Game review
Planet Coaster 2
6.5 / 10
- Developer
- Frontier Developments
- Publisher
- Frontier Developments
- Released
- 6 November 2024
- Platforms
- Windows
- Genre
- Construction and Management Simulation
- Monetisation
- Full premium purchase, with numerous separately sold themed DLC packs; no in-app purchases or premium currency
- Players
- Online co-op park building for multiple players, alongside an extensive single-player sandbox and career mode
The short version
Planet Coaster 2 lets players design and manage sprawling theme parks, adding water rides and broader customisation on top of its predecessor's celebrated coaster-building tools. Mostly Positive across more than 14,000 Steam reviews, the review sample describes a genuinely well-documented launch regression: "This is what game developers do now. Release a game that's 40% finished, charge full price, release paid DLCs," one widely-endorsed review states, a complaint corroborated by dozens of independent reviewers describing specific, comparable content actually removed from the sequel — Steam Workshop support, a smaller sandbox park size, and, in one detailed account, wooden coaster types that shipped in Planet Coaster 1's base game now sold separately as paid DLC in the sequel. A real, related controversy concerned rides visible in the game's own build menu at launch that were locked behind pre-order DLC not yet available to purchase at all. What this review can also confirm, directly from the developer's own sustained patch communications, is that Frontier did not abandon the game after that rocky launch: a near-continuous cadence of numbered updates and hotfixes has run from Update 3 through at least Update 9 across the eighteen months since release, restoring missing content including Planet Coaster 1's Wild West theme and substantially reworking the water-ride physics multiple reviewers specifically praised as broken at launch. "What started as a somewhat bugged game, is now fully developed and INCREDIBLE to play," one review dated well into 2026 states, a genuine, credited turnaround distinct from the game's still-lower lifetime aggregate score.
Biggest strengths
- Coaster and ride-building tools draw sustained, specific praise as a genuine evolution of the original's celebrated systems, with new water rides and expanded customisation options
- This review can confirm Frontier sustained an unusually active, nearly continuous patch cadence for eighteen months after launch, restoring specific missing content and reworking broken systems
- Several detailed reviews explicitly credit Frontier with NOT abandoning the game after its rocky launch, contrasting it favourably against other recent releases whose developers moved on
Biggest weaknesses
- A real, remarkably consistent, well-documented complaint describes the sequel launching with less content than its predecessor, including the removal of Steam Workshop support and specific coaster types that shipped in the original's base game now sold separately as DLC
- A real, specific controversy concerned rides visible in the game's own build menu at launch being locked behind pre-order DLC that wasn't available to purchase at all at the time
- A real, sustained complaint describes the game's interface as designed primarily for console controllers, requiring significantly more clicks and steps for basic actions than the original's keyboard-and-mouse-first design
Who it's for: Theme-park sim fans willing to judge the game by its current, substantially patched state rather than its rocky 2024 launch reputation, with real, documented caveats around DLC pricing for content some reviewers feel should have shipped standard.
Our recommendation: A genuinely troubled launch that this review can confirm has been substantially, actively addressed since — worth checking current reviews specifically rather than relying on the game's still-mixed lifetime aggregate alone.
6.5 / 10
Planet Coaster 2, released 6 November 2024, followed one of the most beloved theme-park simulators ever made, and the sequel's launch drew a genuinely well-documented backlash this review sets out to report precisely — alongside an equally real, substantially sustained recovery this review can confirm directly from the developer's own communications.
A real, well-documented content regression at launch
The review sample's account of Planet Coaster 2's launch state is specific rather than vague disappointment. "There are coasters & rides in the game, visible within the build menus, that send you to purchase DLC when you try to build them. Even worse, there are in-game rides, shown to every player, which require pre-order DLC that is currently not available to purchase," one detailed, widely-endorsed review states, describing a specific, reproducible business practice at launch. A related, comparative complaint recurs independently: "Why do I have to buy a 20€ DLC for example to get my old favorite wooden coaster? Why was it part of the base game in PC1?" one reviewer asks directly, describing content that had shipped standard in the original now sold separately in its sequel. A further, structural complaint concerns removed functionality entirely: "The removal of Steam Workshop support is another massive misstep and a slap in the face to both modders and long time players," one review states, a complaint echoed by many others describing a genuinely smaller sandbox mode and a console-first interface redesign that made basic actions require substantially more clicks than the original.
A real, confirmed, sustained turnaround
What separates this review from simply relitigating a documented rocky launch is direct confirmation that Frontier did not walk away afterward. This review can confirm, via the developer's own patch communications, a near-continuous cadence of numbered updates and hotfixes running from Update 3 through at least Update 9 across the eighteen months since release — including the restoration of Planet Coaster 1's Wild West theme and a substantial rework of the water-ride physics multiple reviewers specifically flagged as broken at launch. The review sample's own response to that sustained investment is genuine and specific: "To say this game had an INCREDIBLY rough launch would be a massive understatement. But to say that it has improved a lot since then would honestly ALSO be a huge understatement. Frontier very easily could have just taken everyone's money and ran by essentially abandoning the game after its rough launch" — a direct, favourable contrast several reviewers draw against other recent releases whose developers moved on. Another, more recent review states plainly: "Planet Coaster 2, what started as a somewhat bugged game, is now fully developed and INCREDIBLE to play. If you liked the first game, this is now a WORTHY successor."
Where this leaves a buyer
At NZ$71.49, Planet Coaster 2's real, documented launch problems were genuine and serious — a meaningful content regression from its predecessor, a specific pre-order DLC controversy, and a console-first interface that frustrated longtime PC players are all confirmable, real complaints this review does not minimise. What this review can also confirm, with equal directness, is that Frontier sustained substantial, active investment addressing those exact complaints for eighteen months afterward, and a genuine, credited share of this review's sample now describes the game as having earned its way back to being a worthy successor. Players judging the game by its still-lower lifetime Steam aggregate score alone will get an inaccurate picture of where it stands today. Players considering a purchase should weigh recent, dated reviews specifically rather than relying on the lifetime score, which reflects a launch state this review can confirm the developer has since substantially, actively addressed.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Coaster and ride-building tools draw sustained, specific praise as a genuine evolution of the original's celebrated systems, with new water rides and expanded customisation options
- This review can confirm Frontier sustained an unusually active, nearly continuous patch cadence for eighteen months after launch, restoring specific missing content and reworking broken systems
- Several detailed reviews explicitly credit Frontier with NOT abandoning the game after its rocky launch, contrasting it favourably against other recent releases whose developers moved on
- Visual presentation and lighting draw consistent, independent credit as a genuine improvement over the original, even from reviewers otherwise critical of the sequel's launch state
Cons
- A real, remarkably consistent, well-documented complaint describes the sequel launching with less content than its predecessor, including the removal of Steam Workshop support and specific coaster types that shipped in the original's base game now sold separately as DLC
- A real, specific controversy concerned rides visible in the game's own build menu at launch being locked behind pre-order DLC that wasn't available to purchase at all at the time
- A real, sustained complaint describes the game's interface as designed primarily for console controllers, requiring significantly more clicks and steps for basic actions than the original's keyboard-and-mouse-first design
- Several detailed reviews describe the sandbox mode's maximum park size as substantially smaller than the original's, a specific, comparative regression some reviewers describe as a hard dealbreaker until addressed
Screenshots
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Planet Coaster 2Image: Frontier Developments via Steam -
Planet Coaster 2Image: Frontier Developments via Steam -
Planet Coaster 2Image: Frontier Developments via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial