- Kutter28 

Ever wonder what it would be like to run a zoo?  Have your fury household cat be a lion? Make a jungle your playground and explore the life of a zoo keeper.

Zoo Tycoon puts the player in charge of their very own zoo. You decide which animal to bring into your zoo, who to hire-or-fire. How large to make your zoo or keep your zoo compact and rich with lizards, snakes and smaller animals, or how about building your zoo as large as you can, giving freedom for your elephants and giraffes to roam. Zoo Tycoon puts you in charge of making all of the decisions, large or small.

Having played Zoo Tycoon on both consoles (Xbox 360 & Xbox One) the Xbox 360 is being push to the max with the incredible amount of detail that Frontier has managed to give the animals and their surroundings. The sounds of the bustling wildlife are a treat to the ears, when working on one side of my zoo I was able to hear my lions roar from the distance or my elephants trumpet as they bathed in their water pool. Frontier is showing that although the Xbox One is here, the Xbox 360 still has a bit of life left in the console. Frame rate is smooth, texture pop-in is almost non-existent, and the animals look amazing for a console that’s heading into its 9th year.

Visually, the Xbox One is stunning! Animals have never looked more realistic and movement is now more believable than ever. It is easy to say that Frontier knows they’re animals. From the way the animals move, look and interact with the player and themselves, Zoo Tycoon is an animal lover’s paradise. 

Where Zoo Tycoon begins to run into some trouble is in the menu based gameplay. Nearly every move or decision you do must be performed through some menu based system. Something that you would think to be simple, has now become more complex do to having the player scroll throughout menu after menu in order to achieve their final goal. I had researched a larger exhibit for my elephants to inhabit and needed for them to be moved. This process became tedious due to 6 menu changes in order for my elephant to move. Once I had moved ONE elephant, I then had to repeat the process all over again. Sprucing up your zoo by adding trees or other decorations are done in the same manner. Plant one tree through a subject of menu’s is then followed up by repeating those same menus again to plant another tree. A simple scrolling your crosshair over an object to give you a more refined menu could have been an easier method perhaps. With all these menu’s to scroll through, I fear some of the younger audience may have a harder time playing and leave Zoo Tycoon behind because of its difficult menu structure.

Jumping into a game of your choice is rather simple. Choose from the Tutorial, FreeForm, Challenge or your typical Campaign mode.

The Tutorial though informative is very lengthy and at times overwhelming with its information overload. 10 tutorials will have you understanding everything you will encounter as a zoo keeper, but when finishing up my tutorial I nearly forgot what I had learned in the beginning stages.  FreeForm mode allows players to build their zoo any way they see fit without the restrictions and constraints of money. Just sit back and enjoy building exhibits and placing your animals. Challenge mode is for players who enjoy the pressures of having to make every decision. Careful you don’t spend too much money on a new exhibit or Sonya your Lemur monkey may not get his food station refilled and become very unhappy. Challenge mode will have you testing your management skills with lots to do and interact with.

Campaign mode will gently ease the player into becoming more familiar with the game and its mechanics. Start by picking a zoo from around the world, and help by shaping that zoo into becoming a world renowned phenomenon. Challenges will help keep the zoo growing and let you learn how to manage the animals and your staff. Keep everyone happy and increase your Star Rating will unlock more items, allowing you to increase your zoo in size with more attractions and visitors. 

Zoo size is something I would have liked to have seen been bigger, possibly allowing you to add one section onto another.  Overall, Zoo Tycoon is an adorable game for the family with lots of rich detail and animals to enjoy. The menu system may be a bit daunting for the younger audience, but once you are able to find what you are looking for it is fun to be a zoo keeper. 

- Kutter28