"Teenage daughter's view"

This review was written by my teenage daughter.

The Sims 2 University is the first expansion for the second edition of the huge PC hit, The Sims. In The Sims, you create your own person or family and try to live a normal life. The game itself seems boring when you're looking at the box saying, "Why in the world would I want to spend hours telling a computer generated character when to eat and shower?" But after you actually start playing the game, you'll become addicted to it.

The controls in this game are so simple a monkey could do it. All you do is click on the sim you want to use and then click on any object to make them use it. You can make your sim do anything from cooking chili con carne to rocking out on drums. It's a really easy game to play; there's no difficulty to it whatsoever. In college, you have to gain skill points in order to raise a little thermometer of your grade progress. You have to keep requiring skill points in order to keep your grades up. Gaining a skill point is incredibly easy too. It really depends on the skill. If you need a logic point, find an object that can give you a logical skill point (like a chess set) and use it until you gain a skill point. If you fail a semester, you're put on probation and you'll have to repeat that semester. One more failed semester and you're booted out of your dorm, back to living with your mom and dad.

The point of The Sims 2 University is to become a successful graduate so you can move on to greater and better things. College is a pretty fun place to be. Even though you can hustle a bud at pool, and streak through dorms, there is some seriousness to it. You're going to have to study to get a spot on the Dean's List, and you have to gain skill points that will help you pass school. Going through college really helps you later on in life when you're trying to get a job. You won't have to get all those skill points needed to supply with a promo; you'll already have them. College isn't all about the books. You can fall in love, make friends, join a rock band, whatever it is you want to do. After college, it is a little hard to rebound. You'll have to move back to your neighborhood and try and get a job and start a family. It's a snap once you get yourself going.

The graphics are amazing. Creating a sim is so realistic. You pick out hair color, eyes color, the shape of their nose, what clothes they wear, and even how their eyebrows curve. You have the power of God in this game. You can bring to life a stunning looking teenage boy, or a sagging old lady. When your sims move, they don't look like short-circuiting robots. They'll move just like you and me. Everything that you buy is detailed, and everything that you build has fabulous detail and design.

You can play with a sim from birth to death, but once they're dead, they're gone. It's great to play with different generations of sims.. You can make multiple families and move them over a certain neighborhood. The game is definitely worth playing over and over again. Like I said before, once you start, you can't stop.

The Sims 2 University is great to own so you can satisfy your cravings whenever you need to. Anyone of any age would be happy to own this game, and I think it's a great Christmas gift for the upcoming holidays. If you don't have this game, go get it now and try it out.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/14/05