Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Wild! is the second expansion to hit the theme park building sim. The first, Soaked!, gave players the ability to create enormous water parks as well as included many new items to go with the overall water theme. Wild! brings animals to your park, creating a miniature Zoo Tycoon within your theme park. Of course there are many other things included, but like water parks with Soaked!, animals are the main theme of Wild.

The main purpose of animals in RCT3 is to entertain your guests. To get an animal display ready, you first must build its enclosure. Depending on what type of animal you plan on keeping there are three different types of fencing available. Each animal shows what type of fencing you want to get for it, or else they may escape.

After setting up the perimeter of your animal enclosure you’ll want to purchase your animal. In sandbox mode you’ll have all the animals available, but different careers will start you with a restricted selection of animals, just like the rides. Animals also require housing within their cage, animal keepers to take care of them, and some toys to keep them from getting bored.

To cash in on these animals, Wild! provides you with the ability to add viewing galleries to these cages. Viewing galleries can be added anywhere along the fencing, and just like rides customers will pay for access to these galleries.

Animals will also breed, as long as they are both healthy. Players do nothing to breed their animals - just make sure you have a male and female in the same enclosure. Also, if one of your animals happens to get loose (or you “accidentally” drop them outside of their cage), you can switch to a sniper view where the object is to tranquilize your animal. Once subdued, the animal is boxed up so you can place it back in its home.

A lot like the Soaked expansion, Wild! adds a new MixMaster exhibit; the Lion Show. Lion Shows are placed just like a normal ride, and then players can customize the tricks displayed and in what order. And like dolphin shows in Soaked, they can be linked to other MixMaster displays like fireworks and water shows.

New rollercoaster designs are introduced in Wild! as well. The Splitting Coaster has the ability to split the track during the ride, sending each side of the car in a different direction. The Towering Coaster features a unique track piece that sends its occupants straight down vertically. The most unique coaster, the Robotic Coaster, has a robotic arm that moves the seats as the coaster travels along the track.

The expansion wouldn’t be complete without new themes for scenery! Wild! adds scenery for creating a safari-style atmosphere, as well as animated dinosaurs for a prehistoric theme. The ability to install billboards has been added, and players can either download advertisements or use their own image files to display on them.

If you decided to pass on Soaked but want to pick up Wild!, you still won’t miss out on the interface upgrades added in Soaked. Things like tunnels, waterfalls, passport machines, and loudspeakers are all included in Wild!

Overall I felt Soaked had more to offer than Wild!, but Wild! is still a solid expansion. The careers are fun, and animal displays add a deep and diverse new attraction to any theme park. I also particularly enjoy the dinosaur-themed scenery and had a great time creating a dinosaur-ruled section of my park. If you already have Soaked and are looking for more, I would recommend grabbing Wild! If you don’t have Soaked, I would pick it up first.     

Gameplay: 8.2
Wild! isn’t a huge step up from Soaked as far as gameplay is concerned, but if you haven’t picked up Soaked yet then you’ll be new to all the interface upgrades.

Graphics: 8.9 
Same graphics as before, except now there are animated animals running around. All the animals look and move great, so no complaints here, but no huge upgrades either.

Sound: 9.0
Once again, not much has changed in the sound department. Still has the wonderful sounds of an amusement park, and customizable loudspeakers are awesome.

Difficulty: Medium
I’ve never been very good at career mode in RCT3, but the careers in Wild! weren’t too bad. They progress nicely, giving players some time to learn what works best.

Concept: 7.4 
Wild! didn’t quite live up to Soaked, but it offers something I never expected in a Rollercoaster Tycoon game. Raising animals is fun, and the prehistoric scenery is way cool, but there wasn’t a whole lot of content added in Wild!

Overall: 8.0
Wild! isn’t quite as large as Soaked, but it still offers fun additions for any fan’s park. Animal enclosures can get pretty cool depending on the builder, and are left open enough for players to take time and make it their own. Like I said before, if you already have Soaked and are looking for more this is a great addition, but if you haven’t tried Soaked yet I would recommend trying it out first.