Planet Coaster 2 might feel familiar, but it's still making waves at Gamescom

8.22.2024
By Laura Kate Dale, Contributor
Sometimes, familiarity in a sequel is a good thing. It's like having a lovely double chocolate cake at your favorite restaurant, and coming back to find they've added a third kind of chocolate to the recipe. It's a sense that more of a thing you like is exactly what you're after.

That's how I felt after finishing a 15 minute hands-on demo for Planet Coaster 2 at Gamescom. It was more of the same, very much what I expected, and I couldn't wait to play more.

Released back in 2016, the original Planet Coaster is a theme park building and management sim about crafting the park of your dreams to keep your guests as happy and financially drained as possible. Planet Coaster 2 still allows players to craft a traditional theme park with new ride types like the Wave Coaster. However, the big new addition showcased at Gamescom is the ability to craft water park features both separately from traditional coasters and alongside them.

There's all the typical basics you'd expect like pools and log flumes, with plenty of customization options. They include things like changing water depth so kids can swim safely to adding lazy river jets to your ridiculous snaking river circuit.
Planet Coaster 2 Might Feel Familiar But It S Still Making Waves At Gamescom Wave
While I didn’t have a huge amount of time to play around and spot all the subtle ways Planet Coaster 2 differs from its precursor, I did notice the game simplified some of the basic designs for its “flat ride” options. This gives players more control to customize their appearance through applying scenery and theming elements to the ride in order to change its core design or tone. This can be seen in the demo where a handful of flat rides have pre-created blueprint versions already decorated to look wildly different, such as having an underwater or pirate ship theme.

Beyond that, I spotted plenty of small but notable additions, such as being able to monitor sunburn levels in the park and sell overpriced sun cream to guests in pain. It’s all little extra examples that slot into the mechanics you know and love from the first title.

Ultimately, calling Planet Coaster 2 a sequel that adds water sounds dismissive, but the new water-based content feels as lovingly crafted as anything in the original game. It’s that thing you like, but more. If you liked the original Planet Coaster and are craving more thrill ride theatrics, this delivers what you want. Sometimes, that’s exactly what a sequel aims to be.

You can check out Planet Coaster 2 on the Epic Games Store now.

Keep up to date with our Gamescom 2024 coverage, including all the reveals from Opening Night Live and more.