Zoo Tycoon Review - Chimpin' Ain't Easy

Sigmund Av Volsung

Hella noided
Dec 11, 2009
2,999
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For Next Gen, those are some of the worst looking screenshots I have ever seen.

At least people have games like these to break up the testosterone fuelled monotony of the release titles such as Ryse, Dead Rising and Forza Motorsport.

BTW Jim

>.>

<.<

[small]Did you have fun in the ferret enclosure?[/small]
 

IndomitableSam

New member
Sep 6, 2011
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I have an older version of Zoo Tycoon (3, I think) that I break out every now and again and do enjoy. I've probably put over 100 hours in on it over the years. This one seems a lot more restrictive in creation and attention to detail, though. As seems to be the way of these type of games the better the graphics get. Which is very disappointing.
 

Webb Myers

New member
May 17, 2010
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"feed, wash, and player the animals" is probably an editor missing a typo. "dicking around" is an editor being too permissive with the "talent".
 

Jimothy Sterling

New member
Apr 18, 2011
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Webb Myers said:
"feed, wash, and player the animals" is probably an editor missing a typo. "dicking around" is an editor being too permissive with the "talent".
Putting words in quotations to denote irony is a commenter being a smarmy sod.
 

Don Incognito

New member
Feb 6, 2013
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So Jim, if you had to compare this iteration to previous installments (Zoo Tycoon 2, specifically) in regards to the challenge in both staying afloat and keeping animals and guests happy, as well as being able to design your own exhibits in regards to biome, hills and valleys and water features, etc... how does it stack up?
 

Raggedstar

New member
Jul 5, 2011
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Actually, this isn't the first time Zoo Tycoon strolled off PC. There was also a DS version, but I hear it wasn't good.

IndomitableSam said:
I have an older version of Zoo Tycoon (3, I think) that I break out every now and again and do enjoy.
There was only 2 main Zoo Tycoon games, though they had many expansions (the original had 2 expansions and a complete collection with some extra goodies, sequel had 4).

OT: Ever since the announcement of the Xbone Zoo Tycoon came out, I revisited my originals and plowed through the campaigns. Flawed in many ways, but I think it's still possible to have fun with it (though the visuals of Zoo Tycoon 2 haven't aged the best and the AI is derptacular to the point where they're running and screaming from a caged animal that's not doing anything). Not to mention that there is a huge library of mods. Though this one is certainly not a system seller for me. The game modes are pretty much identical to Zoo Tycoon 2. Visually it looks the way it should, but part of what made these games great was the customization. If everything is pre-built, there isn't as much to do or maintain (at least it seems that way). One good thing about Zoo Tycoon 2 was that you could really customize your exhibits well, from creating waterfalls to making mixed-species/biome exhibits. Zoo Tycoon could use a modern update with polished up visuals, animal/guest AI, and specialized mechanics, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind.

What I'm curious about is that this could be an easy sell for DLC. ZT1 and 2 vanilla games were a bit emaciated without the mods or expansions. As the expansions went on, you got dinosuars and marine animals, as well as some other mechanics and tweaks that made the final products so fun (for example, with Jim's problem of "building yourself into a corner", ZT2 expansions had transportation and elevated pathways. Elevated pathways pretty much give you twice the building room for guests). I wonder what will happen here or how the game's longevity will be.
 

Fishcactus

New member
Mar 8, 2012
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Urgh, this game looks pretty bad.

I got really excited when I first saw it announced, as I love the Zoo Tycoon series, but after watching some preview gameplay videos that excitement disappeared pretty fast.

The exhibits are pre-made, so far as I can tell. You just put down an exibit and add an animal. You can add enrichment items to exhibits, but only inside the designated area within the exibit. There might be more too it now since I only watched the Gamescon demo, but I doubt it.

The fact that it's Xbox One only is what really pissed me off. Zoo Tycoon has a loyal following of PC gamers, just gonna ignore us? Ok then, i'm going to go over here and not buy your game.

Having a new Zoo Tycoon game with updated graphics, gameplay and on multiple platforms would have been awesome. Really this game just makes me sad for what could have been.


