The Sims™ 2 for Windows

Today, I woke up. I took a shower after I neatly made my comfy ultra-modernly designed bed. (It's bright green!). I went to the fridge and fixed myself a nice omelet. My car pool came and I went to work. At the record store where I happily work, I had to pick between two bands to play a show at the store. I picked one of them at random, but the band I picked sucked and it ruined any chances of me getting a raise anytime soon, so I loaded from a previous save point.

Oh, I forgot to mention that these events took place in the world of The Sims 2, not in real life (and that my real life is nothing like that). In the Sims games, you control digital "people" that you make, mostly in their houses. You make them go potty, go to work or skip it, etc. Basically, it is a life simulation and I'm sure most of you can relate with that unless you're an embryo or something (because life starts at conception, remember?).

There's something inherently wrong in a game that simulates life itself, but I'll get to that later. The original Sims was a hit and sold millions of copies. I'd say it probably goes down as the most influential video game of all time. Everyone has heard of this game and virtually everyone has played it. And even better, people who normally don't play video games played it. The Sims truly seems to be a game that 40 year old moms can like just as much as the typical teenaged male (though it's not violent enough for some testoceroned kids).

The Sims 2 took its sweet old time coming out, but it seems to be worth it. Complete graphical overhaul. Everything is done in full 3-D now. Houses and items look simply gorgeous. When you zoom in all the way (the zoom is continuous now, it doesn't just have 3 preset levels anymore, and the camera is fully adjustable), items are stunningly detailed. Not photorealistic or anything, but very nicely rendered in that slightly cartoonish look of the Sims. Even food that you cook in the game looks good enough to eat. People look pretty good too. Faces are a lot more detailed, and you can control everything about your created character's face, from the size of the nose right down to the makeup. Much improved from the dozen or so faces from the original. Now Sims have facial expressions, and while exagerrated, of course, they look very smooth. The only time graphics don't look good, is during the "movie" sequences, ironically. Graphics are fuzzy then and faces are distorted. But I say when a game can make babies look cute, it's a success graphically.

The Sims still speak in their gibberish language. I think it's cute but I can see how it could get on your nerves. The game's theme music is incredible, and it's in its own genre of music or something. "Sims Music". There's more music you get in the game once you buy a radio or stereo or something, and there's music in a lot of different genres, so there's something for everyone. It's still in Sim Language though, so it might annoy you. Sound effects are incredible, as everything sounds real, right down to the toilet flush. Anyways, I say when a game can make babies sound cute, it's a success in the sound department.

Gameplay is tough to describe of course, but here we go anyways. In the first Sims, you basically lived life and the "goals" you would strive for would be to get promoted to the top of a career, and then rake in the Simoleans, and also get married or have kids (or both), and have a happy family. Some things were obviously wrong with that. Kids grow up but once they're adults, they don't age anymore. So at some point, you could have 5 generations living at once or something. I never played the first game that long have that happen to me, but it bothered me that once adults, Sims did not age. In the Sims 2, your Sims grow up, grow old, and then die. Kind of like...us.

In real life, life is not just about filling those Bladder and Hunger bars. There's sometime hunger of a different kind (sorry, that was lame). Fulfillment, or something like that. In the Sims 2, your characters now have Aspiration Meters. You have Wants and Fears that change from day to day. If you fulfill your wants (such as Get an A in school, for example), you get Aspiration points and fears have the reverse effect. Why bother? If you max out your Aspiration Meter, you will get the Platinum Mood, meaning you will be in a great mood even if your character is really hungry or is about to sh*t his pants. Which is kinda true in real life. If I got a letter in the mail telling me I got accepted into Yale Law School, I wouldn't care if my bladder is full. Hell, I might even pee my pants if that happened. Also if you collect Aspiration Points, you can use them to get certain locked items, such as a Money Tree, and other cool items.

