Daughter Says: "This is the Best Birthday Present Ever!"
Written: Nov 14 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A Great Game With An Educational Twist. All Ages Will Enjoy This One.
Cons: You May Get Hooked, and Spend More Time Playing Than You Should!
The Bottom Line: This is a fun and educational game, good for most ages. The opportunities for fun and frustration are endless! I have recommended this game to just about everyone I know.
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| fraygirl's Full Review: Zoo Tycoon: Dinosaur Digs Expansion Pack for Windo... |
Picture, if you will, the following scene:
It’s a rainy Saturday, and you are trapped in the house with a bored 6-year old. You know that if you have to play one more round of picture Bingo, you are going to LOSE IT. That’s when your child says, “I’m going to go play Zoo!”, and you say, “Thank God for Zoo Tycoon!”
I purchased this game for my daughter’s birthday and it is fabulous. My daughter is a zoo and animal nut, so this game is right up her alley. Of course, I had to give it a try, and now I’m hooked. It’s a very realistic game, it never gets boring, and it even has an educational twist.
After installation (which is easy, but a bit time-consuming), you definitely should spend some time with the tutorial. You will learn all of the basics quickly. The goal of Zoo Tycoon is to build, populate, and staff a successful zoo. The player has to learn how to keep animals and zoo guests happy while working within a budget. The tutorial covers everything you need to know, including construction of exhibits, hiring of staff, managing the happiness of your animals and guests, etc. The format of the tutorial is great-it feels like you’re playing the game (and learning as you go), rather than just enduring an on-screen version of the manual. When you’re finished, you’ll be comfortable navigating around all of the panels which enable you to build a great zoo and keep it that way.
So now you’re ready to play! You may set your own budget and build a “Freeform” zoo, or you could attempt to play one of the “Scenario” zoos, where you must meet a set of goals within a set budget and time frame.
Freeform Zoo:
In the Freeform version of the game, you literally build your zoo from the ground up. First, you will choose the size and setting of your zoo. (I have tried building a zoo on the moon, but mostly out of curiosity about the zoo visitors and staff. I admit that I was a little disappointed when they turned out to be normal people and not aliens!) After that, choose the amount of money you’ll need to get your zoo started. You may start with as much as $500,000.00. Beginners may want to choose this amount; it allows you to focus on building an amazing zoo and keeping everybody happy, rather than worrying about running out of money.
Now you can put all of that tutorial info to work. It’s time to build your exhibits, install zoo paths, and add various buildings (restrooms and food stands) and attractions (carousel, petting zoo, and gift shop). Once these are in place, you can place animals in the exhibits and hire zookeepers, tour guides, and maintenance workers. Now look at your zoo entrance…guests are arriving!
There’s really no way to lose at this version of the game. Running out of money is not great, but it’s also not the end of the world. You can always sell off a couple of extra lions and a carousel to get out of the red!
Scenario Zoo:
In the Scenario zoos, you are given a set amount of money with which to meet certain goals within a specified time frame. There is a wide range in the degree of difficulty with these games. The beginning ones are not bad, but winning at these allows you to progress to some that are incredibly challenging. In most of these games, the goals involve 1) building a certain number of exhibits, 2) keeping a very high Zoo Rating, 3) keeping Animal Happiness levels high, and 4) keeping Guest Happiness levels high. Oh-and all this must be accomplished on a limited budget!
It’s this aspect of the game that really got me hooked. I did such a poor job on my first scenario zoo that I was shut down by the authorities and I was informed that protesters were picketing at the gate. After some practice, I started doing a little better. I know this sounds pathetic, but after working on a zoo for the Zoo Tycoon equivalent of three years, you’re going to be mad when you don’t win. Especially if you lose because you are a mere two points shy of your Guest Happiness goal. So I became slightly obsessed with winning every scenario game, which often had me hunched over the computer at ridiculous hours. Warning! This could happen to you! (In case you’re wondering, I did manage to beat all of the scenario games eventually…brag, brag)
There are some important things you need to remember, no matter which type of game you’re playing. I’ll try to list as many as I can…
One of the most important things to do at the start is to put some money toward Research and Conservation. Doing so will greatly expand the number of animals, animal houses and toys, foliage, attractions, etc. which you may purchase. Also, don’t forget to check the Zoo Info page and adjust the admission price to your zoo. You won’t do that well if you’re letting people in for free!
