Reviews for Planet Zoo 2 are largely positive, with critics praising its stunning animal models, expanded species roster, new aviaries and aquariums, and deeper zoo-building options. However, clunky menus, frustrating micromanagement, technical issues, and underwhelming wildlife reserves remain common criticisms.
8.2
Average Score (adjusted)
Confidence: High
Divisive
Reviews: 7
Top Review: ign (9.0)
Spread: 3.0
IGN's verdict is that Planet Zoo 2 is a vibrant and thriving sequel. The main pros are lovely visual upgrades, an impressive roster of over 130 species, expanded zookeeping mechanics including aviaries and aquariums, a genuinely challenging economic simulation, deep building customization with modeled interiors, modular gift shops and restaurants, and new wildlife reserves that are fun to visit. The main cons are that wildlife reserves feel shallow with no need to hire rangers or botanists, water tools are limited by fixed-height troughs and can't make convincing flowing rivers, the Sustainability rating is trivial, and the campaign is just fine.
PC Gamer's verdict is that the animals are superstars, but they don't quite make up for the fiddly, frustrating micromanagement. The main pros are the truly majestic animals with world-class art, animation, and audio design, the welcome additions of birds and aquariums that make zoos feel more varied, charming incidental touches like the camera splash effect, and the game's serious and admirable commitment to conservation. The main cons are the exhaustingly fiddly and tangled menu navigation, unintuitive habitat creation tools that make enclosure setup a chore, finicky habitat variables and clipping objects, shallow and uninteresting nature reserves that pull attention away from zoo management, a mundane career mode, and overly simple financial management that lets you stay deep in profit even while ignoring your zoo.
Destructoid's verdict is that Planet Zoo 2 is a worthy sequel that expands the franchise in new directions while keeping intact the core gameplay, earning a 9.5 and described as a hallmark of excellence. The main pros are the absolutely brilliant additions of aquatics and aviaries, massive improvements in animal behavior animations, the introduction of wildlife reserves that add grandeur and replayable variety, significant quality-of-life improvements to terrain and water tools, and well-designed, distinct creatures. The main cons are visual glitches and rare stutters, and some fan-favorite species missing from the base game, though this is expected to be addressed through DLC.
GameSpew's verdict is that Planet Zoo 2 is Frontier's biggest and best game yet. The main pros are that it looks gorgeous, the realistic animals are a joy to observe, there are so many options to build the zoo of your dreams, and nature reserves are a welcome addition, with a greater focus on conservation making for a wholesome and rewarding experience. The main con is that getting to grips with the controls and systems can be difficult, requiring a learning curve and a willingness to put in the time.
DualShockers' verdict is that Planet Zoo 2 is a stupendous upgrade over Frontier's first effort and a spectacular zoo management simulation, scoring 9 out of 10. The main pros are an incredible amount of content, a fun story mode, fabulous new aquariums and habitats, an enjoyable soundtrack, a lot of ways to play, and huge improvements to many core systems including animal AI pathing and zoo customization. The main con is that it may be overwhelming for new players, even with the tooltips, since it throws a lot at you at once.
GameWatcher's verdict is that Planet Zoo 2 is potentially the biggest and deepest Zoo Tycoon successor yet, but a pile of design frustrations and rough edges prevent it from soaring high. The main pros are a career mode with a good sense of direction, a varied selection of locations, ecosystems, and animals, top-notch model and animation work across the board, excellent creative tools and sharing features, franchise and sandbox modes that are freeing in different ways, and wildlife reserves that are refreshing despite their simplicity. The main cons are that micromanagement and the UI could still use more work, certain mechanics could be streamlined, and the game is pretty buggy at launch, compounded by overly complex menus, half-explained mechanics, and a lack of approachability for casual players.
But Why Tho's verdict is that Planet Zoo 2 is a more-than-worthy sequel that is rich in depth and full of life. The main pros are the fully interactive and customizable wildlife reserves with biodiversity ratings, new birds and sea animals with aquariums and aviaries, expanded shared habitats, improved visuals and animal behaviors, more open building options including staff and guest areas, and its strong emphasis on conservation. The main cons are technical and visual issues including animals clipping into objects, cameras going inside terrain, animals running on water, camera lockups, and delayed or unregistered inputs, though some are expected to be fixed in a Day 1 patch.