Water flumes, a surprisingly good story mode, and a formidable console management scheme make Planet Coaster 2 a worthy sequel.
Happily, it does, with a genial confidence that is underpinned by both slick execution and some cleverly reworked design tools. Sure, it may occupy a niche on the cozy end of the gaming spectrum (although the feedback it constantly gives, regarding unsatisfied customers’ specific beefs, can induce momentary panic) but given the opportunities it opens up, for you to build the most lavish and diverse of theme parks, it has a strangely heavyweight feel to it.
When you first start playing it, whimsy and gentle British humour are at the fore. In the tutorial, and the subsequent Career mode, you start off as the latest employee of Coaster Coast, the renowned theme park design and development company run by Oswald B. Thompson and his spreadsheet-loving sidekick Eugene Newton, and must prove your design, building, and management chops.
A number of elements stand out straight away, especially the big addition to Planet Coaster 2: water rides. Coaster obsessives may not get too excited by the chance to build lavish swimming pools, with elaborate flumes feeding into them, but as with Planet Coaster 2’s rollercoaster-building, pool-building is fun and easy. This is thanks to an array of tools that let you, for example, delineate your own pool outlines or stamp out pool areas with giant squares before smoothing edges. Whereas coasters are rated for excitement, pools are rated by prestige, so it’s wise to add wave machines, sun loungers, changing rooms, soothing scenery, and the like.
Another key element which Frontier has improved on for Planet Coaster 2 is the path-building engine; a surprisingly crucial part of the game since your punters need to be able to reach your attractions and to be shepherded around your park. Even though we played Planet Coaster 2 on a console – so via a gamepad rather than using a mouse – we found the path-building very intuitive, with good snap to entrances and exits, and the ability to control curving to a fine degree. What was once a fiddly element of the game now seems natural and easy.
Frontier has also paid a lot of attention to the Career mode, which felt somewhat cursory in the original Planet Coaster – not entirely surprisingly, since theme park sims aren’t exactly known for having elaborate storylines. But Planet Coaster 2’s Career mode is pretty substantial and in no way resembles an afterthought.
As Coaster Coast’s latest employee, you get to work for various other theme park companies on projects that tend to focus on specific aspects of design and building. For example, on a recently discovered site containing ancient coasters, thought to have been built by the first race ever to have created roller-coasters, you must repair gaps in the tracks, before designing and building your own from scratch.
Storyline-wise, Planet Coaster 2 keeps things light and very much in the fantasy realm, although you do get to encounter Oswald B. Thompson’s nemesis. However, the story really exists just to allow you to showcase the diversity of your skills in different scenarios, which brings plenty of satisfaction as you turn half-built theme parks into over-the-top extravaganzas full of happy punters, which also – providing you respond to the feedback that comes in by way of notifications – make a lot of money.
As in the first game, Planet Coaster 2’s emphasis is firmly on design and building rather than theme park economics, but in the story mode you do encounter situations in which you need to, for example, up the prices of your rides in order to build a new coaster, without alienating your visitors.
For many, the most attractive element of Planet Coaster 2 will be its money-free sandbox mode which, with the addition of the water attractions and a vast source of building materials, contains the means to really exercise your imagination. Luckily, everything in the menus is grouped in exemplary fashion, otherwise it would be intimidatingly difficult to find. We did have one issue, though: once you have created a building it ought to be possible to assign a use to it, such as a drink or gift shop, but it isn’t. Although you can hide shops under architectural shells you have created, which seems a bit clunky.
Inveterate tinkerers will find it dead easy to create all manner of custom objects and then post them for the use of Planet Coaster 2’s community. Frontier also has a roadmap for post-launch downloadable content that should keep said community happy – hopefully including new visual themes for rides (which include Viking and Aquatic at launch) and story scenarios.
There’s also a Franchise mode for the most obsessive and competitive Planet Coaster 2 fans, which lets you create a park and invite others to help you build and improve it, and comes with a global leaderboard for the most lavish and lucrative efforts.
Planet Coaster 2 looks pretty decent – in the cartoonish manner invariably favoured by theme park sims – and it sounds good too: the constant hubbub made by park visitors can be surprisingly thrilling. The addition of water features proves a plus and in general, especially when played via a gamepad, its interface (which makes heavy use of the bumpers) is as good as you could imagine.
We did encounter one aspect which could use a bit of improvement, though, that cropped up when building and renovating coasters: occasionally, the camera would become unhelpful, forcing us to zoom out then zoom back in again. That quirk was especially common with coasters that have high vertical sections.
Overall, Planet Coaster 2 is easily able to maintain the franchise’s reputation as the best theme park sim on the market. It addresses its predecessor’s weak points, such as the pathing engine; the addition of water features proves a success; it has a pleasantly cheery vibe; and, ultimately, it feels like the best possible coaster, pool, and theme park-building simulator you could ask for. The perfect game for when you’ve had a hard day and feel the urge to tinker around with something inconsequential but rewarding.
Planet Coaster 2 review summary
Pros: Exemplary new pathing system and water features fit in perfectly. Great gamepad control system and vast array of building blocks in sandbox mode. Career mode is surprisingly substantial.
Cons: Unaccountable inability to assign uses for buildings. The camera is sometimes intractable when building or repairing coasters. No genuinely new ideas.
Score: 8/10
Formats: Xbox Series X/S (reviewed), PlayStation 5, and PC
Price: £39.99
Publisher: Frontier
Developer: Frontier
Release Date: 6th November 2024
Age Rating: 3
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