This game review is based on The Sims 2 and the currently available expansion packs.

The Sims is another of those games I have a long history with - I’ve been playing the games since the original Sims on PC, and I even enjoyed the console versions (which were very hit-and-miss with reviewers) - so I was looking forward to what The Sims 2 (TS2) could offer.

TS2 allows you to jump into a random suburb of Sim City and control the lives of everyone that lives there. You can either play with the pre-set families (all with their own scandal-ridden back story) or you can create your own family and move them into the neighbourhood. If you do choose to create your own Sims, you won’t be disappointed by the amount of depth there is in character customisation. Besides the ability to customise your Sim’s appearance (face, hair, clothes etc) but each individual Sim has their own aspiration, turn ons/offs, and star sign. Its all a big step forward from the original series, and it means you won’t have the same experience with 2 different Sims. It does a lot for the longevity of the game.

The gameplay of TS2 is split into 2 parts - the bulk of the game is about controlling your Sim’s life, but you’ll also spend a lot of time building a house and experimenting with the furniture. Since both parts are huge, I’m going to go through them both individually.

Simulation: The core element of the simulation gameplay hasn’t really been changed in TS2; you’ll tell the Sim what to do to try and keep their needs satisfied, and build up their skills to help them with their careers. I really liked this because, in my opinion, this was a great formula in the original games. As you’d expect from a sequel, TS2 also brings a few new elements to the gameplay - including aspiration, chemistry, and hobbies. These are all well implemented into the game, and easy to understand. There are a couple of issues with the gameplay though; the main one being that nothing happens. You’ll do the same thing every day with each Sim - wake up, go to work, try and keep them happy, go to bed - and this monotamy is really hit and miss, boring some gamers and addicting the others. The “aspiration” feature can make the game a little too easy - once a Sim has achieved the lifetime aspiration, they’ll be in an irreversibly good mood, taking a lot of the challenge right out of the game.

Building: The building system is the best system I’ve used in any game (admittedly, I don’t have a massive history with smaller scale building games, feel free to recommend me some!). The interface is simple, so I found myself getting used to it very quickly. The level of detail is staggering; with hundreds of different wallpaper, flooring, and furniture options, you’ll be able to make nearly any house you want. There are thousands of pieces of furniture, and almost all of them can be customised to your liking. Considering how shallow the concept of “I want to make my house really pretty” is, the amount of depth in actually creating the house is superb, especially with the amount of downloadable content available in various forums. However, like the simulation gameplay, there are snags in the building element of TS2 - on some occasions the building tools decide that they don’t want to work in certain situations, for no particular reason apart from that games seem to hate people. But these snags are quite rare, and you’ll rarely encounter them unless you are a really daft builder (guilty as charged).

Anyway, with gameplay reviewed and out of the way, I can start talking about the rest of TS2. Graphically, its not going to blow anyone away; but considering that it runs on a fairly low spec, and that its quite an old game; I’m not going to complain. What I am going to complain about is how many bloody expansions the game keeps trying to get me to buy. If you wanted to buy The Sims 2 and all the available expansion packs, you’d be forking out around Β£230 - which is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that each expansion pack for TS2 is just a redone expansion pack for the original ‘Sims’, and I can’t help but question why all the features of the original Sim games weren’t just included in The Sims 2.

Overall though, The Sims 2 and all its expansions are, in my opinion, fun to play. Its versatile; casual gamers will be able to get into the game with ease and get a lot out of the game, while the more hardcore gamers (the kind that replace vowels with numbers) will have so many options to play with that they won’t be bored for a long, long time. Its a solid game, easy to get into, and with a lot of longevity - but not for everyone. Its just a shame it costs so much for the full experience.

The Sims 2 + Expansions - full review = 8.5/10