Planet Zoo - Year In Review

A comprehensive, retrospective analysis on Frontier Development's latest creative simulation game, Planet Zoo, looking back over its the last year since its release. This review covers the base game, deluxe edition and all the DLC packs that were released over the past year.
Chapters:
0:00 Prologue
1:06 Introduction
4:31 Presentation
8:32 Animals
13:40 Gameplay
31:47 Creativity
40:09 Career
42:49 Post-Release
48:01 Ratings, Pricing & Conclusion
Steam store page: store.steampowered.com/app/70...
Join the discord: / discord
Support on Patreon: / reviewgen
Steam Workshop submissions used in this video:
Phoenix Zoo by WarEagle751: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
Leeuwarden ZOO by PieterLiter: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
Restaurant 'Lotus' by Syrrael: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
Music: J.J. Ipsen - You, Me & Other Animals: The Music of Planet Zoo
Outro song: Andrew Prahlow - Timber Hearth (Outer Wilds OST)

[@deciomartins7789]

This is how a review should be done

[@Jecoopster]

50 minutes tho??? Wtf???

[@kramernickj1]

@@Jecoopster games would be better if more people reviewed like this

[@tabarnaklechien]

54 minutes videos review... really?

[@Braint-lr6uf]

@@tabarnaklechien this isn't tiktok, nobody will die because of paying atention to the same thing for more than 50 minutes

[@ivoryowl]

Oh man, the ability to act as a zookeper and interact with the animals directly... I miss that from Zoo Tycoon 2.

[@Aethuviel]

It's a good strategy early in a challenge game on ZT2 - don't hire any zookeepers, do all the work yourself! 😆

[@govardhanposina17]

​@@Aethuvieland honestly you do it like 3x as fast as them, honestly there is more merit to hiring maintenance workers over zookeepers

[@cubethepixel3025]

I would like to see a petting zoo expansion and also a real moding tool from the devs so people can make own full fleshed out animals

[@heroesofthegreeks215]

Wil probely not happend because of dlc's

[@hyenapodcast6953]

Modding yes, but I don’t think cows and sheep would be very advertisable....maybe added mechanics to llamas or camels?

[@TheJizZyLord]

Well the modding is a thing now. People are making completely new species

[@StanHowse]

@@TheJizZyLord Really? How have I not heard of this.. lol

[@jack_74]

The best part of this review for me was when he talked about how a ton of animals were missing, only for frontier to go and make them all (excluding aviaries mostly because that means a whole other traversable area, escape points, and a different kind of enclosure.) but yeah, when he said “there are no aquatic animals in the game, like penguins” I was really happy cause now we have otters, penguins, seals, and there are signs of sea lions coming in a North America dlc or aquarium dlc.

[@Aethuviel]

I won't get the game unless we get whales and dolphins. They are my number one animal in Zoo Tycoon, and a zoo with only land animals is boring to play.

[@Deerhunter60641]

@@Aethuviel Guess you’ll never play, don’t know if you know this but a zoo with whales is called an Aquarium

[@keychainere]

@@Aethuviel That’s not a zoo. That’s an aquarium.

[@ACSkitters]

​@@AethuvielYou can get them in with mods, all kinds of fish too! The modding community helps with what is missing

[@ReviewGen]

Planet Zoo is actually on sale now for the Steam Autumn Sale until December 1!

[@sharonstanley2396]

let play sky haven full game part 1

[@quiggc1]

GE, are you still gonna continue What’s Next for Planet Zoo?

[@ReviewGen]

@@quiggc1 Yes!

[@BuIIy_Maguire]

Well it’s kinda sad how the aquatic dlc was announced right after it could have slipped into the final slot of this vid

[@ReviewGen]

@@BuIIy_Maguire We'll do a separate review regardless

[@meiopalstone8102]

I’m going to get this game soon, I am SOOOOO excited! The graphics on this game are just AMAZING.

[@silashurd3597]

It is awesome

[@chasemurraychristopherdola7108]

Just saying but planet zoo just announced a new dlc for diving animals like the king penguin the giant otter and I believe grey seals

[@chasemurraychristopherdola7108]

And the diamondback terripan and cuviers dwarf camian

[@RealMangaAddict]

This is how reviews should be done. I give your review 10/10 and will definitely be checking out the other videos on your channel. Excellent work! Can't believe you only have 26.9K subs

[@BigBossMan538]

Speaking personally, lack of birds was a big disappointment. Iirc we just had the ostrich, peafowl, and flamingo base game with the cassowary being the only new species from DLC. Even if we can only have ground birds, there’re many species that should be considered at least: penguins, secretary birds, storks, cranes, swans, and many more! I’d kill for an expansive aviary dlc!

