The quality of the free monthly PlayStation Plus games is a constant source of debate among subscribers. Many feel they’ve dropped off since the launch of the PlayStation 5. Where we were once getting standout titles for free, we’re now mostly receiving missable mediocre games. But there’s occasionally a hidden gem to be found. Planet Coaster PS5 edition is one such hidden gem that comes as part of February’s PS Plus offering. And while it won’t be for everyone, this theme park construction sim is immersive, fun and an all-round joy to play. There are a few niggles here and there, but for fans (lapsed or otherwise) of the genre, there’s a lot to love.
Planet Coaster PS5 Review: Gameplay
Coming from Frontier Developments, Planet Coaster PS5 presents a similar – if more advanced – offering to their past series, RollerCoaster Tycoon.
The premise of Planet Coaster is simple: build, maintain and grow a theme park. Where it shines is in the depth and variety of options behind the scenes. From picking the most awe-inspiring rollercoasters to setting the price of cheese burgers at food stands, nothing is missed in Planet Coaster. Everything can be tailored to ensure you’re not only giving your guests an incredible experience but maximising profits, too.
The freedom of creativity here is impressive. You aren’t just placing rides – you can also design them. And I don’t mean just laying down the track. You can customise their surroundings, special effects and more to create a truly unique experience. When you’re done, you can even test ride your coaster as a guest. And trust me, nothing is quite as satisfying as riding your own creation. It’s just a shame that designing your coasters isn’t easy on console. Controllers are no match for keyboards here. And it makes for a disappointingly frustrating (if eventually rewarding) experience.
Game Modes
Planet Coaster is split into three game modes. All of them focus on the core principle of successfully building and running a theme park. But each tackles that core goal differently. Overall, it’s about as much variety as can be expected given the genre – and the modes mix things up well.
Firstly, there’s Career mode. As a training mode of sorts, Career takes you through a variety of challenging scenarios to help you get to grips with the fundamental principles of Planet Coaster. It’s especially useful for newcomers to the series and I wouldn’t advise anyone jump headfirst into the other modes without at least completing a good chunk of Career first. Luckily, there are Trophies to keep you motivated when completing Career mode on PS5. There is, however, some quite irritating voice acting that interrupts the flow of the tutorials. It’s not awful – but seriously grating after a while.
Next up is Challenge mode. Here you have to pick a biome and a difficulty, and meet set challenges while building your park with a limited budget. Difficulty impacts things like starting cash, guest happiness decline rate and frequency of ride breakdowns.
Lastly, there’s Sandbox mode. I expect this is where most players will spend the majority of their time in Planet Coaster on PS5. In Sandbox, the game gives you unlimited money and access to every item, ride and building in the game. This is where you get to be the most creative.
To compliment these three modes is Frontier Workshop, an online database of downloadable player creations. It allows you to take parks, rides and more and dunk them into your game. Naturally, you can upload your own creations, too.
Planet Coaster PS5 Review: Console Implementation
Controls
Construction and management sims are never perfect on consoles owing to the difficulty of mapping complex menus built for mouse and keyboard to a controller. Having recently delved into Cities Skylines PS4 Edition, I know this all too well.
Planet Coaster PS5 suffers in this respect, too. Everything is made just that bit more fiddly and frustrating when using a controller. Thankfully, it is possible to plug in a keyboard and mouse and play the game as it should be played. It makes everything easier and, if you have the kit and the space, I’d highly recommend it over the DualSense.
Graphics & Frame Rate
Planet Coaster on PS5 is vibrant, colourful and fun. It’s not going for photo-realism (nor should it), but it looks great. The overall atmosphere adds a sense of excitement to your parks which might otherwise feel lifeless and drab. The near constant 60 frames per second allows you to experience the full fluidity of your creations. It makes the game a pleasure to play.
For the Console Edition of Planet Coaster, there is, however, building limitations. This is implemented by way of the “Oswald-Eugene Counter”. This is simply a meter which, when filled, prevents you from building anything further. At around the 70% mark, there’s a “Not backwards compatible” section which indicates your creation won’t be available to previous generation consoles. This sort of limiting mechanic is common for these games on consoles. It’s just a shame that it’s present in the PS5 version. On that basis, anyone wanting complete free rein to build to their hearts content would be better off on PC.
Planet Coaster PS5 Review: Verdict
Planet Coaster isn’t for everyone. Construction and management sims are a niche and many find them too frustrating and complex to enjoy. Personally, I have an on-off relationship with them. But I found Planet Coaster PS5 a blast to play. As a free PS Plus game, it’s a fantastic entry point into a genre that many might be unwilling to risk spending their cash on.
If you played RollerCoaster Tycoon back in the day, you’ll no doubt love Planet Coaster. It takes the same concept and brings it into the current generation. And despite some console limitations, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable package and an absolute steal as a PlayStaion Plus freebie.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Reviewed on: PS5
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