Ostatnie recenzje napisane przez użytkownika Rexus Hunter

In one way, this pack feels long overdue given that Europe was virtually not represented at all in Planet Zoo up to this point. On the other hand, I don't have a lot of strong feelings about it. I can take it or leave it. However, it does add in a couple of highly requested animals.

Speaking of the animals, here are my thoughts on them. The Eurasian lynx and alpine ibex are both solid additions with both more or less being veteran picks of the Zoo Tycoon 1 and 2 days. The European badger and European fallow deer I don't have any strong opinions about. I know some people wanted the red deer and wolverine instead, but I would argue they are slightly interchangeable for a pack of this theme. The fire salamander, despite being an exhibit animal, is nice because its the first non-frog amphibian we've gotten, so it breaks up the formula a bit.

Overall, not a lot of strong opinions on this DLC. It's a perfectly fine addition to PZ's animal lineup and building inventory, so I'd say get it whenever it suits you. I don't think there's a lot to dislike about it. There are interesting new building pieces to be had and the animals included allow you to create at least a small European section to your ideal zoo if you wish whereas before you would have struggled. I wish I could mark the review as neutral, but alas no. Still, not bad overall.

Honestly, this content pack is a letdown, particularly for a first DLC. I take no issue with Dsungaripterus and Kronosaurus being added. Wuerhosaurus and Minmi as the only dinosaurs however is a letdown when there are several other dinosaurs from the early Cretaceous that also could have been included. Sauroposeidon, Cedarosaurus, Tenontosaurus, Gastonia, Neovenator, Hypsilophodon, Pelecanimimus, Irritator, and others are some of the unique dinosaurs they missed out on adding in this DLC and even just two or three of these included in addition to what we ultimately got would have made this DLC more valuable. As it is, it feels only half worth it. Not to mention rumors have been circulating that the species in this DLC were supposed to be part of the base game, but were pushed back due to rushing of the game's launch. The lack of species included also gives off disturbing and annoying echoes of the Planet Zoo Arctic pack, which is not good. My hope is this is just a slow start and future DLCs for Evolution 2 continue to improve the species roster in more and better ways. In my opinion, Evolution 2 DLCs would be far better off with the 5-8 new species per DLC formula that Planet Zoo has. I believe this would allow more popular, requested, and unique species a chance for inclusion.

Overall, I don't hate this DLC I just think it missed some good species inclusion opportunities. The creatures in this one are however well-made and add to the variety coming out of Asian and Australian digsites in the game, so I do recommend it for that. Also, $8 for 4 species isn't too bad a deal so the price isn't awful. You might even be able to save a bit of money by buying the premium edition which has this, the deluxe content, and the base game all for one slightly lower price.

Update: As many have likely seen, some of the creatures I suggested could have been in this pack are now in the game. I recognize aspects of this review and other reviews I've made will become outdated, but I'm not willing to make sweeping changes to all my DLC reviews every time a new one comes out. I'm not a professional reviewer, and even if I was, it would still be a tedious notion. I am willing to post updates if I think they are warranted, but making huge changes every time a new DLC drops and invalidates old criticisms of mine is not feasible or even something I particularly want to do. Just wanted to clarify due to a couple comments made.

This deluxe edition feels disgraceful even compared to Evolution 1's deluxe edition. There are two main reasons for this. One, the recycling of a dinosaur from Evolution 1 into this content pack (the Huayangosaurus). As a side note, the other species are at least new and relatively well done. Two, the sold separately price point. The deluxe content for Evolution 2 is almost $20 on it's own, roughly a third of the cost of the base game. Suffice it to say, do not buy this separately. You will be wasting money if you do. I recommend that if you are going to get it, than get it with the base game to lower the overall price. Please take my advice, do not buy this separately. Save yourself a bit of money.

P.S. To clarify, what I was trying to say is do not buy this separately from the base game because its a waste of money doing so and because the almost $20 price separately, particularly when you consider there is partially recycled content, is not worth it. Also, when I called this deluxe edition disgraceful compared to Evolution 1, I was referring to the high separate price and the unsettling practice of recycling content from Evolution 1 into this "additional content pack". Overall, if the price were slightly more reasonable and Huayangosaurus was in the base game and replaced with something else here, it wouldn't be too bad. Truthfully, I'm mostly neutral except for those two or three sticking points. Don't entirely understand the intent behind a few of the awards to this review, but I hope this additional information clarifies things a bit.