You will be able to monitor the happiness of each animal and guest just by clicking on an individual creature/person. (When the panel showing the info for the individual you clicked on pops up, you can also edit the name of that person/animal. My daughter names all of her animals…why have Lion 8 when you can have Elconzo the Great?!) There is a neat “Ask the Zookeeper” function which will tell you how each particular animal’s exhibit could be better-suited for its inhabitants. You can make the changes immediately and see an increase in the happiness of your animals. They’ll just love you for it.
Some animals are easier to keep content than others. Some require expensive toys to stay happy, while others are pretty low-maintenance. Some animals trample their terrain very quickly, which means you have to replace their terrain more frequently (expensive). I’m not going to give you the specifics here, because that would ruin the fun/frustration of the game. One hint: I have never been able to afford to keep elephants happy in my zoos. They require expensive fencing, lots of room, esoteric toys and housing, and their terrain always needs replacing. They’re just not worth the hassle…I say, let them roam freely in Africa!
Every so often, you will receive a notice that one of your animals is sick. No problem! All you have to do is click on a zookeeper and move him to the sick animal. You will hear a little magical sound that is the signal that your animal is being healed.
When certain endangered animals produce offspring, your zoo will be given a monetary bonus. White Bengal Tigers usually produce this profitable offspring most quickly, but you can also try with the Okapi, the Panda, and others.
Let’s face it…dealing with the public can be a drag. When you click on an unhappy guest, you will often be able to read his thoughts (“I’m hungry”, “I’m tired”, “I don’t like this zoo at all”, etc.). I find it frustrating that an angry guest often stays that way, even if you address his needs. Even worse is the fact that you can’t click on an unhappy guest and carry him out of your zoo! Just make sure that you have plenty of food stands, restrooms, benches, and trash cans to minimize these problem customers.
Problems can arise when your maintenance workers get lazy. Usually, they walk around the zoo, cleaning trash and fixing fences. Sometimes the fences deteriorate before maintenance can get to them and the animals escape. This is most upsetting. You will hear your guests screaming and see them running for the exit. Sometimes an escaped animal will snack on an unlucky guest. The concept is gory, but the graphic image is not so bad. I once clicked on a guest who was being chased by an escaped tiger and his thoughts were: “Ouch! This Bengal tiger is eating me. I don’t like this zoo at all.” How’s that for an understatement!
The graphics and sound for this game are just super, offering very fine detail. When a leopard is feeling overcrowded by guests, you will see it pacing around anxiously. You will see the lion rolling languidly on a sunny rock. When zoo guests become nauseous due to a smelly exhibit, you will see their faces turn green. You’ll hear the various sounds of the animals, the oohs and aahs of the guests, the music at the carousel, and the ringing of the cash register at your hot dog stand. The background sounds vary according to what you’re seeing on the screen. It’s great, but I imagine that it may be a bit of a memory hog. Beware, if you don’t have the spiffiest machine on the block!
Zoo Tycoon also includes a feature which allows you to download new animals, zoo buildings, foliage, scenario games, etc. via the Internet. The latest scenario that I’m trying to win is a Christmas Tree Farm, complete with reindeer and a Yeti (that’s right-you can buy the Abominable Snow Man for your zoo!). Hopefully, the folks at Microsoft will continue to add surprises with this feature.
At the beginning of this epinion, I mentioned that this game is both fun and educational. I’ve found that my daughter has learned an incredible amount about the various animals in her zoos. She will easily tell you all of the animals’ terrain and foliage preferences, and which animals prefer living in groups versus alone. And she has learned the fundamental lesson that two male elephants will never produce offspring (not that there's anything wrong with that..). I don’t know…it just seems better than playing some silly Barbie game where you match shoes to eye color!
This game is rated “E”, which seems about right. Just about everyone in my family has really enjoyed this game. I even got to witness my own mother’s sadistic side when she built a zoo and released all of the animals for a “hunting party”. She fired all of the zookeepers because they were trying to capture the animals! It was chaos, and she was cackling, loving every minute of it. So for sheer entertainment value (and never the same game twice), you just can’t beat Zoo Tycoon. The possibilities for fun and frustration are endless!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
fraygirl
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Location: Wilmington, North Carolina
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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