Planet Coaster 2 announced: Here are five reasons to be excited for Frontier's sequel

The simulation veterans over at Frontier Developments have their hands full these days. Not only are we getting annual F1 Manager titles, regular Warhammer 40,000 projects, another Jurassic World Evolution game in the future, and frequent updates to the console edition of Planet Zoo, we're also set to get an entire sequel to one of the developer's recent fan-favourites: Planet Coaster.

Yep, Planet Coaster 2 is on its way and set to debut on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S this autumn. We don't know exactly when yet, and I've yet to actually go hands-on to tell you about how the game feels in practice, but I have been privy to a bit of hands-off gameplay, and here are five things that caught my attention during that preview.

A Whole New (Water) World

The biggest new addition in Planet Coaster 2 is the incorporation of waterparks. Now, you can build entire areas dedicated to flume rides, waterslides, pools, and everything you would usually see at your local waterpark. The construction of a waterpark isn't much different to a regular park, as you use the same system to place ride parts and design the local scenery and infrastructure, except now you also have to be mindful of a few extra challenges to ensure your water features run without a hitch. This includes building water tanks and generators to keep your water features clean and clear, as well as offering changing facilities so visitors can easily swap between swimwear and their regular park clothes. You'll also need to ensure your hospitality and consumer stores and buildings offer waterpark passes, else your guests will not be able to enter this new and exciting part of your wider park.

More Precision and Personality

Planet Coaster 2 doesn't actually look that much different from Planet Coaster. But there are many new systems in place here that enable a player to put their own spin and touch on existing parts and buildings. Now, you can literally place scenery elements in and on your rides. You can place a giant submarine in the middle of your aquatic-themed teacup ride and have it spin in the opposite direction to the cups themselves. You can add extra patterns, colours, and stylings to every ride, coaster, and building to make it feel even more suited to this part of your park. You can manually customise the carriages on your coaster to make them further befit the theme, and then use baked-in systems that enable absolute precision to apply your new design to every carriage on that coaster. Essentially, if you thought that Planet Coaster lacked a bit of creative depth, this sequel will not disappoint.

Additional Themes to Explore

There were already a bunch of themes to choose from in Planet Coaster, but Frontier is adding to this list in the sequel. During the hands-off session, we were introduced to the underwater Aquarium theme and the Resort theme, which is described as having a "West Coast vibe". Each of the themes bring a variety of new cosmetics that you can use the customisation suite I noted above to adjust and fit them to other rides and coasters from other themes.

Oh, and yes... There will be new coasters and rides to build, as well as many fan-favourites making a comeback.

Guests 2.0

The guests and visitors in the original Planet Coaster often felt a little bit alien in the way that they act and move around the world, which is no doubt a leading factor as to Frontier's choice to rebuild its guest system in Planet Coaster 2. You can expect a broader array of guests that feel and act more real, and interact with your park in new ways, including by taking the plunge and putting to the test the new and daunting body flume water slide that you concocted like a mad scientist.

Current-Gen Only

Planet Coaster 2 will debut on PC and consoles at launch, but PS4 and Xbox One users will not get to join in on the party. This sequel is a current-gen exclusive only and the reason for that could be seen in the gameplay. The parks, people, rides, coasters, and environment this time all have so much more colour and detail to them that when cruising around at eye-level as though you are a guest, you can fall in love with your creations as though you're wandering around Disneyland's Tomorrowland or Alton Towers' Dark Forest.

Frontier has done wonders with making this game feel more authentic to the theme park experience and it shows. I can't wait to go hands-on eventually to see how all of these new elements perform in practice.