"Unleash this fantastic game on your PC now!"

Introduction

I thought when Maxis released ‘The Sims Livin it Up' that a fantastic idea like The Sims would have been ruined but I was extremely wrong because as everyone knows, the Sims have released time after time of different ideas and they have all turned out to be a popular game on the PC. The Sims unleashed will be no different as long as it sticks with the same idea of ruining or running someone's life. I think anyone who plays this game will fall in love with it and I was no different so let's start the show…

Game Play

The fun first, the only way you can take the fun out of this game is by snapping the disc in half because there is so much to offer. If you don't one aspect of the game you will probably love all the others. You have the ability to do anything you wish. You have a selection of new furniture and building parts to add to your house like fireplaces, swimming pools and a selection of new textures and colours to make your house as nice as possible. The big idea, which has been introduced, is the ownership of pets. You can just catch the bus and go down to the town straight away to buy cat, dog, parrot or even a monkey and each have there own breed from Dalmatian to terrier. You can even buy items for their luxury like baths, beds and gyms for their fitness.
You can buy spooky irregular items from mystic shops or just buy food from the supermarket and the idea of setting up your own business like cinema, supermarket or even graveyard/park is wonderful. Another new idea is jobs, when the first Sims was released you could only have 6 jobs and now you can have over 50 like animal care, circus act, fashion, stuntman or teacher. You can even train your pets to fight of prowlers in the night like skunks and rodents. The list of new ideas is endless, the neighbourhood as also been expanded to over 40 homes to choose from and the idea of taking photos and having an album is brilliant. You can hire more services from gardener to exotic dancer as well for your entertainment or for your party. You can also have a phone book to keep in touch with old friends and the expansions of the Sims characteristics are brilliant. You can have background stories for your Sims and change every detail of them in anyway. Internet play is also available, so your Sims can have a big party together or even go on holiday with the expansion pack. You can treat your pets like your friends and be best together or hate each other, you can house break them, teach them tricks and obedience and even get them to throw parties with the other animals in the street which is fun but a bit unrealistic and your pets can even breed, you could start off with 2 dogs then you could end up with hundreds of them.
Finally, the Sims has lots of new ways to interact with each other from casual hug to romantic kiss.

The game isn't hard unless you don't know what you are doing. You just basically keep your statistics up by sleeping, eating and washing yourself to keep your sim happy. But it may get frustrating trying to make friends to get a promotion in your job or trying to get your social life back on the tracks but it's a problem in everyone's life so if this feature was not added, I would not respect the game is much because you can't believe that this Sim is real.

I think you could pick up the Sims controls very easily. There is a keyboard control system but that is optional, so I would just stick to using your mouse as its easier then searching for the keyboard every two seconds looking for the right button.

Story

The game consists of you choosing and making Sims or Sim, putting them into the house, add the furniture and any other piece required then you can't start by controlling there lives in anyway possible like in the list above.

Graphics

Brilliant, this is fantastic. You can see every detail clearly and too the point without squinting your eyes or any of that nonsense. The Buildings and furniture is drawn perfectly and the background is fantastic to look at.

Sound

Pretty good like the graphics. The Sims when interacting with each other talk in a funny language but you can tell when they are feeling sad or happy by the tone of their voice and the pets are the same too. They have different sounds for different breeds or pet and the dog's bark and pant and the cat's Meow and hiss at each other and other pets. Classic piano music comes on when picking your house and furniture and for some reason it relaxes me and drags me back into the game for another hour, let's call it … addictive.

Play Time/ Buy or Rent

You can't get tired of this game. Once you have got to the highest position in your job and are stinking rich you can just get another job and try to be the best at that or move on to someone else who is poor and work him or her up to the best sim on the block. Or once you have ruined someone's life to the max that they are dead or depressed to their wits end then move on some other unlucky Sim. The possibilities are endless.

The game deserves to be bought not sitting on a shelf waiting to be rented. The game has no cons I can think off and is one of the best games I have ever tried but I suppose if you get bored of things quickly then rent it because it is the same basic ideas and problems every single time but perhaps in a different order.

Conclusion

I think that Maxis (the developers) have created another Sims package that works and plays beautifully. Somehow, Maxis create the same basic idea and make it work every time. Bravo Maxis, keep those games coming.

Percy Boi's Rating 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/05