In Planet Zoo, it all starts with the creation of a jovial and cartoonish avatar, trendy floral shirt and colorful polka dot shorts. All visitors to your future zoos will be of the same caliber, the artistic direction being particularly kind. Small light music and true-false language "Planco" way "Simlish" inevitably recall the Sims, and we feel that everything has been done to please as many people as possible. It's perfectly understandable, but perhaps the atmosphere lacks a bit of personality. And since we start with nitpicking, be warned that the players who come to visit your zoo as soon as you are online do not really do so. They are just regular customers simply and randomly bearing the names of other players. In truth, it is impossible to go to other people's parks, which we can only regret. Fortunately, there is already a lot to do with our own zoos.
The game offers a career mode to gently learn the gameplay, a franchise mode that allows you to create online parks and exchange animals with other players, a challenge mode to develop quietly offline, and finally a sandbox mode intended to create the place of our dreams without any constraint, in particular financial. In any case, you will have the pleasure of observing beautifully modeled and animated animals, even the effects of fur, feathers and scales being rather successful. Detail that will not fail to make some players laugh: the animals do not hesitate to defecate on occasion, and the park employees then rush to clean the ground using a poop vacuum cleaner. Don't think that you will be able to content yourself with the role of observer, however pleasant it may be. For your zoos to work properly, you will actually have to manage a lot of parameters.
ZOOTOPIA
Just building a pen already takes a lot of thought. It is necessary to choose the right height of fences, possibly install anti-climbing devices, terraform the interior surface, and favor glass walls so that visitors can observe the animals, while reserving for the latter some places sheltered from the looks so as not to increase their stress too much. We will also have to correctly dose the different types of terrain (short grass, long grass, earth, rock, sand, snow) according to the preferences of each species present, install the right quantity and the right type of plants (according to the continents and biomes origin), provide enough water, food and "toys", meet the needs of lakes or climbing points, or even ensure that compatible species are grouped together in the same enclosure.
"Heat maps" allow you to observe at a glance what is working well or badly in your zoo thanks to colored zones, according to different filters: water, electricity, temperature, animal welfare, habitat, buildings, negative impact on visitors, visitor needs and even education.
For this, it is better to regularly take a quick look at the zoopedia, which contains a lot of information about each animal, some of it useful for the game and others for general knowledge. Want to take care of even more things? No worries ! You will have to buy animals at the market, use the exchange center from time to time, reintroduce certain individuals into the wild, mate two representatives of the same species trying to optimize their genetic heritages and, in another register, remember to hide the technical areas so that visitors do not see them too much. "Heat maps" allow you to observe at a glance what is working well or badly in your zoo thanks to colored zones, according to different filters: water, electricity, temperature, animal welfare, habitat, buildings, negative impact on visitors, visitor needs and even education. It is indeed important to install educational panels and loudspeakers so that the public acquires more knowledge about the species presented.
PLANET CHIC
Have we explored the possibilities and requirements of the game? Nay! You will also have to capture fleeing animals, quarantine new arrivals, treat the sick, carry out scientific research, hire veterinarians, trainers, mechanics and other security agents, establish their salaries, manage their training, define their areas of work, setting up souvenir shops, restaurants, toilets, ATMs… We’re going through (a lot) and the best ones! Beneath its good-natured game air, Planet Zoo can therefore quickly become very complex. We can also spend hundreds of hours just on the extremely rich construction aspect. The list of building blocks for making complex structures is so extensive that you can even find a "concave asphalt roof angle" there. One example among thousands of others… Do not panic however, on this aspect as on the others the interface is generally very well done, in spite of the plethora of parameters to manage. In addition, it is possible to use pre-established plans or to download the creations of other players on the Steam Workshop.
Beneath its good-natured game air, Planet Zoo can therefore quickly become very complex. We can also spend hundreds of hours just on the extremely rich construction aspect. The list of building blocks for making complex structures is so extensive that you can even find a "concave asphalt roof angle" there.
The game is so rich and detailed that by freely wandering the camera through the scenery, you can go from a masterful overview to a view so close that it allows you to observe the dirty dishes inside a sink located in any small building. This commands respect, even if we can still denote some technical imperfections. Thus, it is not uncommon to see elements of the decor suddenly appear on the screen when navigating above the park, while collisions are often poorly managed (animals crossing paths in the somewhat too literal sense of the term , bush "spread" on either side of a fence, branches that quietly pierce a panda climbing a tree, etc.). But the biggest criticism that can be made of the game concerns the impasse it makes on birds and sea creatures. In the absence of aviaries, we are only allowed a few birds nailed to the ground (ostriches, peacocks and flamingos). And if it is possible to install vivariums to house spiders, snakes and other iguanas, it is however totally impossible to build aquariums. Fish and other cetaceans therefore respond to absent subscribers. Does Planet Zoo have any on hand for future downloadable content or expansions? Answer in a few months...