Positives:
1. The game's textures and graphical details have been increased in quality across the board making for beautiful environments and great-looking animals.
2. Introducing objective-based gameplay into challenge mode similar to Planet Zoo's campaign scenarios was a solid move in my opinion. It feels more structured and less vague than just "build a 5-star park".
3. The AI of the creatures has received a decent overhaul with somewhat more natural behaviors than before.
4. The introduction of more pterosaurs and marine reptiles has greatly helped expand the exhibit building options.
5. The increased customization ability of park buildings and scenery has helped break up the monotony of park building from the first game.
6. The campaign (what exists of it right now) breaks the formula of the first game by introducing missions that feel more like Jurassic Park (i.e. focusing on dinosaurs and prehistoric species coming into conflict with humanity in the aftermath).

Negatives (Improvements made from updates have been noted):
1. The campaign is far too short. It consists of five levels and the entire thing can be completed in less than 5 hours. I think part of the problem stems from Universal delaying Jurassic World Dominion's release until summer of next year, but part of it is also on Frontier for not even trying to make it a more satisfying length. The first game, despite its repetitive campaign, lasted at least 35-40 hours even if you were rushing making for more opportunity to really to plan things out.
2. Chaos Theory mode has been described as Return to Jurassic Park times 5 in most cases. While the idea behind this mode is intriguing at its core, lack of innovation and creativity on Frontier's part hamper its ultimate potential.
3. The campaign does not really teach new players how to play the game. Chaos Theory mode serves this function more, but new players have no way of knowing that.
4. Content from Evolution 1 being stripped out is not a good look for the game. The last two major version updates have fixed this for the most part though.
5. Since the game underwent its second major version update, most all content is unlocked in sandbox from the start except the additional skin and pattern colors awarded for completing the challenge mode maps up to hard difficulty. Sandbox mode has also had a lot of major improvements and new gameplay customization options brought in since the most recent update which makes the mode more enjoyable to play.
6. While Evolution 1 had several bugs, glitches, crashes, and optimization issues at launch, for the most part it was a semi-stable game. Evolution 2 on the other hand, from day 1, has been riddled with all kinds of game-breaking bugs (mission objectives not completing when they should, important icons vanishing, vehicles and creatures glitching out, etc.), glitches, optimization problems, crashes related to the graphics and GPU, wonky animations from the creatures and other objects, inexplicable frame rate drops, and a myriad of other issues that would probably take a whole separate review to fully explain. Suffice to say, the game has launched in a compromised state despite having had more development time than its prequel and that has done nothing to quell players' frustrations either. The most recent major update addressed a lot of issues, but there are obviously still things to be cleaned up.
7. The lack of new species introduced in this game compared to Evolution 1's final roster including DLC has not gone over well with many, myself included. The game has ported over all 62 real-life dinosaur species, the Indominus rex, Indoraptor, and Pteranodon from Evolution 1, discarded the 3 Secrets of Dr. Wu DLC hybrids, and added a total of 19 new species for a total of 84 including the deluxe edition (90 as of the Camp Cretaceous DLC). As you can tell, not much of an increase. Suffice it to say, the roster has made people feel like this was more of an expansion pack to Evolution 1 rather than a full-fledged sequel and I'm inclined to at least partially agree. If the starting roster with deluxe edition had been more like 100 species, it would have felt like a more solid roster and might have helped mitigate people's other concerns with the game as a whole.
8. The new territory system and the species cohabitation likes and dislikes of various species is too aggressive/picky and doesn't make sense. The aggression and fighting problems have been partially mitigated as of the first major version update, but not completely. I wanted them to take a similar approach to Planet Zoo where there are animal species that get enrichment bonuses from coexisting in the same exhibit, but that's not the case here and it all feels strangely random. The territory system needs a serious overhaul and Frontier really ought to consider porting their interspecies enrichment system from Planet Zoo over and applying it to the interactions between the different prehistoric animal species. For example, herbivores from the same time and place (i.e. if they are all from the Hell Creek Formation or Morrison formation for instance) should be able to coexist peacefully, but often the animals hate other related animals for no particular reason. Again, it feels strangely random and nonsensical.
9. The Jurassic World database is extremely messed up, especially the creature profiles. There is incorrect information within most of the creatures profiles, such as alluding to species that the particular animal in that profile never coexisted with (ex. Deinocheirus being mentioned as the prey of Carnotaurus when those two dinosaurs lived on two different continents and Deinocheirus was probably extinct by the time Carnotaurus existed). There are also numerous grammatical, spelling, punctuation, voice tense, and other written errors scattered throughout the database entries. Also, the research unlock requirements for some entries (such as on diseases or injuries) are ridiculous and you almost have to force them to happen or get super lucky in challenge mode or something equally ludicrous. I don't think the research unlocks of disease entries from Evolution 1 needed changing. Overall, the disastrous and unprofessional state of the database is strange when most of the entries could have just been ported word-for-word over from Evolution 1.
10. So far, the DLC formula is not impressing me, but hopefully after the addition of content from Jurassic World Dominion here in June or thereabouts things will get better and a bit more ambitious in a good way.

