It's A Zoo Out There
User Rating: 9.4 | Zoo Tycoon PC
Zoo Tycoon is the umpteenth "tycoon" game made. This time, you run a zoo, but with the two expansion packs, "Marine Mania" and "Dinosaur Digs", you run your own park, because you can add stuff like swimming lakes, scenery, and marine shows and other stuff. You start off with any any park or any amount of cash, challenge yourself by bringing it to the lowest level, or have easy going fun with $500,000. Zoo Tycoon offers several types of animals. But you need to keep them happy so they entertain the often picky guests. You need to get a good fence for it so it can't escape, and you need to give it the right terrain and foliage and shelters. You also need to hire zookeepers to feed them and clean the waste in their exhibit. Sometimes an animal may mess up the fence, so hire a maintainance worker to fix them, or pick up too much litter when you don't have enough trash cans. Hiring a tour guide should entertain your guests. But if you feel that isn't enough, the two expansion packs have double-offer. Marine Mania will turn your park into a Sea-World style park. You can adopt several sea creatures. You must buy tank fencing, and once you make a perfect exhibit, it fills with water, and you decide to either elevate it or lower it. To keep these animals happy, give them sea foliage, hire Marine Specialists to feed them stuff like fish/krill and all that. Also get a tank filter to clean it too.
And Dinosuar Digs has a good offering too. Revive the beasts of the prehistoric ages. For these bad boys, you need to use reinforced fences, some need electric fences. You have several dinosaurs to choose from. They appears as eggs first, and you scientests to care for them, ever since you first get them. Running the zoo is very fun, but can get overwhelming if several are not happy. The guests are often very picky, more picky than the animals. I also noticed that some animals remain angry, even when you fix their exhibits. When an animal escapes, it's funny and frustrating at the same time. Watch your picky guests run as an animal run around the park, just don't let the dinosaurs out, whatever you do. This may lower the reputation of your park.
The gameplay is simulation of course, and the graphics are kind of good. The animals and foliage look nice, and some details fly over the park, like a Microsoft plane, Santa and his reindeer, and witches and other stuff. The game is overall fun for all ages, and I highly reccomend it. Zoo Tycoon is a fun experience that lasts forever with all the possibilties that you are offered.
