"Sure, all they did was take The Sims and revamp it, but it ended up becoming one hell of a game!"

I loved The Sims. I played it for hours on end, day after day, week after week. It was pure fun, and pure genius. It wasn't perfect, but it stood out from the rest of the games available on the PC at the time. So when The Sims 2 came out, I was amazed at 2 things - 1: I got this very game for my birthday (coincidence!!!) and 2: IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! It was everything I loved about The Sims, but better. Even before I installed it, I knew that it was great - 4 CDs worth of fun in one game! Too good to be true? More like too good to leave on the shelf at the store!

GRAPHICS: 10/10

My computer is an old heap of junk, and the graphics were still great. After I played it on my friend's 'top of the range' machine, it looked like I was actually there! Everything looked so real, and with the new 3-D camera, I could look at anything and everything from any angle I wanted! No more should you have to fuss with the camera to see your Sims, now it's just a matter of rotating the camera to any angle you want!

Another awesome thing - the detail. It's stunning how much detail is in each and every item you can buy. The lighting was also vastly improved from the prequel(s). Even opening the fridge meant a change in the lighting! But beware -this high quality graphics ion this game require quite the powerful PC - a pretty good computer will be needed to get the most out of this game!

SOUND: 9/10

The Sims language is well known for it's randomness. Just jiberish. Plain gibledee-goop. But, the speech and thought bubbles are here to tell you just what the hell they want - in pictures. And you're bound to hear the same 'jiberish lines' again, but now that there are more age groups, there's more speech in the game! The music is alright, but the real feature here is too add your own music! No more random music with random lyrics - make your parties better with some REAL music! Speaking of REALity, the quality of the sound is excellent. Nothing bad in that department. Turn them speakers up for some jiberish and some beats!

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

If you played The Sims, this will be the old, with lots of new. It'll take you a little while to adjust, but there's some good stuff here. For you newbies, get ready to go CRAZY over the features here! Not only can you control your Sims actions, relations and occupations, you can control they're wants and needs.

All Sims now have an 'Aspiration Bar' which shows you how good they're life is in the long run, as well as the good ol' 'Mood Bar' which shows you how they're going right then and there. The Aspiration Box shows you what your Sims want - and what they don't want. So now you can lead your Sims on a nice life of getting want they want, or torture them to the point where they go coo-coo crazy! And another thing you'll love - the new and improved Create-A-Sim! It's not just pick a head and clothes - this time you can delve right in tho your Sim's appearance! You can tweak all the little things like they're eyes and nose, and even their hair styles!

The interface has also improved from last time. You can now view your Sims's fitness level, they're important memories, and they're family tree! The relationships are also far more complex this time round. Your Sim can now have best friends and crushes, and they have way more Sim to Sim interaction options - that means different kisses, hugs, jokes and conversation! And my all time favourite feature - VIDEO CAPTURE! You can now film your Sims at any time! Make a soap opera, or a reality show, or put together a video fo those special moments!

The occupations and skill building areas of this game are also far better than last time. There are more career tracks to choose from than last time, and even a new skill - Cleaning! There are more ways to train your Sims in these areas, and items to unlock by getting promotions on jobs! Another thing that's good - Chance Cards. These give you two choices to do in a situation while you're at work. Pick the right one, a Skill Point or two are yours!

In short - it's better than last time so much, you might faint from the all new stuff you can do!

OVERALL: 10/10

If you loved The Sims, get this game! If you're a control freak, get this game! If you have a really good computer and have nothing to do, get this game. If you hate everyone and everything, get this game. Just get this game! Get it! Now! You're life depends on it!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/07