To newly conclude, my recommendation at this point has changed from negative to moderately positive. The game has gotten substantially better since the release of the most recent major update. Finally, it seems Frontier are getting their act together and starting to realize they can't stubbornly forge ahead with no regard for player feedback or criticism. Is Evolution 2 perfect at this point? Absolutely not, but it is much better than it was pre-major update 2. At this stage, I can in good conscience recommend giving it a solid try. If you still don't like it, then that's fair enough. For me personally, it has improved enough to where I am interested in continuing to play it for a good while.

So, Frontier decided to do another animal pack and like with the Southeast Asia DLC, this one is honestly quite well done. Most of the animal picks are great. The moose, California sea lion, and American beaver are Zoo Tycoon 2 favorites and it's good to see them return. The American alligator is a much needed and strong reptile addition. The cougar is a fantastic and well-warranted feline addition. The black-tailed prairie dog is an interesting choice, though I suppose it was likely since Frontier probably wanted to expand upon the burrowing mechanics introduced with the meerkat. The Arctic fox feels like an animal that should have been in the Arctic DLC long ago, but at least it's here now. The American bullfrog is kinda meh for an exhibit animal. I would have preferred something a little more unique like the coral snake, hellbender salamander, indigo snake, monarch butterfly, or cottonmouth snake. As with the SEA Animal DLC, very few additions or changes I would make. I would have liked to see the American black bear, bobcat or Canada lynx, and maybe the whooping crane (given its endangered status), but overall I really can't complain about most of the animal choices here.

As with the SEA DLC, I would say the expanded animal additions make this DLC worth it and give it more value. For anyone who has wanted to expand their North American sections of their zoos (myself included), this is definitely a must-have.

Let me preface this review by saying that while it is good to finally have one of the two African rhino species, meerkats, and fennec foxes, since this DLC was basically leaked almost in full a few months ago, it kind of took the wind out of the sails. What I mean by this is that Frontier is relapsing with this DLC by going back to the abysmal 5 animals and hundreds of new, mostly copy and paste building pieces. Seriously, if they only did two all animal DLCs, the Southeast Asia one we got in April and this one would have been my top picks. Africa has a lot of biodiversity gaps still missing in the game, gaps that have been there since day 1. It's very frustrating that they immediately, after all the praise the SEA animal DLC had, went back to this stubborn and selfish formula of minimal animals and another nauseating wave of building pieces. Just to give you an idea of what opportunities for new animals they missed in this DLC, we are still missing leopards, Nile crocodiles, baboons, secretary birds, kudus, caracals, dromedary camels, addaxes, scimitar-horned oryxes, African spurred tortoises, Ethiopian wolves, geladas, and many of the venomous snakes and other reptiles like cobras, mambas, pythons, vipers, and monitor lizards. The whole of Africa to choose from and they pick only 5 animals once again. I honestly think Frontier needs to stop catering to the building people. I don't care what anyone says. This is a zoo game first and foremost. The main thing of importance should be the animals. Architecture should come second. I had heard that a minority of people complained about the lack of new building pieces in the SEA DLC, but as I stated in my review on that, I thought it was a refreshing new direction and actually added value to a DLC rather than subtracted from it by providing more new animals. The fact there are people who play this game who honestly think building is more important or should be prioritized over actual animals given this is a zoo game is appalling to me. I think if they are that desperate to build stuff, go play Ark Survival Evolved, Minecraft, Planet Coaster, literally any game in which building is more of a core focus and leave the rest of us who want to play an actual modern zoo game alone.

Briefly, my thoughts on the animals in this DLC are as follows. The Southern white rhino, meerkat, and fennec fox are more keystone species that should have been base game material. The African penguin and sacred scarab beetle I'm not as concerned with and they could literally have been added any time without consequence.

Sadly, I must give these recommendations: If you absolutely must buy this DLC, then remember that the white rhino, meerkat, and fennec fox are the main important animals to worry about. If you don't desperately need this DLC right now, I would either wait for a sale or purchase it with the premium edition of the game to give yourself a bit of a discount for buying most of the game's current content in bulk. I am truly saddened I must be so harsh and critical of this DLC. This was probably my most anticipated potential update/DLC to the game, but Frontier's relapse back into their usual content-starved formula for DLC and the fact that almost the entire DLC was leaked about 2 or 3 months ago through datamining spoiled the taste for me. I wish there was a neutral option for recommendation because that's about how I feel about it. At this point, I would say the only hope of getting some of the keystone species still missing from the game is if Frontier is somewhat generous towards the end of Planet Zoo's development and releases something of a global animal DLC that brings some of those needed species into the game in bulk. Apologies for the depressing note this review is ending on, but I think a lot of us, myself included, were hoping for more. But, hope, as they say, is fragile.

