Let’s Build a Zoo: Aquarium Odyssey Review

Let’s Build a Zoo took the art of building an animal to a whole new level last year with addictive management gameplay, lots of different species, and the ability to play god through DNA splicing. But if you’re no longer entertained by morally questionable land animals like the chickows and goobits, then maybe it’s time to branch out into the vast ocean via the Let’s Build a Zoo: Aquarium Odyssey downloadable content. It’s ready to whisk you away to Aquarium Island for a brand new business venture.

In Let’s Build a Zoo: Aquarium Odyssey, the idea is to create an aquatic empire to house the wondrous creatures of the ocean. Preservation is also at the forefront of proceedings, as you can provide a safe and clean environment for fish to thrive within. After all, it’s a dangerous world out there due to the increased pollution and the sheer volume of fishing going on. Ultimately though, ensuring your aquarium is a must-see attraction and making a ton of cash is the end-game.

This is a completely new campaign to sink your time into, so you will have to start the aquarium from scratch. What that does mean however, is an influx of fresh tasks given by NPCs to work towards. These tasks might involve encouraging you to create hybrids, raise the number of guests visiting the aquarium, or collecting a specific amount of fish poop. The variety is great, encouraging you to explore and get to grips with the many different aspects of management life.

Populating the aquatic themed zoo is done through dealings with two boats which scour the World Map for fish. There’s the Sea Warrior, saving fish from coming to any harm, and the Megaship; a trawler that gathers fish by the way of unethical means. There’s a moral choice to be made each and every time you check out what’s on offer, affecting the kinds of bonuses you can achieve in other areas of the game – the morality factor comes into play for other decisions too. It’s not easy to decide when the Megaship tries to entice you using sharks, but such things make you ponder what to do.

As you can imagine, the usual grassy, tropical and savannah environments of Let’s Build a Zoo aren’t fit for purpose, so getting used to the new enclosures is paramount. There are seven totally new enclosures suitable for housing the sea creatures. Whether a saltwater setting is more comfortable for inbound fish than a coastal one is something you must learn. I have to say, it’s hard to distinguish between the recommended habitats for species caught by the boats, with similarly coloured ones easily causing confusion. It’s also awkward to place the open ocean enclosure because it has to be a certain shape, which hampers the freedom slightly.

In regards to the animals at your disposal, expect turtles, clownfish, starfish, king crabs, hammerhead sharks, and more to pop up on the boats. On paper, the thought of there only being just over fifty different species might be underwhelming, but that’s before taking into account the CRISPR Splicer. Splicing the DNA of two different animals allows the fabrication of weird and wonderful hybrids. For example, combining a sunfish and sea urchin to create a sunchin, or a starfish and a seahorse to form a starhorse. The possibilities are immense, with absolutely loads of cool creations to discover.

While the animals are important in order to entertain the guests, the zoo must also be equipped with decent facilities, decorations and shops to ensure they have a complete experience. Thankfully there are many new options to research and purchase which fit brilliantly well into the overall theme. My personal favourites are the fish ‘n chips shack (well, it stops overpopulation, right?), the light-up starfish, the terrarium gift shop, and the dolphin archways. Unlocking them all will take a long time, but that’s fine because there’s regularly a new item or facility to incorporate into your setup.

The Let’s Build a Zoo: Aquarium Odyssey campaign is an excellent extension of an already brilliant game. It’s fantastic how much freshness the aquatic theme brings to the table in terms of tasks, buildings, and decorative pieces. That’s before factoring in the new animals and the many, many bizarre creations you can forge. The only minor complaint is towards the enclosures, but that’s not going to spoil the fun.

Priced rather cheaply at under a tenner, you might think there’s something fishy going on here, but I assure you there really are hours and hours of enjoyment to be had with Let’s Build a Zoo: Aquarium Odyssey. So it’s a no-brainer to splash the cash and set sail for Aquarium Island!