Eight long years after the release of the original Planet Coaster, comes its sequel Planet Coaster 2. Frontier Development brings promises of player-requested features and a whole lot of fresh and exciting fun. Thanks to two hours of gameplay via an on-hands preview with the team, we have an insight into what you can expect.
Planet Coaster 2 offers something that players have been asking for since the first in this game series: water parks! Now in Planet Coaster 2, players have the option of adding pools, flumes, and lazy rivers to their parks. A park can build a coaster park with added pools and flumes, or focus on creating a water park without a rollercoaster in sight.
As was the case with the first Planet Coaster, players are in complete control of designing their dream park. From the fully customizable rides and water flumes to the theme of each food vendor building and so much more. The scenery can be scaled up or down to meet the player’s needs and added to basically any ride or building. The sheer amount of elements within a player’s control is overwhelming!
The first thing I usually do in building sim games like these is play around with the terrain tools. So many times when building, you come across bumps, hills and unwanted detritus which get in the way of any building. I prefer to start off with a clear area and then add details during the build. This proved essential during the scenario when I spent the first 30 seconds wondering why the path wouldn’t connect with the bridge.
There were so many options to play around with in such a short amount of time. One of the most exciting parts is the moment you open the park and see the customers stream in. On the left side is where you see notifications pop up. These tell you of any emergencies, broken rides, or unhappy customers. A love of problem-solving and quick reactions from the player will ensure the park runs smoothly!
Through the preview of Planet Coaster 2, I experienced two types of gameplay: scenario and sandbox. As I am the type of player who enjoys goals and challenges to complete, scenario gameplay appealed to me more. The freedom that came with playing around in Sandbox Mode was a lot of fun, however, and it was great to have the entire item menu open to me without any financial restrictions. Sandbox Mode is where a player would go to design the ultimate dream theme park down to every minute detail.
The details are really what make this game special. You can spend hours crafting unique coasters or flumes, and then the same on the layout of your park. I found it satisfying to plot out pathways and placements of each ride, and then add the staff and services. The controls seemed user-friendly and intuitive, although next time I would like to see how it works on a controller.
I didn’t experience any huge issues while playing that wasn’t down to the fact I hadn’t played a building sim in years. I had trouble finding the entrance to rides when trying to place paths, however. It wasn’t clear until I had already placed the ride. Generally, the game is easy enough to get to grips with.
The Scenario was great fun and added a bit of color with some inter-park rivalry. I assume this was part of Career Mode, which I look forward to exploring more in the future. In this scenario, the client requests specific demands for one half of the park but complete freedom on the other. We had a checklist to complete by adding pools and flumes with particular levels of ‘Pool Prestige’. The client clearly wanted the park designer to build a terrible park and players had to prove him wrong. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure I still built a terrible park but, hey, I had fun doing it.
After a bit of trial and error with some unfamiliar elements, building a park became very absorbing and then my hands-on preview was over. The experience I had barely scratched the surface of what was on offer but it was a valuable insight into what we can expect when the game is released.
