The Sims 2

"The sims is losing its touch"

I've played the first Sims for the PS2 and thought it was one of the most addicting games that I have ever played. I saw this game on the shelf one day and thought to myself, “This game looks good (basing it on its predecessors) and is a steal at only twenty dollars.”, but I was wrong about this one.

Game play: 6/10
The game play is the same as the other Sims games except the fact that they've added a new control mode to the game that actually allows the player to control and run around with their sim. Another plus to the game play is the new social interactions they've added and the new cooking system that lets you choose your own ingredients. Also, they let you really customize your sim to the full extent. However, the game does temporarily freeze up a lot in the game. For instance, while you're at work the game starts to slow down or when one starts to cook, the game locks up for a moment and the game is always loading. One cannot even enter the pause menu without having to wait about ten seconds and saving takes around a whole minute to do.

Graphics: 10/10
One can I say, the game looks beautiful and the characters look so detailed. The items in the game are all unique and have their own nice touch to them. The establishments look very detailed too, but what really caught my eye is that the game now allows you to see other peoples' yards and they are not just full of grass. Another nice addition here is the weather in the game. There is now rain and clouds and the Sims will even hold an umbrella over their heads or even a newspaper to keep dry.

Sound: 4/10
Well, they still cannot talk, but they can make interesting noises. The music has lyrics now and have an actual artist, so that adds to the realism of the whole game itself, and the Sims can make many different sounds while socializing with the others. On the whole though, not much has changed of the sounds here.

Controls: 4/10
It is nice that they give you a new choice of going about your daily tasks, but that does not cover up the problems that the Sims 2 displays. Most of the time when you try to click on one item, it will give you the choice of clicking on the five items surrounding it, so this could be a hassle. It is also tougher to control two Sims at once, when they have aspirations that always need to be looked out for and that its easier to miss work this Sims, so the player really must be on top of that too. Maxis has made it tougher to access career information and relationship status, because they've moved to the selection screen and as I said earlier, its takes about ten seconds to reach that. Not to mention using classic mode is also harder to control, because the cursor scrolls along the squares instead of just being able to move it freely.

Overall: 6/10
The game is not what it used to be. It has so many more things to do in it that some may find it exciting and fun, while others may find it overwhelming and are afraid to scroll through the sixty or seventy wallpapers that are available. If this your first time playing the sims, I'd suggest renting this one first or perhaps buying the first Sims, because that is more simple and will give you some experience.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/06