[@armata_strigoi_0]

Funny to see this a week on, but I still agree. I have been hoping for more ratites, but especially game birds since day one. They're a zoo staple and it would make up for the lack of fully flighted birds so far, somewhat.

[@davidchalmers2504]

Toucan!

[@mayabrown4050]

I’d be crazy about macaws and kiwis 🥰

[@mozarteanchaos]

one of the species of ground hornbill would also work well! they do fly when threatened, but flamingos are also capable of flight, so fudging that slightly shouldn't be a big deal since they do still spend most of their time on the ground.

[@silashurd3597]

Be grateful that u get any birds at all! Even if they are ground birds

[@alexlandsbergs]

the arctic zoo doesnt seem cold at all when all the park guests are wearing regular shirts. and not a single winter jacket.

[@Kisseyhersh123]

I think Planet Zoo mainly suffered from the pandemic messing with development, but also with Frontier diverting a bunch of manpower to work on the new Elite Dangerous expansion. Would have been really nice to see more animals in the early expansions, but I'm glad we're getting more animals from now on.

[@char250pl]

I just recently stumbled on your channel when I was looking for some reviews for Jurassic World Evolution, from what I see you are more focused on gameplay videos but your reviews are really high quality, I'd really like to see more of them, anyways, great review, just what I was looking for :)

[@ignskeletons]

This is such an incredibly in-depth review, thank you so much! You really touch on every subject!

[@SpiderCenturion]

This is one of the most thorough and informative reviews I've ever watched...and I watched the whole thing! Great video.

[@Dragonk116]

Even after this review they added even more DLC too.

[@Kamikaze4656]

extremely underrated man, great quality

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

I got the Premium Edition a few months ago, which had all the DLC at that time. I've since bought both the Aquatic Pack and Southeast Asia Pack. I've done the entire campaign including the Arctic missions. Now I'm doing the Franchise mode.

[@aeryn6275]

This was an absolutely lovely and perfectly researched review and so fun to watch! I love the cinematography too; these are beautiful clips and splendidly matched to your narration.

[@bullydog1289]

Amazing video! I thought I wouldn't be able to get through the full hour (I can barely sit through a 20 minute show) but it was so detailed and straightforward that I was entertained throughout it all. Every section had just the right amount of info needed: not too long not too short, just enough to get a well thought out point across. I'll definitely be picking this up in the steam sale and skipping on the dlc for now - until they hopefully add a marine life pack :D

[@ReviewGen]

Appreciate it, also they just released an aquatic pack!

[@KeimpeJ]

Perfectly catered review. Indepth and knowledgable. The best review on KZbin.

[@shimmerback]

Excellent review. Thanks for this.

[@caspertel5568]

Great video man! I totally agree with the lack of space for the modding community there is so much out there. Keep up the good work!

[@lucschmitz7126]

Best review on KZbin by far!! Thankyou so much.

[@StanHowse]

Everyone who is anyone, definitely "builds/manages" a zoo, FOR the animals, not the people who come to it. Best iteration of that is Zoo Tycoon 2.

[@sgomez8194]

Excellent Review! thank you for providing such great content!

[@nktaylo1]

Whelp, if any video ever deserved a comment it's this one. Thanks for all your hard work; I've had this in my wishlist forever because I'm not sure I'd really fall in love with the building. Your review is inspiring and at the very least provides as much insight as I could hope to obtain. Thank you.

[@deanwinchester6654]

Nice review, good amount information.

[@shahjmir]

Your reviews are amazing! I was sold!

[@npj5810]

What an outstanding Video!

[@ReviewGen]

Appreciate it!

[@VickyDowns]

Great review! Best one i've watched.

[@tidus1212]

This guy deserves more views he puts a lot of effort into his videos

[@ChethanBhandarkar]

Manh your review is much better than anyone I have ever seen! 100/100

[@perennials118]

As someone who has worked in a zoo - Zoo keepers don't actually do much education anymore. Zoos hire people specifically for public speaking and tours. They hire education officers. The zoo keepers are too busy caring for the animals.

[@tomalexander4327]

Excellent review

[@Girllookhoworangeyoulook]

Awesome review

[@XCrunners95]

Personally I feel like planet zoo is just an architecture simulator with a zoo theme

[@p.r.1308]

I just wished to see some wacky expansions like in the older Zoo Tycoon games like Fantasy animals or Dinosaures. But i unfortunatelly think, that we wont see a Dinosaures expansions as i am sure they have some sort of contract with Jurassic World lizenz that forbids them to make their own Dinosaure Zoo game...

