Planet Coaster 2

Frontier improves its theme park simulator to make it one of the most fun around.

Planet Coaster 2 wanted to be the ultimate theme park creation game, and it succeeded. The level of detail, the range of parameters to consider, and the number of creation possibilities offered are dizzying. The risk of being discouraged by so much wealth is real, especially since the unclear interfaces and incomplete tutorials will not help you enough. But, in the same way that your visitors will be able to choose whether or not to dive into your new pools, it is up to you to decide which game you will dive into: a demanding micro-management game? An ultra-complete construction game? Or just a fun time on the career mode, borrowing magnificent creations from the community? Everything is possible, and the frustration of not being able to do what you want is reduced. Who said it was easy to tame an almost perfect game?

All in all, Planet Coaster 2 is a massive improvement over its predecessor, and new additions such as the Water Park make it a more complete package. It’s a great experience for fans of the city-builder and simulation genre, but the steep learning curve and overall complexity of the gameplay will probably push away the more casual players.

Is Planet Coaster 2 going to replace the original as my go-to park builder just yet? No, but it almost definitely will in the future. It’s early days, and to discredit the work that Frontier has put into Planet Coaster 2 would do them a huge disservice – there simply aren’t any other studios out there that push out such quality games. It’s still a way off becoming the ultimate theme park builder, but if other Frontier titles are to go by, give it a little time (and a little polish) and Planet Coaster 2 will undoubtedly be the sandbox my dreams.

Planet Coaster 2 is a natural evolution of the theme park building simulation game in many ways. With endless possibilities to spark your creativity and the addition of water parks, it is the best alternative to create your own fun experience. The downside is that bugs, an unintuitive interface and poorly adapted commands in the console version may discourage less patient players.

While Planet Coaster 2 is undoubtedly the best park-building sim currently available (and a worthwhile improvement on its predecessor), it's held back by some frustrations, particularly on console where its controls can be fiddly. Still, there's plenty of fun to be had here, and building a waterpark is an undeniable joy.

Planet Coaster 2 is a worthy sequel to the original and it seems Frontier has really listened to fan feedback and delivered what fans have been longing for. If you liked the original then you'll love this follow-up, but genre newcomers could find the sheer spectrum of options here a touch overwhelming.

To be frank, here, I don’t think enough was done to make Planet Coaster 2 enough of a sequel. Adding water parks and slides, and more rides in general, were all perfectly rational ways to expand on the Planet Coaster experience, but we’re in an era now where DLC is getting Game of the Year nominations, and I do think that this feels more like a massive DLC drop at 50% of the price of a base game than a new, full-priced game. And as fun as the emerging “Frontier Simulation” formula is I also can’t help but wish that the developers would challenge themselves to try and create an actual simulator at some point. Make something with teeth, folks! You might be surprised just how invested your players get when their decisions have consequences for their parks, too.

Frontier Developments finally follows up on Planet Coaster, but despite the gorgeous visuals, it falters in truly baffling ways.