Compared to the other DLCs for Planet Zoo, this one finally breaks the "5 animals per DLC" formula that the previous 3 had staunchly stuck to. It seems Frontier finally listened and decided that people really do want more animals. Hopefully, they continue this trend.

So, comments on the animals picks. All of the animals included are excellent choices from Southeast Asia with most having at least vulnerable conservation status. This hammers home the game's conservation message. I know some have a bit of issue with the Malayan tapir maybe not being completely faithful to the real animal (being a bit of a Baird's tapir reskin) and of course there was the infamous binturong design scandal which has now been successfully resolved with a bit of a design overhaul. Overall, I have no major criticisms of the animals included. If I had to include any more animals in this DLC, it would be the king cobra, one of the gibbon species, and either the Javan or Sumatran rhinoceros.

Suffice it to say, I fully recommend this DLC. Hopefully, this is a sign of bigger and better things to come for Planet Zoo. This feels like the first DLC that is worth its price tag and it's honestly refreshing. Definitely pick this up. The animals are incredibly designed and well-chosen.

The best way I can describe this DLC is just bizarre. Now, before we begin, I did not expect this DLC to contain cetaceans (whales and dolphins) as I'm fully aware of the controversy surrounding their enclosing outside an oceanic environment (even though most of those terrible containment conditions have come from places like Sea World which is basically no better than a circus). That being said, quite a few of the animal choices are bizarre for this kind of DLC to say the least. Three of the animals are freshwater, two can be considered marine. I can't tell what Frontier was thinking with this pack. It's like they took a freshwater DLC and a marine DLC, tried to find a limited happy medium between the two, and failed miserably in several ways. Let me explain. The Cuvier's dwarf caiman and giant otter feel like animals that should have been included in the South America DLC (seeing as they're both from South America). Regarding the diamondback terrapin, I'm not protesting it as an animal included in the game, but I'm confused as to why it was the first choice of a new exhibit animal. Given the theme of this pack, I would have expected a fish species of some sort. The king penguin and grey seal represent the two marine animals of the DLC. This is where my point as to the conflicting duality of the DLC comes into play. I think most people, myself included, were expecting a DLC similar in size and scope to the Marine Mania expansions of Zoo Tycoon 1 and 2. Given that the first thing they showed in the trailers were king penguins, this would be a natural assumption to make. But then we find out it's this confusing freshwater/marine mix with the usual abysmal limit of 5 animals. They did pull back on the building pieces a bit this time at only about 170 compared to the usual 200+, so perhaps it's finally getting through to them that people are feeling overwhelmed by the nauseating amount of building assets they keep churning out. They also rolled out another timed scenario, but still refuse to continue the story of the campaign, which given how big a deal this was with rampant anticipation and speculation you would think a new story chapter would be in order.

I guess a couple positives would be that at least this opens up potential for more expansion into marine and freshwater animals in the future and it opens up more possibilities for future building and interaction mechanics. That and the king penguin marks our first animal that's from Antarctica more or less, so hopefully Antarctica sees a little more representation in the future, even if it's just more penguin and seal species.

Final verdict: Similar recommendation as the previous DLCs. Wait for a sale or purchase with the premium edition for a bit of a discount.

An abysmal way to create a deluxe edition add-on for a game. The animals on offer aren't even that unique or exotic except the Komodo dragon. The pygmy hippo, while unique, isn't too well-known and the Thomson's gazelle really should have been a base game animal over say the springbok. And that's it on animals. The other content, except the soundtrack, doesn't amount to much. Do not, I strenuously repeat, do not buy this on its own. $12 is way too much to ask for what you get in this. Buy the deluxe or premium edition which includes this content for only about $5 more. You will be saving yourself several dollars that way. For those of you who played Jurassic World Evolution, you will remember they also overcharged for that deluxe DLC separately. Remember how I said don't buy that on its own either. Yeah, same idea with this.

Once again, building and scenery pieces needlessly supplant animal variety. While the animals added in this DLC were definitely needed, I make similar criticisms as to the lack of variety and the fact Australia is a diverse continent to choose from. This DLC does not include a lot of iconic Australian animals such as the platypus, echidna, Tasmanian devil, common wombat, kookaburra, freshwater crocodile, etc. And again, building pieces galore are thrust upon us over a diverse selection of new animals. Also, I think many will agree that the red kangaroo and probably the koala should have been base game animals. Thing is, players would be willing to wait for larger expansions if Frontier would actually make them. However, they continue to ignore player feedback on this front much to many people's frustration. Also, no new campaign scenarios again, leaving people who want more story out in the middle of the desert again. Yes, there is a timed scenario, but I guarantee it has nothing to do with the campaign story. Like with the Arctic and South America packs, buy this on sale or in the premium bundle.