The Sims: Livin' Large

"Only true review."

Most of the people who reviewed this game on GameFaqs said it was the greatest expansion pack ever. One anti of the group said it was the worst and it was a piece of crap, etc etc. Well, here's the truth...

Graphics(7/10)
Polygonal and no changes. You actually shouldn't expect the world's greatest graphics for a game designed for gameplay. Gauntlet said it was worse than N64 and Playstation. It is, but at least it's actually more intelligent than 90% of N64's games. You can't expect Squaresoft-quality graphics for something that might have worked with fully 2d graphics.

Gameplay(9/10)
I personally don't believe Livin' It Large added anything spontaneous enough to cost what it does, but it does have parts. The problem with many people is their either obsessive or they don't know how to entertain themselves. This game is as fun as you make it. If you play the whole thing through(by that I mean from unemployed to the highest rank in your career) with a single guy, you'll probably get bored and have him go swimming when he's dead-tired (and then remove the steps to get out so he drowns). If you play the game with about 3 different people in one house, leave one unemployed and have him keep himself alive off of potions, you're going to enjoy this game alot.

Sound(6/10)
You will probably get annoyed with the language the people in this game talk in. The music isn't too bad (it fits the game. That's more than N64 can ever say), and the sound effects will either strike a player as perfectly fitting or outlandish and painful to hear.

Control(7/10)
User-interface is pretty efficient. It's nicely colored (Whattya want? Blood?). You have a relatively good grip on these people's lives, but you're put on a tightrope. On one side, you have almost total domination over these people. On the other, they are too stupid to keep themselves alive and somewhat happy without you. I should also think that in a game where the time is way off, it would be rebalenced to fit. On normal speed, every second a minute passes. Maxis should, perhaps, slow down the sims then, since they walk at normal speed..(wow! It took me 10 minutes to turn on a tv!)

Creativity(10/10)
Very very very few companies have beaten Maxis on product-ingenuity. Bullfrog and Maxis both are responsible for spawning several genres(actually, they both spawned the same. Bullfrog started the god-overlord-view and Maxis started the life-simulation stuff). Oddly enough, I would think Electronic Arts would have made it apparent that they are in control of Maxis AND Bullfrog (think of positive and negative charges. Bullfrog updates maybe twice on a game[if you're lucky], never updates their websites, and pretty much scraps the project from there. Maxis won't $%!#ing quit adding onto their games [want proof? House party[already out], The Sims Online[2002], and The Sims 2[2003]. 10 bucks says The Sims 2 also has expansions]).

Modification[4/10]
The Sims is very flexible for modification. This is one of the few games that doesn't need free-public access to the source code to be added onto by the public extensively. Games like Half-Life only outdo the modification abilities of The Sims because of source code. The Sims has all sorts of projects currently in work to modify it. Some of these are Edith(a tool for making objects that can be interacted with), Blueprint(a tool for making objects that do, well, nothing...?), Transmogrifier(clones objects), a skin maker, a tile/wallpaper maker, a face maker, etc.
Modification is one of the reasons you can NEVER compare a PC game to a console one(even if it's the same game). On PC, you can modify FF6[3 in america] or a game like Doom/Wolfenstein. I would think that avid N64-supporters (such as Gauntlet, who posted a review on this game.) would understand that the N64 is only good for social games with 2+ players, Playstation is good for solo and unmodified games, Dreamcast is good for porting games and enhancing graphics, and computers(not macintoshes...those things are just consoles with lotsa features. ;) ) are meant for the people who want to do more than play a game.

Overall, this game is good. It is, however, not worth shelling 30-40 bucks for new items, careers, and 2 new attributes(hidden).

Final word:
No computer game should ever be given a poor review just because the reviewer's computer is slow. Nor should a game of any type be reviewed until at least 2 hours are spent learning to play/master, and another 2 of trying to break the rules and take advantages of glitches.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/01, Updated 07/30/01