Your goal in Planet Coaster, to create a theme park that entertains and dazzles the masses, is a daunting one. It sounds simple enough—but this can’t be just any old park. To truly succeed in the eyes of both you, its creator, and the visitors that come through its gates, this theme park needs to be remarkable. It needs to be the kind of place that brings smiles to the faces of every single cartoon customer that walks through its gates: wonder-filled child, skeptical teen, and cynical adult alike.
The countless creation and design tools in Planet Coaster offers that make this possible are fantastic, encompassing everything from the weird to the wonderful; from Western themed saloons to swashbuckling pirate coves. It is a truly engrossing experience, one that hides all of its complexity—and trust me when I say that Planet Coaster truly is complex—underneath a vibrant veneer of bold colour, charming characters, and ingenious details. More than anything, it feels like just what 2016, the most miserable year on record, truly needs. Over my 17-hours playing Planet Coaster, it’s made me smile more than perhaps any other game I’ve played this year.
Designing, customising, and managing theme parks is hardly a new concept, but we’ve had a break from them in the past decade. The Sims, Theme Park World, Rollercoaster Tycoon; the rise of consoles into the mainstream saw these kinds of PC exclusive games slide into the fringes, despite their popularity. Therefore, it’s no surprise at the response Planet Coaster received when it entered beta, and people saw just how deep its raft of different tools made it. But perhaps the Planet Coaster‘s greatest feat is how it ties its community of creators and designers directly into the game’s DNA. This is something that Frontier Developments has capitalised on so smartly with its persistent space sim, Elite Dangerous, and uses the same approach here.
Planet Coaster is one enormous user-driven content machine—and it’s brilliant.
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Source: Ars Technica – Planet Coaster review: This is the theme park game you’ve been waiting for