"I’ll spare you the lame drug metaphor and just say this: This game is wildly addicting."

The Sims
I’ll spare you the lame drug metaphor and just say this: This game is wildly addicting.

The Sims is a game backed by a brilliant concept, you are given the control of someone’s life. Of course, this is not a Human being you’re in control of, no, it’s a Sim. In The Sims, you are given the option to create a family of Sims, build them their dream house, furnish it, and then control their life (or sit back and watch what they do on their own). What will you do with your Sims? Well, it’s up to you. You can see how long you’re Sims can go without food, bed, and toilet; or you can see how successful of a life you can give to your Sim. The game is incredibly open ended, and that’s exactly what will keep you coming back for more.

Now, Maxis has devised a scheme to rid you of every dollar you posses. You see, they release an addicting game like The Sims, then release expansion pack after expansion pack after expansion pack, each one bringing something new to the table. This keeps all loyal Sims fans flocking to retailers to purchase the latest expansion pack, and anyone who’s interested in it will likely pick it up. While this has turned away some potential buyers, it has worked like a charm. Maxis keeps pumping out expansion packs and reaping the benefits. Just thought I’d say that before I started the review =).

After you install The Sims in your computer, and watch the introduction video, it brings up a screen that reads “The Sims” and plays a rather pleasant tune. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a scrolling list of commands the game seems to be executing to prepare the game. Even on a fast computer, it will seem like an eternity before it finally takes you to the Neighborhood screen. From here, you are able to create your very own Sims to experiment with.

First off, you’ll need a house. After creating a family (that will range anywhere from one to eight members in it), you are assessed 20 grand to start with. Now, depending on how many people you chose to start with, this can be a comfortable amount or it won’t suffice. Anyways, for the sake of the review, let’s say you created a family with one male in it. Now, you purchase an empty lot, and begin work on a house. You make a small, 1 bedroom, one bathroom bachelor pad that will suffice your Sims needs for now. You purchase wallpaper, carpet, doors, windows…you know, the essentials…for your home.

With an excess amount of money (which can be arranged with cheats), you can build a house that can and will look like anything your heart desires. You want an extravagant mansion atop the largest hill in the neighborhood? With a little landscaping work and a lot of house building, this is more than possible. Or perhaps you prefer the more humble lifestyle; a small bachelor pad that will just suit your needs as a Sim. There is no required way to build a house, other than having to build upon a predetermined grid placed on the terrain. You can let your imagination run wild, and add your personal style and creativity to any dwelling you make. Of course, the downside to this is that you may find it a wee bit tedious to build a neighborhood full of colossal palaces and wallpapering is also a boring task.

Now, time for the furnishing of the house. The Sims gives you an extensive catalog of items for you to fill your humble abode with. Everything from plush couches to a high-tech toilet (yes, high-tech toilet), you will never find a lack of items to place in your house. Of course, the item assortments include critical pieces to your home. Things like a high definition Plasma television. Or a hot tub. I mean, can you really call it your home if it’s without those things? Of course not! There are some very expensive items available for purchase and most of them are nifty little things that will make you want to buy them (like the virtual reality goggles) and waste every penny on them.

How do you acquire sufficient funds to obtain these items? Why, the way every human being gets money, with a job. You can get a job from both the newspaper and your computer (providing you have enough money to get one). Once you have a job, the only way to get promotions are to show up for work everyday in a good mood (meaning you have fulfilled all of your basic needs), and eventually you’ll have to be stellar in some category (mechanics, cooking, etc.). You’ll also need friends to provide you with moral support as you ascend the corporate ladder, as the pay increases and the hours grow. This career system parallels that of reality’s, but I don’t think you need friends to be an army general. Other than that, you’ll see that the working Sim’s life is not that different than that of a normal person’s.

You know, life wouldn’t be quite as exciting without love and lust in it. It’s no different in The Sims either. You can create all types of loving relationships, and toy with the people involved in them. Go ahead; see what happens when your Sim’s wife sees you making out with the girl next door. Of course, you could always create a caring, mutual relationship where each member has respect and love for the other, but where’s the fun in that?

Then, of course, you’ll need friends. You acquire friends by basically kissing their ass and giving them attention. Oh, and they love hugs. If only it were that easy in real life, eh? Well, friends don’t do you much help outside of the career aspect, and even gaining them for the sake of your career is a hassle. Once you have a friend, neglecting them will lead to the relationship ending. I mean, what kind of lunatic thought of that?! And yes, that is sarcasm.

But of course, you didn’t think that life would just go by casually, did you? Many things can go horribly wrong during everyday life (whether you inflict them or not). Everything from fires to burglars to social mishaps can and will happen, which gives the game a certain sense of unpredictability. Of course, the social disasters are the most fun to impose upon unsuspecting and innocent Sims. You can become a wild adulterer with 5 different lovers (you can start a loving relationship between any gender) and a relationship running with each one of them. If you happen to kiss one of your lovers while someone who has feeling for you is watching, jealousy will take over the situation. These lead to unruly catfights and can often lead to hilarious results.

Then, there is death. Death, while no laughing matter in real life, is something that is used for both revenge and enjoyment by most Sim gamers. Some sadists like to see how long a Sim can go in a room with no objects in it whatsoever. Others like to send a Sim swimming and remove the ladder while the Sim is swimming laps for a quick, non-messy method of death. The Sim will eventually swim around and drown (it can only exit via ladder), and that’s it. Still, others like to purposely light a Sim on fire (wicker chair + lit fireplace = blaze) and see how quick the entire room goes up in flames, engulfing the Sim. These brutal, often sadistic, horrors are still viewed as a great factor in the game’s replay value, for there are many ways to kill a Sim. But hey, I can’t change what you do with your Sims, so if you want an 8 Sim slaughterhouse, then go right ahead.

The Sims looks very nice graphically. Even when you are zoomed in as far as you can, there is incredible detail taken to your Sims’ surroundings. Even going as far as to distinguishing the blades of grass from one another, The Sims is very detailed and there are next to no problems with the graphics. Occasional glitches will make some situations look a little odd, but other than that it’s great.

The sound in The Sims is also something to be proud of. The soothing classical music played in the menus and item catalogs is pleasing to hear. There’s also music that you can be listened to by turning on a radio. There are also different stations that you can tune into. Although they aren’t actual songs that you’ll hear on the radio or find on a CD, they still have songs from just about every genre. The other bright side of The Sims is ''Simlish,” they language created just for this game. The Sims don’t actually speak in English, for they are Sims, not human beings. Anyways, this Simlish can be very entertaining to listen to, as it’s used in both the television dialogue and actual conversations between Sims. This innovative new language, that makes no sense whatsoever to us, is fairly amusing.

I’ll make my conclusion simple. The Sims is a game that gives you the control over a digital life, as you lead him or her through everyday life, encountering job opportunities, love and friendship. Okay, maybe that wasn’t so simple, but this game is incredibly addictive and it’s definitely worth a shot should you get a chance to play it. The sheer eccentricity and quirkiness of this game alone makes it worth playing, as it is clearly different from just about every other simulation game around.

Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/16/03, Updated 04/24/03