Planet Coaster 2 Hands-On Preview: Thrills Galore

The first Planet Coaster is one of the most revered management/building games of all time, offering a bevy of customization features and in-depth creator tools on top of an engaging career mode and satisfying operation mechanics. There's a lot of pressure on Planet Coaster 2 to be even greater than its acclaimed predecessor, but against all odds, it might be able to achieve those lofty expectations.

A few weeks ago, The Best War Games was sent out to Thorpe Park in the UK to see first-hand some of the rides that have inspired the developers at Frontier, as well as get a hands-on preview of the long-awaited upcoming sequel. The Best War Games got to spend around 3–4 hours with Planet Coaster 2, and based on those initial impressions, it could end up being a textbook sequel that does everything just a little bit bigger and arguably even better than the original.

Planet Coaster 2’s New Themes And Weather Affects Explained

Planet Coaster 2’s New Themes And Weather Effects Explained

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By Gemma Johnson

Planet Coaster 2 Is Much Bigger Than Its Predecessor

A Whole New (Water) World

When jumping into Planet Coaster 2's Sandbox mode for the first time, fans will likely be pleasantly surprised with the number of flat rides and rollercoasters they're able to place right out of the gate. From newly themed classics to brand-new designs, Planet Coaster 2's starting ride blueprints should keep players entertained for a while. That's just scratching the surface of Planet Coaster 2's new additions, yjouh.

The face of the sequel's marketing and by far the biggest new addition, new water park features are coming to Planet Coaster 2. Players can construct pools and flume rides, and place a whole new range of scenery items related to these new water-themed areas. Building a water park doesn't feel too different from building a regular theme park in Planet Coaster 2, but it does make for some nice visual variation and it paves the way for even more creative hybrid park designs.

Near-Limitless Customization

The first two hours or so of our preview of Planet Coaster 2 was spent learning all the game's new mechanics, placing down every new ride to see how it looks and functions, and sifting through the game's new facilities and staff management options. The remaining two hours or so were spent giddily experimenting with Planet Coaster 2's new customization features.

Planet Coaster 2's customization is definitely one of the areas that have seen the most expansion and improvement in the sequel. There are simply more customization options than ever before, from more particle effects like glitter cannons and flamethrowers to a wider variety of practical scenery types like bins and benches and more theming options. While more is always better in Planet Coaster 2's case, it's the sequel's new scenery-attachment feature that really left a lasting impression. With just the click of a button, players can now attach individual pieces of scenery to a flat ride or rollercoaster. In the right hands, this can significantly elevate a ride's theming, letting them place appropriate pieces of scenery along a rollercoaster's tracks and even its ride vehicles to tell a much more involved story.

But in the wrong hands, Planet Coaster 2's new scenery-attachment feature can lead to the creation of some ludicrously funny, otherworldly deathtraps. Any piece of scenery can be attached to a ride in Planet Coaster 2. This means that flamethrowers, benches, signs, and even entire trees can be thrust absurdly onto a ride vehicle or platform, turning an innocuous gentle ride into a spinning inferno with just a few clicks. This sort of creative freedom is one of Planet Coaster's greatest strengths, and it's great to see it get such a prominent focus in the sequel.

Planet Coaster 2 Devs Talk New Power Systems, Heatmaps, Franchise Mode, And Much More

In a The Best War Games interview, two devs at Frontier Developments discuss further Planet Coaster 2's power system, heatmaps, Franchise Mode, and much more.

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By Gemma Johnson

Planet Coaster 2 Is Trying Its Best to Stay Approachable

While all of these new mechanics and features will undoubtedly be music to fans' ears, they might sound a bit overwhelming to those who are new to Planet Coaster. But rest assured, Planet Coaster 2 is doing everything it can to try and make the onboarding process simple, easy, and fun.

On launch, Planet Coaster 2 will prompt new players to begin a set of tutorials that teach them the game's basic systems. The first tutorial will teach players the basics of park management, including the placement of rides and rollercoasters, the placement of scenery and facilities, general staff management mechanics, and the sequel's new power system that has them supplying their rides and facilities with energy. The second tutorial dives into Planet Coaster 2's new water park features, including its filtration mechanic, which works similarly to the power system but for pools. These tutorials are dense, but the humorous voicelines and light narrative that accompany them help to keep them engaging.

A big strength of Planet Coaster that's seemingly being carried forward in the sequel is that the game is only as complex as the player wants it to be. At an entry level, all players need to do to get a park going is place a ride blueprint, construct a queue path, and open it. From there, players can learn through experimentation and explore the game at their own pace.

Planet Coaster 2 Still Has Some Kinks In Its Track

While the hands-on preview for Planet Coaster 2 did leave a strong impression overall, there were one or two little issues that dampened the experience somewhat. The most prevalent of these issues is Planet Coaster 2's new power and filtration systems. On paper, these mechanics deepen the game's immersion and add an extra layer of depth to the management experience. But in practice, these filtration and power mechanics often felt like roadblocks. Frequently during the preview, park building progress would be abruptly halted due to having insufficient power. Fixing the lack of power is as easy as building a new generator and hooking it up to the park's grid, but that ease doesn't make the sudden interruption any less sudden. T

It's also worth mentioning that, during the preview, there were several AI pathfinding issues. This occurred predominantly with the park's flume rides, with guests simply refusing to get in the queues or ride them despite their price being set to $0, and despite not having any clear gripes with the ride on the management tab.

Of course, the good far outweighed the bad, and there were plenty of thrills during our time with the game. It's important to stress that this preview build isn't the final product, so hopefully these bugs will be ironed out before Planet Coaster 2's launch.

Planet Coaster 2 releases November 6 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. The Best War Games was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.

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