It's fair to say that Planet Zoo stands out as a benchmark of the management sim genre. The game's flexible approach to customization alongside a patient learning curve has left many a would-be zookeeper engrossed for a long time. Planet Zoo was built with the potential for even more updates in the future, and the latest DLC pack for South America is now available.
This isn't the first time that Planet Zoo's base game has been built upon. Studio Frontier Developments, who is also behind other well-received management sim games like Planet Coaster and Jurassic World Evolution, has already released the Arctic pack for the game. The South America DLC showcases the geographical focus of these packs, but it lacks the depth of content that would make it a must-have for fans.
That doesn't mean that the South America pack for Planet Zoo is without merit. In terms of positives, there are some solid additions here, with the pack including five new animals and 250 new scenery pieces to help the player customize their zoo as they see fit. However, the lack of anything substantial as a gameplay addition is an issue that many may find it hard to overlook given the price tag.
Of those new animals, the jaguar is the obvious highlight. Much like in real-life zoos the addition of an apex predator adds an attraction through its sheer presence, and players will no doubt plough resources into making the Jaguar exhibit one of the standouts of their park. Keeping the jaguar happy is also a priority (as long as the zookeeper wants to be more humane than certain other big cat owners in the media of late), particularly if the player tries out the challenge of the higher difficulty that's been added as a recent free update.
The other new animals also have their place. Llamas, capuchin monkeys, and anteaters all provide a versatility and variety to the scope of the zoo, while the tree frog adds to the number of exhibit animals. Although more options may be wanted by players, it does provide a little something of everything to help round out the overall animal choices.
The scenery pieces also add a new dimension to the creative aspect of Planet Zoo. Players can build their own Aztec-inspired areas using the 250 new items, including jungle-inspired plant life to make those new South American animals feel more at home.
What Frontier Developments has included in the South America pack is of good quality, but questions will be asked from fans as to whether this is enough to justify an entirely new DLC pack with the same price tag. Five new animals and a couple of hundred scenery pieces might not be enough for some gamers to warrant spending the extra cash, particularly when the previous Arctic pack had more bang for the user's buck.
The most egregious absence is the lack of a new scenario. Part of what worked so well about the early stages of Planet Zoo in particular was the way in which it tested the players with specific tasks to complete, building the user's understanding of mechanics and making them think about the game in different ways. This new pack does not include a scenario at all, a negative when compared to the previous Arctic pack in terms of available content.
As such, it's hard to account for spending the extra cash on the new pack to essentially just get a handful of new animals. The South America pack is certainly of quality, but the price that Frontier Developments is asking may be enough to put some players off. There are undoubtedly going to be more DLC packs for Planet Zoo, and hopefully the further packs will provide better value for money.
Planet Zoo: South America Pack is available now for PC. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purposes of this review.