Zoos play an important role in modern society. While the origins of zoos lie in collecting rare creatures to demonstrate the power and influence of rulers and nations, modern zoos have turned to education and science, conservation, and even attempts to reverse the thoughtless and destructive effects of centuries of human expansion. While these serious environmental issues remain at the heart of Planet Zoo, Frontier has created a fun park management experience within them. After the game’s release on PC in 2019, the zoo has finally opened up to console owners.

Planet Zoo was already a fantastic park builder, and Frontier has ported the exact same experience to PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The most important thing we look for is how well the game plays using a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse.

It’s fair to say that everything using a controller feels a bit awkward at first, especially if you’re coming from the PC version. The camera controls are relatively simple: move with the right analog stick and zoom with the left and right triggers, but if you’re stuck on the ground, you have to hold down the square button to bring the camera back.

It works, but it’s not entirely natural, especially when the square key performs various functions in combination with other keys. Still, the camera moves without any noticeable lag, and although there is some minimal pop-in, you’ll appreciate how fluid the experience feels.

Central functions are performed at the bottom of the screen and accessed with the right and left shoulder buttons. Frontier has done a great job of making a menu-heavy game as accessible as possible. Each item has a controller button prompt, and while some require keyboard shortcuts to access certain menu items, they’re clear enough that you won’t get bogged down.

Planet Zoo offers a wide range of options for designing your zoo. However, if you’re a beginner, it’s best to start with the campaign, which includes a fun tutorial to launch your career as an animal and park manager. A series of challenges will get you up to speed with the game without too much effort, and I was surprised at how quickly I was able to adapt to the console version, even though I’d played the game before.

Essentially, Planet Zoo feels like a puzzle game, where you spend most of your time granting the wishes of the animals most in need, while also trying to expand your business to accommodate all the unique customers who stroll along the way and earn you money. It could be the temperature, the trees, or the activity toys, but every animal is sure to find something that’s not quite right, and it’s up to you to make it all right. You do this by navigating a series of menu systems. It might seem overwhelming at first, but once you know where everything is, you’ll find your way around in no time.

It feels like you’ll never be able to build a facility that looks as good as the pre-built ones in the campaign, but you have the same tools – it just takes a little time, and that time is over, not so much on the console, but even longer. It doesn’t have quite the immediacy or precision of using a mouse, but it’s good enough for most people, especially those who have never experienced the game on PC, and you can build some very attractive exhibits.

Planet Zoo still has the same limitations as all the frontier park games, so the animals will cut through each other and through some of the scenery elements, just like in Jurassic World Evolution 2. This keeps happening a lot, like during the tutorial, when a lion loses half his body while swimming. This dulls the shine of some of the most amazingly animated creatures in the game, but considering the level of detail and customization options, the occasional rough edges can be ignored.