SeaWorld Adventure Parks Tycoon 2 – PC – Review

Upon startup, players can choose from several beginning scenarios of varying difficulty. Players new to building-type games should start with the first and easiest level, to get a feel for the game. However, even at this easy level, many things are left unexplained, and players will often end up clicking around in a trial-and-error manner, as the manual is not available from inside the game. The manual is installed in the game folder during installation, and it’s probably a good idea to read it before beginning the game.

The first level just requires players to add three buildings to the existing park. The objectives are listed in the menu, and the status of the objectives can also be seen at the top of the screen. Building is a snap, and each object can be easily rotated for the best placement. However, there doesn’t appear to be an “undo” function, which is an annoyance, as the bulldozer function only recoups part of the cost of the building. Another, milder annoyance is the lack of a right-click function to get rid of buildings attached to the mouse cursor.

Information on each building can be obtained by right clicking on them, with handy menus detailing the building’s pricing and other information, as well as facts on the animals and staff. Cameras can be assigned to the animals and staff, too, which is a great tool. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to pick out the staff member from the general crowd, even with the camera, as the viewpoint isn’t close enough.

All the animals in the exhibits look fantastic, and the shows are lively and exciting. The backgrounds and other objects are not as well detailed, but are still pretty good. The people are the least detailed, and look quite pixelated.

The interface menu is adequate, and gives out a decent amount of information on various things. Figuring the menus out at first is difficult, though, and requires perusal of the manual. The camera is the best feature of the game, and it’s extremely easy to zoom in and around the park to see into every nook and cranny. The amount of detail necessary for each building and background object to achieve this flowing movement must be phenomenal. The only drawback to the camera view is that the zoom isn’t zoomed in quite closely enough.

This simulation title is based on the SeaWorld license, and adheres pretty closely to the spirit of the real thing. There is a good amount of buildings and rides to play around with, but not anything like the number of animals and items in Zoo Tycoon 2 or any of the Roller Coaster Tycoon games. The choreographing ability is well-done, though, and the animal shows are more lifelike here than in Zoo Tycoon: Marine Mania.

For the price, this is a worthwhile game for players looking for another animal-themed park simulation game. While there isn’t quite as much to do as in some simulation games, there is still plenty to fiddle around with, and most theme-park enthusiasts will enjoy it.

Gameplay: 7.0
The game offers a decent amount of fun building and designing exhibits, but with no ability to build from “scratch” and a small variety of animals, the enjoyment level may soon falter.

Graphics: 7.0
The graphics vary in quality from very good for the animals, to just adequate for the people.

Sound: 6.0
There are isolated sound effects for the animals, but overall there isn’t much going on in the sound department.

Difficulty: Medium
While the game isn’t very difficult, the menu functions can be confusing, requiring much exiting out of the game to read the manual.

Concept: 6.5
There’s not much new here, but the camera movement is exceptionally well-done.

Overall: 7.0
A good game for the price, and one that offers some hours of gameplay. However, there are other, more involved games that while pricier, do offer more. The ability to choreograph the animal shows is the best feature.