Zoo Tycoon 2 Review

Antelopes are taking over the world... Will the Moose be the new Dark Lord?

I know what you're thinking. You think this is just another tycoon game, only this time it's a game where you lock animals up, give them crappy food and then charge human idiots money to see the animals. Well you know what? You're so right. I mean, you're right about the part with the cages, the crappy food and human idiots. Unfortunately, that's what Zoo keeping business is all about. You know why I have to bother to explain the intricacies of this game? It's because the only games you folks ever play are shooters. WWII or Vietnam War based shooters. Well, for all of you who never get enough of that, I'd love to see you fight my bloodthirsty animals armed with rifles, shotguns and grenade launchers, even driving tanks. Over your dead bodies, that is. That would be a beautiful sight. Humans would soon be an endangered species, as I would train my antelopes to shoot on sight. Just look at their beady little eyes... They hate you. You know they do. And they're holding a big, bad gun...

It's kind of strange, really, but I have this feeling someone is watching us...

Now this is why they call you an animal, right?

Sorry about that, my mind just wandered off. Anyway, I am aware of the fact not many of you enjoy playing games like this, unless they offer something special. In that sense, I think that you would not appreciate what Zoo Tycoon 2 has to offer. It looks too childish; the controls are too simple... But the game feels just right. I never thought I would love this game so much - and it's not the new, improved looks or the fact that it harbors new, additional features. It's the game's core game play that held me enraptured for hours.

The premise of Zoo Tycoon is simple - you are a Zookeeper who's in charge of a specific Zoo. In case you've decided to play the campaign, you'll be assigned different tasks, from getting an insolvent Zoo back up and running to buying specific animals or protecting endangered species. Your money is limited so sometimes you'll be forced to go at a slow pace, which isn't tiresome at all. And that's it - you get the Zoo, the rest depends on you. Every campaign consists of several scenarios that must be completed in order to successfully finish the campaign. You can also try your hand at the free-form mode, where you'll be able to build your Zoo the way you want with unlimited funds. All the buildings and animals are also at your disposal, so all that is needed of you is to pick a map and off you go.
The challenge mode, which presents a slight abbreviation of the free-form mode, allows you to pick the map you want and decide upon the starting amount of money. With time, however, you'll be offered different challenges that you can accept or decline. For example, you'll start with simple tasks such as taking a photo of a certain animal and then move on to some more difficult ones.

Still, I noticed the game never felt too difficult, even at the later stages. Maybe this is because Zoo Tycoon 2 is intended to be a kids' game, I don't know, but I rather missed the possibility to manage difficulty settings as performing most of the tasks in the game didn't present a big challenge for me (like storming the digital beach at Normandy? -Ed). Luckily, it'll take you a lot of time to build all that needs to be built and buy all the animals you'll need, so eventually, you'll have quite a lot to do. I had a lot to keep me busy, so I soon forgot about looking for that "one big challenge" and instead started to enjoy what I was given.

Zoo Tycoon has undergone some changes compared to the original, not only in terms of the graphics but also with the interface and the addition of new animals and buildings. The principle has more or less stayed the same, so the players familiar with the original game won't have any problems with the sequel. Zoo building and management is easy enough for the first-time players to find their way around in no time.

The Zoo building tools are very easy to use. It is possible to change the shape of the terrain, build different paths and fences as well as some additional structures such as hotdog stands that improve the mood of your guests. You should take care to build enough restrooms, benches, soda drink stands and such in order to keep your guests happy once they get tired of watching the animals. Of course, they will always bitch about something but that's just like real life, isn't it? Once a guest complained there were not enough coffee stands in the Zoo, and I had three of the damn things (he was standing next to one). The best thing was when a dromedary camel spat on a spoiled little brat that kept shrieking and cheering and getting on my nerves. Other guests thought it was funny too, so I earned myself a nice little donation. People, this is most important, keep your donation boxes visible in order to get the suckers, err, customers to part more easily with their money.

There was one thing that really got on my nerves, and that was my guests' idiotic habit of stubbornly using the WRONG trash cans to dispose of their garbage. It didn't matter that there were two trash cans on each side of every bench: the stupid little idiots would simply ignore the ones closest to them. God knows why they all kept doing that, but it was obvious some trash cans were more popular than others. (That's where the drug dealers stashed the crack - Ed.)

This time there will be more accessories at your disposal, so you can build those elephant fountains and marble arches. You know you want to. What is more important is that the creation of the environmental habitat will be much easier this time. No longer are you required to make a specific combination of terrain, rocks and plants in order to make your animal feel comfortable. Thanks to the biome brush tool, you'll be able to "paint" over the surface with the desired biome configuration. Of course, you can choose to add trees, plants and rocks manually so you can enjoy the process of creating a new home to your animal even more. If you're not sure about the biome, fence type or food you can always consult the zookeeper, so if you stick to his recommendations you can't go wrong.

However, it is not that easy to keep your animals happy. As you won't have much money in the beginning, you'll be forced to do most of the dirty work yourself. Until you are able to afford some maintenance workers to take care of the trash and zookeepers that will tend to the animals, you'll have to get your hands dirty once in a while and take care of everything yourself. What does that mean? It means that, granted to this new option, you'll be able to switch to first-person view and see your Zoo through the eyes of a simple tourist. You can now walk around your Zoo and see how things are going. And while you're there, you may as well sweep the trash and see how the animals are doing. You can replenish their food and water dishes, groom or wash them, even clean their poop (I would say shit, but this is a kids' game after all). If they are sick, you can treat them; in short, you will be the center of their little world. If you do not pay attention to your animals, do not feed or clean them regularly, it will affect their mood and eventually their health. Fortunately, you will always be able to see basic information about your animals; most importantly, you'll see big emoticons above their heads that will help you find out how they are and what they're up to. You'll be sorry if you neglect your animals not only because it will affect your game play, but also because it can lead to some unpredictable consequences. Try to put two pairs of grizzly bears (two males and two females) in one exhibit and, due to basic instincts, soon it will be six or more of them. With time, they will start complaining e.g. feeling nervous about not having enough room for themselves. If you ignore them for a while, when you decide it's time to pay them a visit, you'll find some strange animal carcasses that you sure as hell didn't put there. Well, it will be a carcass of one of the bears, and possibly a random tourist who wandered too close to the cages. So if you don't want to keep seeing things like that, take care of your animals... And yes, clean that poop.