Yes, there are a fair few windows and the number of options can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you've got the hang of things, it's actually pretty intuitive. As everything has apparently been 'built from the ground up' to take into account consoles' vastly different controllers, the game has a surprisingly easy to use interface that - in our fairly brief experience - seemed to make creating the perfect park a breeze. Not so with Planet Coaster: Console Edition. It even has dinosaurs! But is he a dinosaur cop?Īs much as we may like a good theme park sim, though, it's fair to say they're a genre that doesn't tend to crop up on consoles too often - and until comparatively recently, console ports of such games tended to be either massively dumbed down, or so convoluted and awkward to control they weren't worth the bother. Thompson introduces you to the ins and outs of creating and managing your own theme park, before moving you onto some more complex career mode challenges and scenarios, which see you trying to turn around failing parks, make the most of challenging locales and finish off half-built worlds, showing off your superior management skills as you go.

Refreshingly well voice-acted, the friendly face of Oswald B. Fortunately, Planet Coaster: Console Edition begins with a pretty robust tutorial to walk you through the basics. The problem is, that with so many responsibilities, it can be a little daunting knowing where to start.

From building rides and designing coasters, to placing shops and eateries, to managing staff and perfecting the décor, it all falls to you to make sure people have a good time (or not). Giving you a plot of land, a huge range of things to build, and letting you run wild with your imagination, Planet Coaster is a game all about building and managing a theme park, and everything that goes with it.

Veterans of the theme park simulation genre since 2004's RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 up to 2015's at least coaster-themed Screamride, Planet Coaster is a game that looks to have an incredible amount of depth, promising all the bells, whistles and flexibility that hardcore coaster fans are looking for (you can even change the speed of lift hills in mph), while still being accessible enough that anyone can play. With Planet Coaster, you can tell Cambridge-based developers Frontier are on familiar footing. Pretty much our reaction when Frontier asked us if we'd like to give the game a whirl.

Free download planet coaster console