Frontier could almost single-handedly train the next generation of business managers. Whether it’s zoos, theme parks, or places where the exhibits might eat the guests, Frontier has locked down the management sim. That may sound like a serious, suit-wearing, briefcase-wielding sort of business, but Frontier are also masters of making balancing the books fun, and Planet Coaster 2 sees them updating and refining the formula once more. It’s little surprise to discover that this is the new benchmark for theme park builders.
The core Planet Coaster 2 experience remains much the same as it was in the original game. You have full control of a theme park, from placing and building each ride, through to extensive path-laying and the pricing of burgers and fries – you sadly can’t decide if they’re smashed or loaded, though. Admittedly, that would also have been true of Theme Park, the originator of this management sim sub-genre, but Planet Coaster 2 gives you a level of incremental control that Theme Park players could only have dreamed of.
Oswald B Thompson, a joyfully Scottish chap, welcomes you to the Career mode, along with Eugene, his faithful ride engineer. They’ll see you through the first steps to building your own park, while making some lightly amusing comments along the way. It’s just… well, nice, and while I’m still parsing what cozy gaming is, it feels as though Planet Coaster 2 fits the bill with its gentle and playful tone, pun-filled mission titles, and easy-going pace.
While Planet Coaster 2 will undoubtedly make you happy, it is actually a game about making other people happy. Your park, and your park rating, are based upon a number of factors, but fundamentally it’s about guest happiness and enjoyment. You ensure that by having a wide range of rides, making sure your park is full of beautiful scenery, and by offering the services and utilities they’ll need for an extended stay in your playground.
The first step on that path is of course the rides. Planet Coaster 2 has seen a serious upgrade over its predecessor, adding all-new rides and experiences for your guests to enjoy, and they’re all captured in impressively high detail. Seriously, you can zoom all the way into them, marvelling at the different textures, and it’s an immediate sign of just how much the team at Frontier has put into this release. You can also customise pretty much every aspect of each ride, altering their look to make your park truly unique.
Early on in the Career, you’re introduced to the concept of Coastonians, an ancient race of people who seemed to have the same architectural penchants as the Ancient Greeks, just with more loop the loops that would’ve made their aqueducts much more fun. You’re then allowed to rebuild one of these ancient parks, reconstructing their wooden rollercoasters while giant statues look on. It’s immediately fun and accessible, and does a great job of adding some narrative drive to learning the mechanics of the game.
It feels as though the design brief for Planet Coaster 2 was “bigger and wetter”, and by golly, Frontier has certainly stuck to that ethos. The big addition to your park inventory is the ability to build your own waterpark, with pools, flumes and all sorts of slides available to you. They bring with them their own new wrinkles to the formula, such as changing rooms, ladders and lifeguards, but they add some lovely visual pop to the already vibrant visuals.
Planet Coaster 2 is so in depth it could be called Business Management Simulator, but I have a feeling that it’d be less joyful, and wouldn’t sell quite as many copies. Once you’ve built your rides, shops, toilets and trashcans, you can start to dig into the minutiae of park management. How much do you want to charge? Is your power grid extensive enough? Have you just made every single person on your rollercoaster throw up? Did you mean to?
If you played the first Planet Coaster or Planet Zoo, then you’ll know what to expect here, but Frontier has made sure that it’s as approachable as possible for anyone that hasn’t. The Career mode holding your hand while you find your way, and a UI and menu system that mostly makes sense, making sure not to slow you down behind multiple menu screens.
In fact, that’s one of the key things I love about Planet Coaster 2 – and its fellow Planet games – with the park always at the centre of everything. There are very few moments where you disappear into the back end, and instead, your creation is on view throughout, informing your design decisions and your path to success.
Planet Coaster 2 obviously shares a great deal of DNA with its predecessor, but there’s smart improvements and additions everywhere you look. Besides the wonderfully watery new designs, there’s now five unique themes for your park, new pathway controls and even the inclusion of plazas – open guest spaces that fans have been clamouring for since the original game launched. Frontier has gone into the sequel toolkit, taking what worked and building upon it, and come out the other side with the most complete entry in the Planet stable.
As with its siblings, the only time that Planet Coaster loses its chilled, cosy vibe, is when the controls don’t quite seem to comprehend what it is you’re trying to do. You’ll wrestle with coaster gradients and curves, and pull your hair out over paths and scenery, though some of it may depend on how fussy you are about things being placed just so. You will get there eventually, but perhaps not without a few missteps and the odd rude word muttered under your breath. For heaven’s sake, don’t let Oswald hear you. Fortunately, Frontier has protected your sanity with the inclusion of Blueprints for pre-made rides, shops and coasters that you can just plonk down, hook up to the nearest path, and start raking in the money from. You can work your way up to full customisation in time.
Planet Coaster 2 certainly offers a huge amount of gameplay for your money, and alongside the Career mode, you’ll find a competitive Franchise mode, and the beloved Sandbox where you can forget any semblance of competitiveness and just build things to your heart’s content. You can also play Sandbox and Franchise mode in one-at-a-time co-op, making it even more wholesome as you build something special together, assuming that you don’t return to a disaster zone of course.