[@mrpapaya1]

Great Review

[@dinomation]

The only problem I’ve encountered is the performance issues but that’s because of my cpu not being the best. I think this is a great game with a few things that can be added that can make it better.

[@Beos_Valrah]

Very good review! Imo just the right amount of in-depth content. Also I agree about the DLCs being lackluster, especially for the price - I would not ever support practices like this.

[@Mr-ky8xz]

I love the outerwilds music in this

[@megakoopa-pokemonandmore6152]

When will make part 2 of the Planet Zoo contest? Also I don't know if this is possible but I made a whole video about possible DLCs about a few weeks ago and honestly a few of them could be considered

[@LautaroArgentino]

Wish my potato pc could handle this game better. I loved the Zoo Tycoon games as a child.

[@jedimoon22]

honestly this just makes me want to play zoo tycoon 2 again

[@Bambeakz]

Still a shame they didn't/couldn't intergrate it to Planet Coaster. Like RCT3 had a Zoo expansion. The DLC idea of this compagny is not working for me. Even for Planet Coaster i have non because of the price and the small adds. In other games i own alot of dlc so it is not that i am unwilling againts the concept. Maybe i will buy Planet Zoo when it has a premium pack on sale like Jurassic World Evolution has right now. But man what a great review!

[@redpandareggie3642]

When is the next 'What's Next For Planet Zoo Community Creations' video going to be?

[@Necreon021]

The DLCs are way overpriced though. 4 euro each is what I am willing to pay for them and to avoid disappointment I'd need to buy them all together to feel like I got one DLC package that was worth buying.

[@b.n.a546]

I strongly agree.

[@Beos_Valrah]

Exactly! Compared to what you get for the price of the base game, the DLCs just seem like a rip-off.

[@trashl0rd]

It's becoming a sad trend these days. Less content with fatter price tags. Really lame.

[@jack_74]

I half-agree. I love all the animals that come with the DLCs, aswell as the theming and scenery. But yeah, it’s a bit overpriced. That’s why I wait for Christmas, birthday, etc. To get some steam gift cards, cause I never want actual gifts from my family. So I’ll just stick to steam gift cards, and maybe some other stuff..

[@williamspalding1306]

Yes we need more animals per pack I would gladly pay £20 to get double the amount or just add like a free animal like you said like one rhino day release the black rhino

[@jasras5743]

4:12 Frontier: yeah, we're just gonna bump it up to 4 more

[@awesomeproductions7755]

Any predictions for what possible DLC could be coming in December? Common sense is telling me “Antarctica Pack” or “Asia Pack” as we’re now heading towards Winter, but against better judgement, I’m still *REALLY* hoping we get an Africa Pack.

[@ReviewGen]

Did you check out the leaks from the video? There were semi-aquatic animals and also the Sun Bear.

[@awesomeproductions7755]

@@ReviewGen Sweet! Here’s my wishlists for the Africa and Asia Packs, the DLCs I personally want the most apart from an aviary: *Asia Pack* Asian Small-clawed Otter Clouded Leopard King Cobra *(Exhibit)* Siamang Sun Bear *Africa Pack* African Leopard, Caracal or Fossa Eastern Black Rhinoceros or Southern White Rhinoceros Jackson’s Chameleon, Panther Chameleon or Parson’s Chameleon *(Exhibit)* Meerkat Secretarybird

[@ReviewGen]

@@awesomeproductions7755 I really like that Asia pack, would take it in a heartbeat.

[@awesomeproductions7755]

@@ReviewGen Cheers, man! Btw, would you ever consider making the kind of videos you’ve done with this game and Jurassic World Evolution for the upcoming Prehistoric Kingdom, set to release in Q2 of next year?

[@ReviewGen]

@@awesomeproductions7755 I'm very interested in PK, waiting on more concrete release dates before I start doing things like Info Dumps, analysis videos e.t.c. But yes, expect PK content in the future.

[@Cruxxy21]

A semi-aquatic pack came out right after this review, so that’s something. I do wish they released content a bit faster though.

[@williamspalding1306]

Yes I agree dlc every month or ever other month

[@silashurd3597]

Planet zoo is honestly the best zoo building game I’ve ever played. It’s realism and complexity and that makes it better than zoo tycoon

[@APMI-OFICIAL]

Oh man, the ability to act as a zookeper and interact with the animals directly... I miss that from Zoo Tycoon 2.

