Sims2
Over the years we have had many Sims games. As well as various incarnations of SimCity we have also had SimEarth, SimTower, Even SimAnt as well as a whole host of other Sim games to sink our teeth into. Then in 2000 Maxis released Sims. Selling over 6 million copies Sims is the best selling PC game ever. Then of course as with all these things they tweak and twiddle and we got Sims 2. Released in 2004 Sims2 sold 1 million copies within 10 days of release and it is this version of the game that I will review.
At its most basic level, Sims2 allows you to create one or more characters and control their virtual lives from birth all the way through to old age. But within that basic premise there is so much to do in order to keep you totally engrossed. Of course any current or future expansion packs will increase the playability even further.
If you are new to the game (as I am) there are a number of tutorials that you can access in order to get familiar with the game. The interface is very straightforward and easy to learn which means you don’t have to worry about the controls, leaving you to control your Sims in their everyday lives. However before you begin you need to make a choice. You can jump right in as one of the ready made families or you can create your own.
I decided to create my own family which I could do with relative ease, You can choose almost every aspect including skin tone, hair etc as well as altering facial features like eye colour, position of eyes, nose size and all other small options that altogether allow you to create someone completely unique. At the end of this process you can give you character traits, fears and aspirations which affect the personality of your character/s. You can do this either by choosing a birth sign or tweaking to green bars in order to give more or less of a particular trait, or you can randomise this process to save time Once you are done creating your family you can start the game by buying a lot.
Once into the game I wanted to see what could be done with the buying and build feature. I admit I used a cheat in order to obtain some money but this was purely to see what could be done. You can essentially build you own house from scratch although I do suggest you plan it out on paper. Or once you get into the game, you can save your character/family and then move a family out of one the houses that you want to buy, then you can buy that house yourself. Of course playing the game properly, i.e. without any cheat and that may take some time. But in my case with the cheat activated I had great fund in buying furniture for my new mansion and created a house I would love to live in for real…sigh.
Finding your way around is fairly straightforward although in the buying screen it did take me a while to find some of the items I was looking for but I think that was just because this was the first time I played the game and it wasn’t long before moving around the interface was easy.
Once you decide to get into the game by means of controlling one or more family members the game comes into its own, Sims will dance in the living room or argue with each other slapping others around the face. There are a plethora of choices to make in terms of conversations, jobs and having fun as well as learning new skills. The more Sims that you control the more difficult the game becomes as you try and juggle all their needs. In act I felt sometimes that you need to be too controlling, for example you had to direct them to the loo, then flush, and then wash their hands which is fine if you playing one or two people but with more it can almost feel like you spend all you time in the loo.
I also felt that (for me at least) the day went way too quickly leaving little time to do much else bar lots of visits to the loo and then a day at work, but then this maybe my inexperience at the game rather than any shortcomings. Lastly, your Sim now has a lifespan (which can be turned off); you go from baby, toddler, child, teenager, adult, and elder and then they die. Babies inherit genetics from their parents and their development is governed in part by their fears and aspirations and if they realise them.
Graphics wise I was very impressed. Lots of little details has been incorporated into the characters and the everyday objects, check out the recliners for example were you can see the metal framework of the reclining foot section, or TVs having connection wires in the back all the way through to the facial expressions on the Sims when they are talking or arguing etc. You can rotate or zoom in and out with the camera and the graphics are crisp and sharp in their own cartoon like manner.
As with all of the Sims games (at least the ones I have played) the soundtrack is based around mellow background tunes. That could, in places, almost be accused of elevator music. I personally found it annoying to listen to after a will so I turned it down. The speech, which is apparently Simish, is basically a babble of foreign like language that reminds you of Pingu (well it did me). But its good that different voice sets have been incorporated for the different age groups.
Overall:
I think that the game can be quite addictive in that you can build up your house and your belongings and really get into looking after your character/s. Personally it is a game that I could revisit frequently but would not find myself playing for hours and hours at a time, but then perhaps that is because it is not my preferred genre of games. But I can see with all the expansion packs that are around that the longevity of the game will snowball as people search for an idyllic life.