"Come and experience the magic for yourself!"

Introduction

The moment I started playing The Sims on my PC, I became hooked. I happened to be idly looking through Amazon when I noticed this expansion pack, and was quick to order it, having a few of the other expansion packs already installed. I was excited, and ended up cursing my computer when I discovered that there wasn't enough hard drive space.

Some 18 months, and a new computer, later, I have finally reinstalled The Sims, with this among the many expansion packs, and all I can say is - WOW!

Gameplay - 9.5/10

The enhancements to gameplay are some of the best ever. The moment that you access a house after this little beauty has been added, a mysterious stranger will appear, to leave a package by the doorstep, which includes magic ingredients.

There is considerable "borrowing" from the Harry Potter novels evident here, as any Sim who does not own a magic wand will be treated as "inferior" (there are certain things they cannot do, and magical Sims are discouraged from doing magic in front of them).

The number of extra items is quite impressive, with additions such as magic charm machines, and various other devices, none of which are anything like as childish as they sound. You can buy various items to use in spells (these include turning other Sims into toads, altering your Sims' appearance and many more).

Along with all this excitement, there is also the addition of "Magic Town", where your Sim goes to have fun, and to buy magic ingredients. You can perform magic tricks on stage to earn "Magic coins", and my only disappointment here is that occasionally one of the computer controlled Sims will start hogging one of the stages and stopping your own sims (yesterday I gave my Sim the command to perform a trick, and he walked up to the stage, only for another Sim to sneak on as he was approaching.

The magic trick option also means that your Sims can increase their abilities, largely by increasing their logic skill points, which in previous versions, were only useful for getting job promotions. You will see, as skill increases, that your Sims' ability grows (for example, they will stop pulling teddy bears from hats and produce actual rabbits). This is quite cool as in previous versions, only the cooking and mechanical skills proved themselves to have any sort of merit outside of getting job promotions.

The extra appeal of Magic Town is that your Sims can eventually purchase new lots within the town - if they get enough Magic Coins. This effectively allows you to have even more Sim families than would have been possible.

Overall, the gameplay is very fun. The only thing that prevented this getting the full 10 marks was the way that the computer controlled Sims can occasionally be a nuisance, preventing you from doing stuff with your own Sims.

Sound - 6/10

Okay, most of the sound is no different from the original - as with most of the expasnion packs, but the new music is pretty good. The theme tune does sound a bit too much like the music heard in the Harry Potter movies, and I'm not sure if it's deliberate or not, but it's still nice to listen to.

Graphics - 8/10

Some of the graphics here are actually quite impressive. I am particularly fond of the animations during the magic shows. A Sim who has low logic points attempts a magic trick and fails, resulting in a hilarious "embarrassed" expression, for example. I've also come across a picture that freakishly moves by itself from time to time. As well as this, there are the amazingly inventive rollercoaster rides located in magic town, which are fun just to sit and watch.

Play Time/Replay Value - 10/10

This will probably addict you even more than many of the other Sims game, with just the goal of getting your Sims to move into Magic Town an attraction in itself, so you can see what the new houses are like. You will also have a lot of fun experimenting with the various spells and charms featured in this game.

Final Verdict

Assuming you have the original Sims, then buy this. This is one of the better expansion packs to be included, and you don't need to be a fan of the Harry Potter series to enjoy this.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/05