(Also, those UI designs remind me far too much of Windows 8. Ick.)
 

Danielle DeBarr

New member
Jul 13, 2013
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Because I have Zoo Tycoon 2 and not a Xbox One, I went back and played Zoo Tycoon 2. I am loving it all over again. But from what you say it sound like all the good things about the new Zoo Tycoon are in Zoo Tycoon 2 excluding graphics. But all the down sides that are in the new Zoo tycoon are not in Zoo Tycoon 2. It is funny to me that the same game made in 2005 is better then the sequel in 2013. Then saying it is a must have game for a new console make me wonder. Great Review, I was wondering how it compared to the other Zoo Tycoons and with this Review I got just that.
 

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
12,070
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gyroscopeboy said:
Maybe I missed a memo, but what happened to video reviews? Haven't seen one in a few weeks.
Due to how the new consoles restrict video capture, we're still working on how to present video reviews in the best possible way. We may be forced to use trailer footage and other released video, which is not ideal, and will still likely get our reviews tossed off of YouTube anyway. For now, we can bask in the glory of Jim Sterling's prose reviews. If you'd like, you can play a Jimquisition on your other monitor while reading the review and pretend Jim is saying these words.

We'll get the video capture thing sorted in 2014.

Greg
 

weirdee

Swamp Weather Balloon Gas
Apr 11, 2011
2,634
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or, if you're feeling creative, you can just make a jim sterling sock puppet, and mime the words as you read them
 

Weaver

Overcaffeinated
Apr 28, 2008
8,977
0
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Greg Tito said:
gyroscopeboy said:
Maybe I missed a memo, but what happened to video reviews? Haven't seen one in a few weeks.
Due to how the new consoles restrict video capture, we're still working on how to present video reviews in the best possible way. We may be forced to use trailer footage and other released video, which is not ideal, and will still likely get our reviews tossed off of YouTube anyway. For now, we can bask in the glory of Jim Sterling's prose reviews. If you'd like, you can play a Jimquisition on your other monitor while reading the review and pretend Jim is saying these words.

We'll get the video capture thing sorted in 2014.

Greg
Cool! Thanks for all the hard work, guys!
 

Buizel91

Autobot
Aug 25, 2008
5,265
0
0
Raggedstar said:
Actually, this isn't the first time Zoo Tycoon strolled off PC. There was also a DS version, but I hear it wasn't good.

IndomitableSam said:
I have an older version of Zoo Tycoon (3, I think) that I break out every now and again and do enjoy.
There was only 2 main Zoo Tycoon games, though they had many expansions (the original had 2 expansions and a complete collection with some extra goodies, sequel had 4).

OT: Ever since the announcement of the Xbone Zoo Tycoon came out, I revisited my originals and plowed through the campaigns. Flawed in many ways, but I think it's still possible to have fun with it (though the visuals of Zoo Tycoon 2 haven't aged the best and the AI is derptacular to the point where they're running and screaming from a caged animal that's not doing anything). Not to mention that there is a huge library of mods. Though this one is certainly not a system seller for me. The game modes are pretty much identical to Zoo Tycoon 2. Visually it looks the way it should, but part of what made these games great was the customization. If everything is pre-built, there isn't as much to do or maintain (at least it seems that way). One good thing about Zoo Tycoon 2 was that you could really customize your exhibits well, from creating waterfalls to making mixed-species/biome exhibits. Zoo Tycoon could use a modern update with polished up visuals, animal/guest AI, and specialized mechanics, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind.

What I'm curious about is that this could be an easy sell for DLC. ZT1 and 2 vanilla games were a bit emaciated without the mods or expansions. As the expansions went on, you got dinosuars and marine animals, as well as some other mechanics and tweaks that made the final products so fun (for example, with Jim's problem of "building yourself into a corner", ZT2 expansions had transportation and elevated pathways. Elevated pathways pretty much give you twice the building room for guests). I wonder what will happen here or how the game's longevity will be.
I feel a Dino DLC pack and a Marine DLC pack coming soon, probably polar and desert to.

OT: Played the demo on the 360 and i found it surprisingly good, but as the review says it is restrictive, hope they increase the size later down the line.