The Sims 2 Review (no fat)

Game Description

To follow up the best selling game in computing history is by no means an easy task. However, the Sim-makers, Maxis stepped up to the plate and hit another home run with the sequel. Sims 2 is even better than it's predecessor.

While the first edition fell short in many areas as far as real life complexities are concerned, Sims 2 makes a monumental effort to infuse the very essence of life into a virtual world. For starters, Sims age and go through various stages of life such as baby, toddler, child, teen, adult and elder. Also, an offspring bears the genetic stamp of it's parents and thereby inherit their traits. Sims can also experience a lot more human emotions such as dreams, desires and even fears.

There is also more emphasis on inter-sim relationships and the definitions have much more clarity than the earlier outing. This helps avoid uneasy situations like siblings ending up trying to date each other. As a family grows, the relations are mapped onto a family tree.

The social lives of Sims also get a major boost. Marriages can be preceded by engagement parties and courtship. Sims also experience pregnancy and deliver children rather than have children materialize out of thin air. Life's memories such as first kiss, birthday, marriage etc. are captured and form part of a Sims existence. Having said that, bad memories can infuse negative traits into a Sim just as the good ones can help to progress.

Sims 2 has its colorful moments too. Lip locks are common place and teens can engage in acts of "woo-hoo" (a polite way of expressing mating rituals) which often leads to pregnancies. The game gets off with a Teen rating because the developers take care not to depict nudity or display sexual content…

Sims can range from hard working professionals and family people to antisocial elements and even ghosts and aliens. This game has an incredible cast that comprises of almost every possible characteristic and profession that one can imagine of. Multiply that by a wide range of emotions and experiences and you get infinite possibilities.

Overall, the game is a brilliant mass of code that effectively portrays characters as close to real life as ever simulated, in a completely virtual environment.

Sims 2 - Gameplay

Owing to the complexity of the game, your decision making skills and overall perception play a vital role in the successful future of a virtual family of Sims. The factors that influence Sim behavior witness a substantial increase and this also translates to more effort on the gamer's part.

Fortunately, the game is as intuitive as can be.

You start the game by selecting from a predefined neighborhood and home. Or if you are the creative sort, building the whole thing from scratch isn’t such a tough job either. An isometric map allows you to place building blocks and construct houses, streets and other aspects of a thriving neighborhood. Once you build your home, it's ready to be occupied by your Sims. The Create-a-sim tool can be used to develop your own Sims. The various aspects that form a Sim's facial features can be mixed and matched to derive thousands of possibilities.

Controlling your sims is a breeze, thanks to an intuitive Universal Control Panel that offers a slew of options and actions. Still, you might encounter occasional grief while trying to discover a command that will get the Sim to perform the right action. The game comes with a brilliant tutorial though and you'll find your way around in no time.

Maxis incorporates an innovative method of rating the social success of a Sim. At the time of creation, you set the aspirations of a Sim and then help it achieve them all as you guide them through a whole life span. Aspirations leads to two things - wants and fears. When a Sim achieves its wants, it grows in social stature and is rewarded. If a Sim succumbs to it's fears, overall social stature diminishes. An aspiration meter helps gauge the success rate of your Sim.

So what all can a Sim do? Practically everything that human beings can and will do. This includes fulfilling basic needs such as food, clothing and various aspects that form one's daily routine, interacting with other Sims, nurturing aspirations, fulfilling wants, coping with fears, hanging on to lifetime memories and juggling between professional and personal life.

To sum it up, the gameplay involves:

• Setting up the neighborhood and populating a home with your Sims
• Building community lots
• Defining Sims via the Create-a-Sim feature or mixing genes
• Setting their aspirations and helping them attain their goals
• Help them fulfill their wants and combat fears.
• Increase their social standing and nurture relationships
• Help them get through their lifetime and raise a happy family.

To that list, throw in every possible scenario that you can ever dream up and you get a game called The Sims 2. For instance, its not etched in stone that your Sim has to be successful or popular or even social…you can create a complete snob or a couch potato who hates to work and clean up and let him live out his life. In fact, the best stories for your Sims might just be in need of a grumpy old hag for all we know.

Sims 2 - Graphics and Sound

For Sim fans, Sims 2 is pure heaven in 3D. Considering the fact that there are a zillion different things happening at the same time, scores of objects in each frame and each one flaunting its own characteristics, the graphics engine handles it all and in a efficient way.

Sims exhibit facial expressions that are near lifelike and scenes and props are beautifully designed. The game has a natural feel to it and it owes a lot to the great graphics engine that Maxis has popped under the hood. The game can be a bit taxing on lower end machines though.

Although your Sims won’t ever communicate in English, their Simlish isn’t bad at all. The sound effects complement the beautiful graphics and are used effectively. The background score is situational and serves as a mood enhancer that further add to the gameplay.

Sims 2 - Summing Up

With the weight of expectations and the lurking shadow of it's predecessor, Maxis had to pull its weight by adding enough new content and innovations to do justice to the game. And that's exactly what they did.

What overwhelms you is the limitless possibilities that this game brings to your fingertips. And most of all, how did the developers manage to cram so much detail into one game. Sims 2 exceeds expectations and also outclasses it's predecessor in every department. An invaluable addition to your collection.

Sims 2 - Cost

Sims 2 currently retails at $39.99US at the time of writing.