| After acquiring the Guildford based developer Bullfrog, Electronic Arts were keen to capitalise on their well-known Theme Park IP. EA eventually tired of the franchise like an old plaything and shelved the series, leaving the door open for a new developer to take up the baton of the amusement park management mini-genre.Over the last few years that baton has been ever more firmly gripped by the white-knuckled fist of Rollercoaster Tycoon, the work of tiny outfit Chris Sawyer Productions. The rather addictive game gives you full control over your park and allows you to custom build your own rollercoasters, which involves tinkering in the subtle science of giving your thrill-seeking guests an exciting ride, without detaching their retinas.Now in its third iteration, the game has continued in its tradition of giving customers expansion packs to get their teeth into. The first RCT3 add-on was Soaked, which gave players the opportunity to build their own water-based amusement park, with multi-layered pools, water slides and dolphin displays. Now the second supplement roars onto the scene: Wild, developed in association with Frontier Developments.As the name suggests, Wild concerns itself with the sphere of Nature. Create your very own safari park, with giraffes, elephants and gorillas roaming in the background as guests enjoy the roller coaster you have on offer. There are more rides and attractions to build, as well as the added dynamic of keeping your more ferocious animals under secure lock and key, lest they devour visitors. If they do escape you'll have to hunt them down and pop a tranquiliser in them before they wreak too much havoc. There's been some time spent on the beasts, and they're not just pretty models. They're programmed to behave like their real-life counterparts, so you can see the attraction as much as your virtual visitors. Wild looks set to combine the Rollercoaster series'addictive qualities with added eye candy. |