[@vikenemma2953]

I want a foliege brush added to the game. And a better animal buying system and sorting. Especially in the zoopedia. So I can easily sort by biome and such.

[@davidhenry1156]

Thinking about this for a while,got very cheap on cdkeys there.Looking forward to playing it now😊

[@DilectiAkai]

Excelent review, I may get this game before steam sale ends, $46.71 usd for all the dlc bundled seems pretty fair but full price seems like an absolute no.

[@MrAgentTurner]

My thoughts exactly. Would never buy full price but this 50 feels like a steal! I might also just wait another year or two for it to go down even more lol

[@ZePopTart]

Did the DLC bundle give you a discount for the items you already have? This year it doesn’t

[@mattstecker]

I really wish that they would make the planet zoo game for ps4 like they did with planet coaster I would love to see that

[@joaopedromeireles7210]

Australia pack is the only DLC I have not bought. Not because it does not worth it. It is just because I got tired of the game and I don't like their DLC formula. And the Arctic pack brought the arctic wolf (repainting of the grey wolf) and the Australia pack brought the dingo (repainting of the grey wolf); It sounds lazy! The Polar Bear and the Jaguar can be argued as repaintings too, but they are just too iconic to be out of the roster (actually they should have been in the base game).

[@armata_strigoi_0]

The dingo was an understandable inclusion, but I agree on the Arctic wolf. The Arctic fox would have been more interesting and worthwhile, IMO.

[@joaopedromeireles7210]

@@armata_strigoi_0 instead of the dingo, the platypus, the echidna, the Tasmanian devil, the emu, the wombat, or the frilled lizard would be much better! The dingo is just a dog. The game already had 3 dogs.

[@armata_strigoi_0]

@@joaopedromeireles7210 It may be "just a dog", but it is an ecologically and evolutionarily significant dog haha. I simply mean to say it was understandable that Frontier included it. It perhaps wouldn't sting so much if they had not added the Arctic wolf previously. That being said, I too would have preferred the common wombat or Tasmanian devil, personally. Maybe even the tiger quoll. But oh well.

[@shareehocking6294]

Tasmanian devils are going extinct because they suffer from contagious cancer. It would have been a much better option than the dingo. They should have added the platypus instead of the blue tongue lizard for the exhibit animals. Wombats should have been added too, or even the spotted quoll. For the amount of animals they reskin there should be so many more animals added per DLC. Ostrich wouldn't be hard to repaint into an emu. I must say I did enjoy the building pieces in the Australian pack, it what initially got me to enjoy the building aspect. However for the lack of animal variety, I'm thinking of heading over to sandbox just so I can add modded animals

[@kinxx9631]

Now there are aquatic animals)

[@dinomation]

Also if the leaks are true I’m excited to see a baby seal.

[@justadictatorridingonanuke3714]

They are true

[@ignore2466]

Imagine Planet Zoo and Coaster having Cities: Skylines node (roads and fences) for their paths O_O

[@funnymanatwork]

Does anyone know how to play Zoo Tycoon complete collection? Can't find it anywhere and watching this review has made me feel nostalgic.

[@ioium299]

13:56 the mķmķmķmķm Kingdom anthem.

[@matiasdupree4834]

Planet coaster = equals no water parks :( Planet zoo = no water animals :( Hopefully we get those in the sequels

[@Stygymolic]

There are already 2 dlcs for water creatures

[@ns2749]

I can straight up fall asleep to how you speak

[@WolfeRavenwood]

A great indepth review. Sadly, they will only milk the game slowly to death to save the money for their other projects i am afraid.

[@itsahrims]

it's now 2022, would you consider doing a small and more comprehesive review of the game and how it's held up now that the game is only 20$ and DLC are cheaper and offer even more animals? though many bugs and known issues still remain

[@ReviewGen]

Hi, I recommend you check my Season 2 Review which encompasses a more up to date analysis of the game and the new DLCs.

[@trashl0rd]

I hope they eventually change their minds over mod tools by the time they wrap up development on this game.

[@Vilo24]

patiently waiting for a console edition

[@zakosist]

From playing this I think one thing that drastically drags down the quality of the game is way too many technical difficulties when I'm sure they could have designed it easier to just make things work. Like not having people stopped by imaginary barriers and actually making it at least easy to understand how to set up the power grid to give power to buildings. Things like that. Otherwise kind of cool game

[@Tukanos]

6 DLC packs !!!

[@AlexMRL]

So, Planet Zoo or Planet Coaster, which one to buy?