There's a few problems with the introduction of Death and Aspiration. First of all, Sims die way too quickly. You will live your best years in a span of 30 days in the game, which is probably just a few hours in actual gameplay time. Living in the Sims 2 feels like a race against the clock. Imagine living finals week all the time. Not exactly living is it? So the developers created 2 loopholes. First of all, you can turn aging off with a cheat code, but that brings back the problems of the original. The only alternative to living a short life is buying the Elixir of Life item with Aspiration Points. The drink takes a handful of days off your life. So life in the Sims can turn into a race to get Aspiration Points instead. And there's problems there. You can choose certain personality types and all your aspiration goals will reflect that. So if you pick the Romance aspiration, you will find that your life will revolve around sex if you want to get enough points for that Elixir of Life. The problem with Aspiration is that while it gives Sims a sense of direction, it makes them way too one-dimensional.

Characters can be customized like never before, now you can mix and match tops and bottoms, and there are some cool looking tuxes. If only you mix and match different shoes with different outfits in this game! Just kidding.

The Sims series are such a revolutionary breed of video game that it's hard to explain what's fun about it unless you played. Somehow controlling your character in life is fun, even if there are some heinous load times along the way, even if there are some crashes here and there. You can make friends or enemies. It's just Life: The Video Game, but they just felt that wasn't a good title. Is it more fun than the original? Absolutely! Much more to customize about your character, lots of social interactions, and you can do more stuff with old items (you can chat online on the computer, for example). But speaking of items, there aren't too many of them. More than the original Sims, but let's just say that there will be a fair share of expansion packs in our future. One's already out. I don't like how the Sims 2 essentially went backwards in terms of the amount of items; the original Sims with all the expansion packs will have more stuff to buy for your home. Sigh. I was hoping this game wouldn't need expansion packs in the future, but it does. There's hardly any careers, for example...where's musician??

There's also something weird about playing a game about life. I feel really guilty controlling a successful go-getter in a game while I'm in my pj's playing this at 4 in the morning, while my homework's not getting done and I have class at 9:50. In the Sims 2, everything is so much easier to do and it goes faster, so easy to get stuck playing. Ever not know what to talk about to an attractive member of the opposite (or same) sex? Well, according to this game, you're supposed to click on them and select the the "Talk...chat" button. Promotions are also simple to get. This game is insanely addictive, but I hardly play it anymore, because I feel like it is a waste of time, instead of writing a term paper in the game (with the University expansion pack), I should study for finals in real life. At least with Star Wars games, for example, I feel better because I don't have the opportunity to fight Sith Lords in real life. But everything in the Sims 2 can be done in real life. And that's why this game is such a guilty pleasure of mine. And for once in my life, the guilt outweighs the pleasure. Imagine Luke Skywalker glued to his X-Box playing Star Wars: KOTOR II. Ridiculous, right? Right?

This is one of the few games where homosexuality is possible. Bravo for letting gay couples adopt children as well. A message from the makers of the game, perhaps?

The Sims does have its noble purposes. I read in TIME Magazine that someone used the first game to teach an autistic child how relationships and friendships are formed. I don't know how effective it was, but it's incredible nonetheless. Budding architects should love it too, since you get to build your own house if you wish.

There's nothing wrong with a game about life. It's just not for me, I guess. But if you liked the first one, or if the concept intrigues you, buy it! It's everything a sequel should be. And I may be only 19, but there's something special about raising a baby in this game. They grow real fast in this game, and you have to teach them how to walk and how to talk and stuff. The game DID give me my first taste of parenting...anywho, enough with the mushy stuff. Just know that once you start this game up, you're not turning it off for at least a few hours. That's why I don't play anymore.


xo,

underdawg


p.s. This game is perfect for re-creating your celebrity crush. I'm not going to talk about this any more as it is embarassing. I also enjoyed playing as my hero, Julian Casablancas of the Strokes although the game didn't have Rock Star as a career path.


Graphics: A
Sound: A+
Gameplay: B+
Stability: B
Overall: B+

My University Expansion Pack review is a LOT shorter.