The difference between a roller coaster and a ring-tailed lemur is that when one has a problem it’s a mild irritation, and when the other has a problem it’s a cause of unbridled panic and guilt. There are stressful components to every management simulation game, but where Planet Coaster’s mechanical breakdowns make me worry briefly about profits, Planet Zoo’s biological breakdowns make me feel like a neglectful, abusive monster who should be dragged off to jail and never allowed near another living thing ever again.
Planet Zoo has several official modes: Career, Challenge, Sandbox, and Franchise, but its two actual modes are ‘Things Seem Fine’ and ‘Oh God What Have I Done?!’. My elephants, giraffes, orangutans, panda bears, and dozens of other furry friends can starve to death or die of dehydration if I’m not careful. They can contract diseases or get injured by fighting one another. They can feel fear and stress and the effects of isolation. They can overheat or get too cold. They can kill each other if you put the wrong animals together in the same habitat. At one point I saw protestors carrying picket signs in my park. It was because my giant burrowing cockroach’s glass box was slightly too humid for its liking. I couldn’t even keep an ugly bug that eats dead leaves happy, and I instantly felt terrible about it.
Denne historien er fra February 2020-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
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Denne historien er fra February 2020-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
SCREENBOUND
How a 5D platformer went viral two months into development
OLED GAMING MONITORS
A fresh wave of OLED panels brings fresh options, greater resolutions and makes for even more impressive gaming monitors
CRYSIS 2
A cinematic FPS with tour de force visuals.
PLOD OF WAR
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 fails to find a new path for its hero
GALAXY QUEST
HOMEWORLD 3 is a flashy, ambitious RTS, but some of the original magic is missing
FAR REACHING
Twenty years ago, FAR CRY changed the landscape of PC gaming forever.
THY KINGDOM COME
SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE is the culmination of decades of FromSoftware RPGs, and a gargantuan finale for ELDEN RING
KILLING FLOOR 3
Tripwire Interactive's creature feature is back
IMPERFECTLY BALANCED
Arrowhead says HELLDIVERS 2 balancing patches have 'gone too far'