The Sims: Unleashed

"A must-buy expansion for The Sims"

Being a owner of The Sims and all 6 expansion packs, I have to say that Unleashed is one of the better ones. There's so many great new things that make this expansion pack a must-buy, like pets and a bigger neighborhood.

STORY: X out of 10

The reason why I gave the story X out of 10 is that you choose the story. I mean that you could have 3 adult sims, 3 children sims, and 2 dogs, or you could have single-family sim that is a farmer out in a Kentucky style house. You choose how your sims live day by day, night by night, and so on.

GRAPHICS: 7 out of 10

The graphics for The Sims have basically stayed the same ever since the original game was released in 2000. What you could call new graphics, are the new objects, skins, etc. The animation, like your sims walking, are very smooth and you can see what they're doing, and it's not slow. However, when there's too many NPCs (Non-playable characters), the game tends to slow down a bit, like when there's a lot of pets on your lot or lots and lots of people in a Old Town (explain later) lot.

MUSIC: 9 out of 10

The background music is basically the same as the sims. It wasnt annoying, but it isnt the best music ever. There's the new music for Old Town, and some Latin music that now plays on the neighborhood screen.

SOUND: 5 out of 10

To put the sound of The Sims in one word: it's repetitive. Now, of course, the sims say their ''simlish'' sayings, and the dogs and cats go meow or woof, and that's expected, but the sound is basically used over and over. It dosen't bother me, but it's repetitive. However, the more annoying sounds include: the buzz of the bugs when your dishes are left out because they arent washed, and the burglar alarm when it detects that a burglar is coming to steal your things. There are lots of annoying sounds, and that's why the sound category is the worst aspect of the game.

CONTROLS: 10 out of 10

The controls are simple to use and very responsive. You mostly use your mouse to click on a object for your sims to use that object, rotate objects in buy/build mode, and much, much more.

GAMEPLAY: 10 out of 10

The Sims: Unleashed has so many great things, and I will tell you about two of the greatest aspects of this game: Pets and Old Town.

Old Town is basically a commercial area, with shops like in Downtown, Vacation Island, and Studio Town (added in Hot Date, Vacation, and Superstar respectively). In Old Town, you can buy things like pets to take care of, seeds for growing plants in your garden, and objects for your pet. Also, because of Old Town, your neighborhood area has expanded from the small, 10 lot street, to a small, 41 lot suburban community. And, you can also zone residential or community lots for homes or stores.

The second, and probally one of the best features, is pets. There are lots and lots of families that have pets, and with this expansion pack, that dream of having pets in your sim's life has come true. You can choose from Low maintence pets, which are small animals such as birds, fish, etc, and High maintence pets, which are dogs and cats. LM pets are small pets that go in cages, and you can only do simple things, like feed and play with them. HM pets, however, require things like foodbowls, dog houses, etc., and they count as part of your family.

There's also much more things, like gardening, that's added in this expansion pack. But the 2 features I mentioned are the best ones added in Unleashed.

REPLAY VALUE: 10 out of 10

The game never ends. You can choose to quit playing in 2025 or 2050, and the game wouldn't have ended. It's fun, and that's one of the best things about The Sims. Especially with the Unleashed expansion, because it has so many great things added.

THE BIG QUESTION: Buy or rent?

If you have the money and The Sims, then I suggest you should buy. Since you cant rent computer games, and if you dont have the money, I suggest you should ask your friend if they could lend TS: Unleashed to you, because (in my opinion), this is one of the best expansion packs.

OVERALL SCORE: 9 out of 10

THE GOOD PARTS: So many new features are added, like pets and a bigger, 41 lot neighborhood

THE BAD PARTS: Annoying sounds, and if you just have Unleashed, I thought the community lot store objects were lacking.

Overall, this is the best expansion packs for The Sims. You should definetely buy this expansion, as it has so many things that can improve the game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/04/03, Updated 07/04/03