The Sims Bustin' Out

"In need of "the better life"? Look no further."

It's rare that you find a game quite like The Sims: Bustin' Out, and even more rare when this game is good. It offers unprecedented customization, and right from the get-go there are many options for you to choose from. The places you can take your Sim are all unique, and the Sims you can meet are all diverse and special.

By way of Gameplay, this game has a moderate learning curve, and even players new to gaming can pick it up in a day or so without an instruction manual. The controls are tight and the goals vary depending on your job choice. In ''Bust Out'' mode (a mode new to the console games), you can choose one of seven career paths. These include Movie Stars, Mad Scientists, and Gangsters. Each have their own specialties, needs, and requirements. You control your Sim through a point and click method, much like that of the PC version.

The graphics are clean and crisp, and the only major gripe I have with them is that if there are too many things on screen at the same time, the frame rate plummets. There is normal game lag, and moderate loading times, and on occasion, the game will freeze. This has happened to me before, but as long as you save every once in a while, you shouldn't have a problem. Problems like these arise in the larger game areas, but as I've already said, it really shouldn't be a problem for you.

The sound and music are all very catchy, ranging from pop to metal and from bluegrass to jazz. The sounds of SimSpeak are very amusing, sometimes funny, and sometimes annoying. Maxis gives the Sims their own dialect of speak, which sounds like a fusion of every language there is. This adds depth to the game, because it makes it that much more like real life.

Difficulty is a major factor for new players - the moment you leave Mom's House, the difficulty for caring for your Sim spikes significantly. You'll need to do some deep thinking to determine what you'll be doing next...which is exhilaratingly tough. You'll be in need of friends, and the large assortment of people in the game mean that you'll be a social butterfly in no time. Keeping your job, while refining skills, and all the while making friends proves itself a challenge - and if anything, it's true to how your life is...

All in all, The Sims: Bustin' Out is a solid game, with its minor flaws and problems. You can easily spend hours making SimFamilies in the freeform Free Play, manage the life of a work-inclined Sim in Bust Out mode, and just let your creativity run rampant (as long as your budget doesn't suffer) in the Buy/Build modes in the Start menu. There's enough for you to do in this game to last weeks, and it's worth the buy.

Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/03