Planet Zoo: Grasslands Animal Pack & Update 1.12 Review
Frontier Developments returns for their last content pack of 2022 along with their final free update of the year to their fabulous building/management game Planet Zoo. This time we have the Grasslands Animal Pack and Update 1.12.
Review – Planet Zoo: Grasslands Animal Pack DLC
This latest animal pack introduces animals from steppes, plains and prairies worldwide. There are eight new species joining the lineup, and there are some of the most adorable ones we’ve seen! For your habitats, we have the stunning Maned Wolf, the armoured Nine-Banded Armadillo, the curious Emu, the amazingly cute Caracal, the hoppingly entertaining Red-Necked Wallaby, the scavenging Striped Hyena, and the striking Blue Wildebeest.
These new animals come with new animations, such as the Nine-Banded Armadillo’s preening and sniffing, the bounce of the Caracal’s floppy ears as it prowls through the grass, and the juvenile Red-Necked Wallaby’s playful interactions. Personally, I love the Armadillos, which are surprisingly cute for a heavily armoured mammal, and the baby Caracals are just adorable!
You may have noticed that was only seven animals, and I mentioned eight. That last one is a new exhibit animal… or animals, and it is something really special. Using the new walkthrough exhibit, which was introduced in the last update, you can now house a selection of Butterflies! These include the Cloudless Sulphur, European Peacock, Menelaus Blue Morpho, Monarch, and Old World Swallowtail. For the first time ever, you can keep all the variants of this species in one exhibit, making a stunning, fluttery wonderland for your guests to wander through!
Fans of the game had been crying out for more career scenarios for a while, and, as Frontier tends to do, they have listened. The previous Twilight Pack added one, and we now get another one with the Grasslands Animal Pack. Here we continue the story started in the Twilight Pack, although it is not imperative you have played that to enjoy this. We head to the picturesque grasslands of Argentina to help out wealthy socialite Tiffany Summers once again, as she tries to earn her zookeeping permit, and relocate the diverse inhabitants of her mansion grounds to a more suitable new home.
The new map is quite “hilly” but that only adds to the challenge as you find space for new animals. The existing habitats are also tightly packed in, making expanding them an additional challenge. There are some lovely buildings lining the entrance to the park as well. My main criticism would be that those buildings are frustratingly locked assets, meaning locations which would be really useful as shopping areas can’t be used. I understand that they don’t want players just deleting whole buildings on a scenario map, however, it would be good if we could take out a wall here and there to pop in utilities or shops. Overall though, it is a fun new career map and a solid new challenge for players.
Review – Planet Zoo: Free Update 1.12
As usual, the content pack DLC is released alongside a new free update, which adds content to the base game for everyone to enjoy. The big new addition this time around is Guided Tours!
The new Guided Tours option allows you to place down Tour Points around your zoo, plotting a route for your guests. For an additional fee, an educator walks a group of guests from point to point, educating them with lots of wonderful facts about your animals as well as life at the zoo. The whole system is customisable, so you can make the tour as long or as short as you like. You can even add in refreshment breaks to make sure your guests stay comfortable. It’s a great new option to help move people around the zoo (and also squeeze some more cash from them!)
Outside of the main gameplay, there are a couple of other new options. Firstly, a Diorama Mode. This is a new terrain type in sandbox mode, where you can build your own dioramas to upload to the Steam Workshop. The other new feature is a Bulldozer Tool. This allows you to remove large amounts of scenery, paths and objects in your park. You also have the ability to mix and match what type of object you want to remove, making it much faster to clear space when you’re rebuilding an area.
If you’re a fan of business sim games and/or building games, ‘Planet Zoo’ continues to be one of the best on the market. The Grasslands Animal Pack DLC comes in at £7.99/$9.99/€9.99 and would make a perfect Christmas gift for someone with the base game already. Update 1.12 is free and adds a great new way to move guests around your zoo, along with some good quality-of-life changes. If you’ve not yet joined the ‘Planet Zoo’ family, now is a great time to jump in!
