The Sims Online

"Really changed my views of the Sim game series"

I have always been Skeptical with the Sims series. Ever since it was first advertised on television I never had an interest for that type of game. I've played the original sims at a friends house and didn't like it all. When the sims online was starting to get advertised, i still didn't have a change in opinions about the game but some friends of mine wanted to team up in the game so i bought it in late may.

Gameplay: 9/10
You first start off by creating a sim. There are several different types of combinations of your sim's head and outfit that you can choose from so the chance for you to find one that you like is pretty good. You also have to enter a credit card at the registration process. First month of playing the game online is free and it is 10$ for every month thereafter.
-There are so many different things you can do in the game that i won't be able to list them all but here's a few:

*Navigating around the game: There are several different toolbars around which lets you use different options and sim stats. Real easy to find a house, sim, etc. The one thing that i really don't like about it is that it takes up about a fifth or so part of the bottom side of the screen. Which makes the job of looking around a little more difficult. Getting from one place to another is a difficult task if you don't have some sort of broadband service. You may not enjoy the game as much with the constant time it takes to load, download updates, and such. This might get you an Error 23 which is VERY common in the game and get kicked off the server which is very irritating along with the city Maintenence every day where you can't play the game for about 30 minutes.

*Creating a house: There are several different cities and different places where you could build your house. On land, by the coast, basically any flat surfaced area with the price of your house's lot varying on location. You can name it however you like with some limitations of course, add your house to a local neighborhood, add roommates to your house, upgrade your lot size, etc. There is also the option of changing your property category. These let you have a theme for the house such as Entertainment, Games, Money, Skilling or other type houses. Each type lets you use different objects but also makes it so you can't use certain objects as well so choose carefully because you will have to wait a while before being able to change the category again. The top 100- Your sim and house has the chance to be the most popular in your city. Depending on the number of friendship balloons you receive, you're rank will rise or fall. The length of time visitors stay at your house will determine your house rank also in your category which is determined by how many visitor hours your house has. What really helps this is by having roommates around the house when you're not online so your house will be open to let visitors come in. If you are an achiever and like to be the person who strives to be #1 in the game, this is the thing to keep you on the strive to be the friendliest and best sim to reach that top spot.

*Controlling the sim: There are several things you can do with a sim. The main thing that must be done though is to keep your needs up. These are Hunger, Energy, Comfort, Fun, Social, room, Bladder, Hygiene, and room. Keeping your needs up will let your sim be happy and productive. If you don't, you're sim will usually not do what command it to especially when involving skill and job objects. Bored of those online chat rooms? Well with the sim interractions you can od actions to represent your emotions such as anger(pile drive), Happy (touchdown dance), and sad (cry). The more skills and baloons you earn, the more interactions you sim can use. Also whenever you talk, there is a colored bubble (different between sims) that pops up over the sims head which is great when used with interractions.

*Fun and Creative ideas: The best way to keep this game interesting is by using your imagination and creative skills. A great example of this is by house creation and contests. With your house, you can make it into different shapes and designs. Using different color tiles on the second floor, you can make a ''painting'' which can be viewed from the neighborhood view of your house to make it stand out more. Bored and want some fun? try to find a contest to attend. They are very entertaining and fun. Popular contests are 'til you drop contests where you have to keep your needs green as long as possible while doing some sort of activity and try hope your sim needs don't get too low to where your it stops doing that activity. Imagination is a key thing about this game. What I did was create a really high stack of food plates at my house as a unique idea.

Sound: 7/10
There are several different sounds and music you can choose in this game. Trance, Rock, Rap, and others are available to listen to. AFter a while though, it just repeats and can be left off. Also whenever you sim tries to talk, interract, or make a noise, they say things which really resemble a new language.

Graphics:7/10
I wouldn't even really depend on the graphics for this game. You really don't pay attention to the graphics much at all because you are so involved with the gameplay itself. The characters aren't blocky and have some good detail in them.

Overview: 8/10
If you have been looking for a better way to communicate with other people besides chat rooms or if you want to be the top sim and house in the game, then this is the game to get. Even thought the game has been out for a while, it is still growing in numbers.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/03, Updated 07/07/03