Looking to release a theme park building simulator are Limbic Entertainment and Bandai Namco with their upcoming title Park Beyond. Luckily enough, I was provided the opportunity to give the game’s first preview build a tryout, which you can see my playthrough in the video above. While I was only given a fifteen-minute timer to play through the tutorial and then try to make it to the entrance of the park, the time I spent here really showed off quite a bit of what to expect.
Gameplay
This title can be played on either a controller or with a mouse and keyboard setup. I first tried playing with the controller and it was quite problematic for me. I might have been able to get used to it, but after switching to the mouse and keyboard setup, the controls felt natural. This may be a per-user aspect of the experience, but be prepared to work on the controls a bit when you get started. The tutorials do match the control style you are using though, so that is definitely a nice touch and a good sign that this game will be coming to consoles as well as PC simultaneously.
They start out the tutorial, and possibly the game, with you having to create a roller coaster that starts from your bedroom window and will curve its way through a city area. This is a bit of a strange choice as most theme park simulators I’ve played before have you out in an open field to work on, but perhaps throwing you into having to maneuver around obstacles and figuring out how to build within limitations is a good skill to build early as you will run into these issues in the later portions of the game.
As you build the coaster, you are introduced to different track-type options. You have your standard rail, your lift rail, and then they let you pick one of two special rails. While you are working on the coaster, you can see a test track ghost cart making its way along the rails as well. This is a nice feature that shows you while building the ride if the ride functions as needed. If not, you can simply remove the part of the track where the issue is and fix it to function how you want it to while making it work.
This short preview demo gives a nice overview of the complications that come with building rides in crowded areas, meeting an ultimate goal, guiding you through the initial how-to tutorials, and showing a glimpse into an overall story that they do plan to include in the game.
Expectations
Thanks to the presentation video from Limbic Entertainment, we already know a few things we can expect. There will definitely be an overall story to follow, every aspect of the game is being designed to fit the ‘impossify’ theme, and there will be a complex management system. The details that go into all these different aspects are really exciting and definitely amp up my excitement for the full title.
I do hope to see multiple rides have the option to have unique build opportunities. Just like the special rail options that showed up for the coaster track, I would love to see unique features to choose from to make my rides stick out in their own way from others.
Verdict
Park Beyond kicked off its first playable experience in a way that was, at first, strange but ultimately ended up making complete sense. The power of impossification is sure to let player’s imagination go wild and this game definitely is well on its way to providing that experience! From just a short time-limited gameplay experience, I found myself wanting more already. I truly can’t wait for the full release of this title, as it is one that will be impossible to pass up.
