Planet Zoo, similar to Frontier’s Planet Coaster, is quintessentially the modern take on the familiar tycoon games the developer have dabbled in making sequels of, but now as an IP of their own. Its immensely powerful creative tools as well as its engaging management aspects make it something Zoo Tycoon fans should flock to.
And for those that have done so, Frontier has been adding much content since a year of its release, both as free updates and paid DLC. The latest of the DLCs, the Southeast Asia Pack, is themed around content originating from this side of the world.
So how does the Southeast Asia Pack DLC review stacks up from the lens of a Southeast Asian? Well, there are some glaring issues in regards to the theming, but from a gameplay addition, it’s another solid- if not similar- DLC entry.
Kuala Bintu Taman?
The Southeast Asia DLC pack includes new animals you can adopt and take care of in your created zoo, as well as one new timed scenario where you are tasked to bring a run-down zoo residing in Perak, Malaysia, and get it back in the black again.
It’s an apt scenario, considering the real-life zoos in the country are struggling right now from the pandemic and have to resort to major corporate donations to keep the zoo, and more importantly the animals, continue to be taken care of.
But here lies an issue that appeared just as I look at what’s presented when you highlight the timed scenario, Malayan Beauty, in the main menu. The screenshot doesn’t look Southeast Asian. The description only says East Asian. And then the name.
As a Malaysian, when I see what they decided to name this zoo, I was utterly confused by what it is. If the attempt was to get an “I know that! They get it!” reaction from the folks from this country, I’m afraid the reaction I had was “What am I looking at, this word salad makes no sense.”
The name of the zoo? Kuala Bintu Taman.
No Malaysian would have named what’s probably supposed to translate as Kuala Bintu Park like that. To be at least grammatically correct in Bahasa Malaysia, it should’ve been called Taman Kuala Bintu, with Kuala Bintu as the name of this fictional location, and Taman (Park) as a prefix instead.
I get that the developers want to properly represent the region by giving the park’s name in its native language, but it comes off wrong, unfortunately.
I get it, it’s probably hard to look up for creative names of a Malaysian zoo since most of the major zoos here in Malaysia are just named in English, and use the word “zoo” in them. The Malay word for zoo is also, zoo.
Many major zoos in the country are just named as “Zoo ___” in Bahasa Malaysia, where blank is the name of the location like Zoo Melaka (Melaka Zoo), Zoo Taiping (Taiping Zoo, an actual zoo in the state of Perak) and the national zoo of Malaysia, Zoo Negara.
And those that have the “Taman” in the name are followed by an animal name- like Taman Buaya Melaka (Melaka Crocodile Farm) and Taman Rama-Rama Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park). The extra word after Taman makes locals here associate it as a zoo rather than a residential area (which is where the word Taman is usually used as a prefix).
So in the context of Malaysian zoos, Taman is used for zoos the specialises in keeping a particular animal species. Because if such animal is not specified, you’d think it’s just another residential area name instead.
Taman Kuala Bintu, while grammatically correct, would just sound like a weird residential area at first glance when said to a Malaysian, but it’s at least grammatically correct. Calling it Zoo Kuala Bintu, or Taman Haiwan Kuala Bintu (Kuala Bintu Animal Park) would’ve been much better, in my opinion. Kuala Bintu Taman is just dead wrong. And that bothered me so much.
South + East Asia, More Like
And the thing about the Kuala Bintu Taman zoo itself is designed also left me feeling a bit miffed. Because on the scenario page, the thumbnail for it looks more like an East Asian architecture, and the scenario makes mention of East Asia rather than Southeast Asia.
The park is supposed to be in Southeast Asia, but placing East Asian and South Asian assets and call it Southeast Asia isn’t going to cut it.
It’s fine to reuse assets and mix and form something new. The tools available in Planet Zoo encourages it. But Kuala Bintu Taman looks overly South Asian at one part and overly East Asian at another. As a result, the park looks so alien to me.
This isn’t in Perak, despite the signage saying so. If it is Perak, you would see more of the state flag hanging in place to where the Perak signage are- though this would be a detail lost to most people which I don’t mind not seeing.
At least the central plaza is where the park gets it right. It’s a pastiche of the more rural part of the country, with rickshaws, cozy buildings, leaning coconut trees and even sampans (small boats) as both decoration and a practical transport visitors can use.
The central plaza can look like a bit tourist trap-y for a zoo to include. But it’s nicely done nevertheless- an example of good use of mashing together assets to make something interesting and sort of resembling a piece of Southeast Asia.
The base game of Planet Zoo did have Southeast Asian representation, a few animals local to the region are already in the base game, and there’s also a base game scenario where you get to build a zoo from scratch in the Philippines.
While the base game only touches the surface, the Southeast Asia Pack DLC tries to flesh out the representation for this region, but there very obvious parts where they missed the mark, I’m afraid.
At least the generated names for animals from Southeast Asia are nice picks. That, they got it absolutely right.
So How’s The New Content?
Enough with the cultural critique, what about the content in the DLC?
It’s good, to say the least.
Frontier is making the fan-favourite sun bear front and centre as this DLC showpiece, but I do find the rest of the animals included to be great additions.
The list of animals added in the Southeast Asia Pack are:
- Clouded Leopard
- Sun Bear
- Proboscis Monkey
- Binturong
- Malayan Tapir
- Ussuri Dhole
- North Sulawesi Babirusa
- Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect
You get some interesting new animals to take care of with this DLC, and it’s quite the mind-opener if it’s the first time you’ve heard of them. Have you seen how cute a Clouded Leopard is? These are cat-sized leopards that are as ferocious as it is cuddly-looking. And then you have the babirusa, (literally pig-deer in Bahasa), a fascinating breed of a hog.
And if you like your smaller exhibit showcases, you get to add the Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect, which is exactly what the name says. And yes, they do blend way too well with the many leaves in the exhibit, as they should.
It’s wild that such animals and insects actually exists (though some may not be for long unfortunately, if we don’t do something about it).
If you like more variety of animals, the Southeast Asia Pack has by far the best selection of animals, and the most in terms of quantity for a Planet Zoo DLC yet. Though they won’t be bringing major gameplay changes in the way you make habitats.
As for the Malayan Beauty timed scenario, it’s actually pretty fun. It’s a different kind of challenge where you have to make the zoo profitable again, pay off loans and make more attractions like a gondola for visitors. As well as expand the zoo by adding more animal habitats.
The zoo in this timed scenario has some impressive builds that sure to inspire your own sandbox creations. Some of the DLC animals are already in their pre-built habitats like the sun bears, while others are readily available to adopt.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, from a gameplay standpoint, the Planet Zoo Southeast Asia Pack DLC delivers. If you find the animals included to be intriguing and something you want to add to your own park, it’s a great extra content worth buying.
There could be improvements in regards to representating the region correctly, though there is a glimpse of where the timed scenario park gets it right. That said, I still appreciate the attempt the game has given to put on a spotlight for various parts of the world through its DLC offerings.
At the very least, I wish the name of that park is updated somewhat. It’s bothering me from enjoying an otherwise great DLC drop for Planet Zoo.
Review code provided by Frontier Developments