Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection
Rating:  -
Zoo Tyccon 2 Zookeeper collection is a really fun game where you design your own zoo, from the exibits to the guest amenities. Youe have over 70 animals to choose from!I suggest you get the Zookeeper collection, as for $10 more, you get a $40 value. Both expantion sets are a $20 value, so it's like your getting one expantion pack half off, and another one free! Plus, they add 105 new guest amenity items. They also add a terrian car tour of the zoo, and a wire-cart tour. They are both fun to build. You can also, in Zookeeper mode, enter the exibits as if your there! You can take pictures of the animals too! There are three modes. The sandbox mode let's you build a zoo with no limit on money. Challenge mode starts you out with some money and a limited amount of options for animals, zoo decor, etc. As your zoo gets more and more fame, you get more stars, which unlock new items. Plus, they give you challenges you can accept. You recieve rewards like zoo cash grants of an award that increases zoo fame if you manage to complete the challenges. Compaign mode takes you to a pre-started zoo and gives you a few hard challenges. When you complete them, you unlock objects that you can't even use in sandbox mode otherwise. This is a really fun game, and I think it is very reasonable priced. This game is fun for kids and adults alike.
Rating: -
I'm a 40+ years old female, and I LOVE this game. In a large universe of "slash 'em up", "blow them away" games, the Zoo Tycoon series are a breath of fresh air for kids and grownups. My neices introduced me to the Zoo Tycoon 2 game, and I just _had_ to get the Zookeeper addition.
Here is what I love about the zookeeper pack that is new since the regular Zoo Tycoon 2 game:
* You can create rides through your exhibits with real Jeeps (Wranglers, Liberties and Commanders) and there are a couple of new accessorise to drive through (giant redwood tree, crystal tunnel).
* You can create sky tram rides over your exhibits, and there are neat new accessories to put under them (volcano, geiser, fog machine).
* There are additional interesting animals amd accessories (my favorite is the Galapagos Giant Tortoise, and the heat lamp and pond that they come with).
* You can actually RIDE the skytram and jeeps (and change seats to watch visitor reactions)!! This makes it a lot more fun than if you couldn't ride.
* As an avid gardener, I appreciate the new fun plants - barrel cactus, lady's slipper, prickly pear cactus, etc.
I have a very hard time finding games that are fun and interesting for me. The first one that really hooked me was animal crossing (cube and ds versions). This is the second one that really hooked me. I love all of the different items, and the flexibility to make the zoo reflect my creativity and personality. I encourage all of those game makers to continue producing fun, educational, interesting, flexible, non-violent games. Seems like the few that are out there are really doing well.
Just in case someone who designs Zoo Tycoon updates happens to read this, here are some things I would love to see in future games:
* More accessories for each specific biome (like the rainforst fence, or the tundra/desert ones currently in the game). I don't really need one of every kind of food cart, but having specific fences, benches, light posts, restrooms, fountains and statues has been really fun for me.
* The ability to participate with more things; being able to go into the gift shops and view the merchandise (maybe even to buy things), go into the restaurants and see how popular they are, go on the new Sky Tower ride, etc.
* While the terrain adjustments are much improved, there are still some bugs. for example, even though an exhibit is completely enclosed by fencing, there are still times when I adjust the depths of the ground in the exhibit, and it creates pockets of unpassable sections outside the exhibit.
* It would be nice if you got a lot of zookeepers, if they would actually do all of the work they are capable of. I like using the freeform games, and if I just want to walk around the zoo for a while, I get 5 zookeepers per exhibit, but they still don't do everything that needs to be done to keep the animals fully happy. I like being able to help groom, restock food and clean up, but don't want to be _required_ to do it if I load my zoo with zookeepers and maintenance workers (note: I am okay with having to do this in the challenge and campaign modes, however).
* Sometimes the placement of objects seems a bit "clunky". For example, I would love to surround my gazebo with small fountains and gardens, but there is a huge space around a gazebo where you can not put things. It would be nice if the grid on those items could be tightened up.
* Unlike some of the other reviewers, I don't mind paying for upgrades for better features. I don't think a game manufacturer should be expected to populate a game with a ton of features if it has not yet proven to be a good seller. there needs to be _enough_ features in the first game, and I have been pleased with the amount that were available in the standard Zoo Tycoon 2 game. And I was also very pleased with the new ones available in this new zookeeper addition. I think the value for the money is very good with these games.
* I also LOVE the ability to increase the settings manually for the game (water detail, terrain detail, object details, environment details, music volume, etc.). I will be the first to admit that my laptop is not high powered, and I set it for things that really stretch its ability to populate the game correctly. The one thing I noticed, however, is when the game starts to get overloaded, the first thing that goes wrong seems to be that some of the visitors don't have heads anymore!!! It's kind of creepy walking around and seeing an occasional headless person. Ha! But I can lower the settings to take care of this. For future versions, if the game was going to "bonk" on something, I would hope it would lose a garden or flower details before people's heads dissapeard. :-)
As you can tell, I think this game ROCKS! :-)
Rating:  -
We recently purchased this game and my son got
ecstatic playing this game. Several new features have been
added since the prior release. The graphics look great.
Rating: -
My daughter received this game for Christmas and she wants to play it almost daily. She is an animal nut and loves the interaction this game gives with the animals. I can't recommend this game enough. There is virtually nothing objectionable about this game.
My daughter has a Dell desktop with Celeron processor and has no problems running the game.
Rating: -
I purchased the original Zoo Tycoon a couple of years ago. Then I upgraded to Zoo Tycoon 2 and it was well worth it. You can interact with the animals, and actually walk, ride a jeep, or ride the sky lift through your creation! On the educational side, you have to make a successful atmosphere for a variety of animals, using a variety of biomes. It teaches children how animals live together, eat, and reproduce. It doesn't show details of reproduction, but they have to figure out that there has to be a male and female to get a baby! I wouldn't recommend it for children under about 8 years old because of the difficulty of constructing exhibits, and maintenance of the zoo economically, but anyone older will love it!!
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