The Sims 2 Review

Genre: Simulation

Platform(s): PC, Gamecube, DS, GBA, PSP, Playstation 2, XBox, Mobile

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Maxis

Rating: Teen

Players: 1

What's so great about playing the Sims 2? The aging process! Never again are your Sims forced to live forever with children who never grow up and move out of the house! Never again are they doomed to live forever period. The Grim Reaper has a post-it with everyone's name on it and nothing short of the "Elixir of Life" will save them from Death.

There's no need to fear the Reaper because your Sims will live a full life - if you want them to. They still have everyday needs to fulfill, (eating, bathing, having fun, etc.), but the game takes Sim living to a whole new level with the addition of "Aspirations", which are met by fulfilling the "Wants" and avoiding "Fears". Baby Sims become toddlers who want to learn to walk, talk and use the potty before they become children. Children want to go to school, impress their parents with an A+ report card and makes lots of friends before becoming teenagers. Teenagers want to have their first kiss and sneak out of the house before they have to grow up into adults and choose their life's aspiration.

With five different "Aspirations" to choose from there is a path for every personality to follow. Sims with a "Popularity Aspiration" want to have lots of friends and lots of parties while Sims with a "Family Aspiration" will want to have lots of kids to extend their family trees. Fulfilling the "Wants" awards each of them with "Aspiration Points", which are redeemable for "Aspiration Rewards", objects that will help your Sims along their life's journey such as the "Money Tree" and the "Elixir of Life". The more of your Sims' "Wants" you fulfill the happier they will be and the less they will complain about their simulated lives.

For the amateur architect in you the "Build" mode will have you immersed in construction for hours. The Sims 2 allows you to build up to three liveable floors including foundations and decks with the option of adding dormers to six different roof types - if you have the money, which is easy when you know the money code cheat (control + shift + C then enter "motherlode" into the field and press "enter").

Buying items to fill your Sims' houses is customizable beyond belief. The interior designer in you will jump for joy because almost every item you can choose for you Sims' homes comes in a variety of styles and different color and pattern options to choose from. If building and designing is what you enjoyed most about the Sims you will be in Heaven doing the same in the Sims 2.

Customizing your Sims themselves has also been kicked up a notch. The integration of the Body Shop into Sims 2 not only gives you the option of choosing your Sim's eye and hair colors, but also allows you to choose different hair styles, make-up and tweak their facial features, which can produce some very interesting-looking Sims. If you're savvy enough with the tools you could even create a Sim to look like every member of your own family or your favorite celebrities. The Body Shop can also be accessed outside of the game so if you want to spend a lot of time tweaking your characters you can do so without having to load the game itself. The best thing, though, is being able to change the hair and make up styles of your Sims as they get older so when little Susie has outgrown her pigtails you can give her a whole new look when she becomes a teenager.

Clothing choices are virtually endless and each Sim must choose six different outfits (including underwear) for sleeping, swimming, working out, everyday living, and formal events and your choices are different depending on the age of your Sim. Children can run around in costumes with painted faces if you allow them too and adults can do the same. Want a family of pirates? You can have a family of pirates. There are clothing styles for every type of personality from nerds to punks and by shopping for new outfits on Community Lots you can wear a different outfit everyday of the week.

Using the Sims controls is just as easy in the Sims 2 as it was in the original, but if you're new a little time with the game's instruction manual will be helpful. Building, however, can be frustrating when creating multiple stories. Sometimes placing the cursor in the right spot to build walls is frustrating on the second and third stories and floor tiles will suddenly be impossible to place forcing you to rethink your design. If you don't want to deal with construction, though, you can always choose a house that's already been built within the three different neighborhoods or you can place a pre-fabricated home on empty lot.

The first thing you notice in the Sims 2 is the amazing new look of the game. Graphics are finely tuned and appear more life-like than ever before. From the Sims themselves to their neighborhoods, homes and belongings the realism of the Sims 2 will have you questioning your own reality.

The audio quality has improved, but in subtle ways. Sim voices change from childhood to adulthood and the sound transition between game modes is much more smooth and far less abrupt as it was in the original. The music played in-game is what you'll love most. You won't even notice the that the lyrics are sung in the traditional language of the Sims and you might even have your Sims turning on the radio for your own listening pleasure.

Of course, though, depending on your chosen platform the quality of the graphics and audio can change. If your PC's graphics and sound cards aren't up to snuff you might not be so impressed. Most newer computer systems should play the game just fine, but cross check your computer's abilities with the system requirement before purchasing the game.

You can create entire stories in "Story" mode by taking photos for your family album and writing in a blog or you can create your own Sim Reality show with the new movie-making feature. Your Sims, their stories and movies, even the homes you build for them can be posted online at the Sims 2 website so you can share your Sim experience with a community of fans who are as addicted as you are. The official website also allows registered users download additional objects, homes and skins.

There are two official expansion packs for the Sims 2, Nightlife and University and both are available for purchase through the website or at your local department or electronics store. A new "Holiday Party Pack" will be released November 17 as a limited edition Sim 2 collection or you can purchase the extras from the website on a CD or download them directly to your PC.

In a world where most sequels pale in comparison to their originals, the Sims 2 crushes its predecessor into its own hardwood flooring. Creating generations of families will have you thirsting for more Sims 2 action and you'll spend hours upon hours living vicariously through your Sims. Owners of the original Sims will have a hard time returning to their roots after just one session with this highly addictive addition to the EA (Electronic Arts) Games family and newbies to the franchise will finally see what all the fuss is about.

Official Sims 2 Website

Holiday Party Pack Info

OS: Windows XP, Me, 2000 or 98 (XP/2000 requires administrative account)

CPU: 800 MHz or faster

RAM: 256 MB or more

Disc Drive: 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

Hard Drive: At least 3.5 GB of free space

Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible (see below)

Sound: DirectX 9.0 compatible

Video card must have 32 MB or more memory and one of these T&L capable chipsets: ATI Radeon 7200 or greater; NVIDIA GeForce2 or greater.

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