But possibly the most important
feature of Planet Coaster is the
community integration. Planet
Coaster comes with Steam
Workshop integration right out
of the box, and the main menu
features a planet covered in fun
animated avatars representing you,
your friends, and the community’s
‘celebrities’ (Frontier staff and
prominent content creators). It’s
clear that Frontier is putting a lot
of emphasis on this game’s social
side: Steam Workshop makes
it easy for you and your friends
to share your own buildings or
rollercoasters (dubbed ‘blueprints’)
and to download them. It’s a great
new feature, and things like regular
community livestreams coming
from Frontier make it even more
obvious that they really are betting
on the community making this game
come to life. Even the open alpha
programme (which is now closed,
as the game moves into beta) really
reflects this philosophy of openness
which is often lacking in games from
large studios.
It would be unfair to criticise the
little bugs in the game right now: it’s
only in alpha, and it’s fair to assume
that the edges will be polished and
bugs stomped before the game
is released. The camera controls
have a learning curve and can be
difficult to understand, and the sheer
number of options presented by
the modular building system can be
overwhelming to a new, or perhaps
young, gamer. There are still some
rough edges, but whether or not
they’ll be polished before release is
yet to be seen.
All in all, Planet Coaster is a game
with a lot of promise. It’s the game
that the community surrounding
the Rollercoaster Tycoon series
deserves.
85
Planet Coaster Alpha
Frontier Developments, £26.99
Full version coming Nov 17
WE LIKE...
Creative tools are unrivalled in this
genre
Fun and beautiful art style
Powerful and well-executed social
sharing features
WE DON’T LIKE...
Overly sensitive camera controls
Modular building system can be
overwhelming
IT’S WORTH FULL PRICE
@smagofcl 33