[@ViktorVonfuling]

Do you wanna build a zoo or a theme park? It’s really up to your preference

[@rollercoasterpovs7698]

Planet zoo should have a jarrasic park or world dlc

[@ViktorVonfuling]

There’s already a separate game for that though, made by the same people

[@rollercoasterpovs7698]

@@ViktorVonfuling evolution?

[@ViktorVonfuling]

@@rollercoasterpovs7698 yes

[@rollercoasterpovs7698]

@@ViktorVonfuling oh

[@winladd5235]

I actually payed the beta more than the full release version. Anyways, great review!

[@mayabrown4050]

I’m curious what were the differences between them and why did you play the beta more?

[@winladd5235]

@@mayabrown4050 because it came out first and i played it so much i kind of got bored of the game by the time of the full release.

[@dogecoin9166]

I'll get it on pc, but I am expecting a console version 2022. Just got planet coaster on ps5. And great review. Imagine if ign put this much work into reviews. Sad they get so many more views than people like yourself who are far better at reviewing games. Some great reviewers on KZbin with only a handful of views. It's all wack.

[@pwcorgi2000]

I wish Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster were more akin to each other, or bring PC to PZ standards. Then make items interchangeable between games.

[@bananaleech2985]

Keep in mind that the deluxe edition lost its value since the beta doesn’t exist anymore.

[@mharizsaifuddin7059]

What does the beta have to do with the deluxe edition ?

[@Vvopat96]

I think the animals are so complicated to make (because they are so realistic) that it takes months to make one animal, I think that's the reason there is not many new animals

[@prue1202]

mmm I dont want to build and manage all day, I wanna be able to pay attention to the animals. I think this game is not for me. Great review!!!

[@frowersss]

If only the DLC's were better ;-;

[@cody2244]

I want that this game came to console ):

[@Mrmannbh]

They really need to allow fish and birds to exist

[@shareehocking6294]

The exhibit animals are too high maintenance. They breed too quickly and it's a pain on the butt to remember to check and sell them all before you get penalised for it.

[@coolgamer9564]

This needs to be on console

[@ikillyomama]

I agree on pretty much every point, and from my mediocre experience with planet coaster I didn't even need to see anything to come the exact same conclusions. I think both games are absolutely amazing for creative work, but fall quite flat on actually being a game. On top of that they seem to be following the same monetization model as well with over priced low meaningful content packs sprinkled here and there. I think the ratio of animals to scenery items should tell you exactly where the developers (and game) are focused. I can stomach the dlc prices with a good sale, but would never buy them full price.

[@sharonstanley2396]

let play sky haven full game part 1

[@ReviewGen]

That game looks interesting, may consider checking it out in the future!

[@nktaylo1]

No aquatic animals? :(

[@ReviewGen]

There are now aquatic animals in the Aquatic DLC released in December. Only 5 animals though.

[@shareehocking6294]

@@ReviewGen the DLCs are so pathetic for the amount of money vs new animals you get. For a company as large as frontier it just highlights their priorities are with earning money over game play.

[@aidarico958]

I need it to go to console.🤞😑 🙏

[@beanyboi2218]

Got it, was too hard, refunded it, thinking about buying it again. I’m stupid

[@reignmans]

altho i LOVE the game, its performance (along with the prices of its dlcs) its total trash. my pc isnt a pushover, 2080 ti and a ryzen 3700x on 32gb ram and when the zoo is crowded (over 4-5k ppl) and i have "too many" things placed its lagging to unplayable levels.

[@jintarokensei3308]

No rhino? No aqua? Wtf?1

[@navypaladin9753]

Indian Rhino is already in the base game. Also, when the review was made, there's no Aquatic and African Rhino. But now they have.

[@MrAgentTurner]

What do you mean most influential zoo game of all time??? It WAS the zoo game of all time lol

[@VXNauticalXV]

This game is mess with bugs, beyond me on how someone thought this was good enough to release. For full price this shit isn't worth it. I've seen games in alpha work better.

[@tm43977]

Planet zoo Game Quite felt No animal attack animation quite Unfair

[@midguard7917]

Great video but God I want to tear my ears off listening to the soy-fueled Millennial soundtrack of the entire generation with the folksy feel-good group singing that sounds like it's meant for ten-year-olds at a church camp. Why must everything they make and be a part of have that wretched, childish music behind it? IT'S LITERALLY IN EVERYTHING PLEASE GOD MAKE IT STOP.