. The system deepens with new, modular gift shops and restaurants where functional seating areas and shelves can be placed that actually affect the dining capacity and items available for purchase.

I am an absolute amateur at using these powerful tools to their fullest potential. But since the Steam Workshop once again allows me to download small decorations or even entire buildings from more talented and dedicated detailers, I can still take advantage of their versatility.

There is also a campaign that serves more as a form of extensive training. it is good I mainly used it as inspiration for what I could make with the new tools. The characters still kind of talk like they're in a BBC children's show, but they're less silly-looking this time around, which means I had a little more patience for them. And there's even a sort of plot that revolves around exposing the crimes of a big corporation that claims to be environmentally friendly and actually puts fragile ecosystems at risk. It does the job well enough.

Another notable new element of Planet Zoo 2 comes in the form of wildlife reserves, which are completely separate maps where you paint biomes instead of terrain, then level them up by introducing suitable plants and re-wilding a variety of native species. While it can be a lot of fun driving around in my little cart and taking pictures of my former zoo residents in their natural habitat, the management side of these reserves seems a bit superficial.

There are many labels for different types of animals that can occupy the necessary biological niches in your preserves, but creating and maintaining ecosystems is not always so satisfying. For example, getting rid of invasive plants is just by clicking on them with the bulldozer tool. There is no need to hire an environmentalist or a botanist to maintain the land. You do this with godlike powers. I will say, I really like the new nature brushes, which can be used to paint a variety of canopy and understory plants with one tool. You can even make your own!

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Water tools do not have the same standard. There are many customizations in terms of surface texture, color, opacity, etc. But any volume of water is ultimately still a fixed height and must fit into a depression. You can't really make anything like a convincing river flowing downhill without resorting to some clever special effects that require a lot of tweaking. Made me miss the dynamic waterfalls from Jurassic World Evolution 3.

Still, it's great to have a physical place I can visit when an animal is out of time in my zoo. I can even take pictures of them to earn Conservation Credits, the second Planet Zoo 2 money required for certain adoptions. Higher Endangered Animals I also enjoyed being able to invest my zoo resources into new conservation projects, which provides a useful and reliable way to convert money into Conservation Credits if you don't currently have any animals to release.

Planet Zoo 2 is a vibrant and thriving sequel, with lovely visual upgrades to the vast roster of land, air, and sea animals and exciting expanded mechanics. I wasn't totally blown away by all the new stuff, and in particular I think the wildlife reserves could be a lot richer than they are. But with so many management features to challenge my strategic side and endless flexible building tools to inspire my creative side, there's not much I can ask for. It is a roaring success.