The Sims Bustin' Out

"The #1 game for the man who fantasizes about controlling when other people go to the bathroom"

The Sims Bustin Out is very similar to all other Sim games. You create your own simulated character and control every aspect of their lives. You decide when they eat, sleep, shower, use the bathroom. Very riveting!

Game Play 5/10 This game is pretty entertaining, for the first day or so, and can even become quite addicting. Unfortunately it does not last. This game is very repetitive. You'll spend most of the game sending your Sim to the bathroom and waiting around for several dull minutes for your Sim to finish sleeping. Wow, nothings more fun than watching a video game character sleep!

Between all the visits to the bathroom and time spent sleeping and cooking meals, you have to send your Sim to work, where they disappear for 5 minutes and you sit around waiting for them to get back home. And with all the money you make from going to work you can decorate their house. I don't bother decorating my own house, why anyone would want to play a game about decorating houses is beyond me.

This game has a new feature that allows you to move out of houses and into more luxurious mansions and nudist colonies. That's right, nudist colonies, where your female sim can strip down to a big blurry ball of pixels and get into a hot tub with another female sim and make out with her. Actually this was the main reason I bought the game and I was quite disappointed. You are also able to invite other Sims over to your house and have a party, or a wild crazy nude dancing fest, whatever you want!

Story 3/10 Not much of a story. Some billionaire that owns the city runs around with a giant vacuum cleaner and sucks random items out of people's houses and you have to stop him. Although he's the villain you still have the ability to become friends with him, you can even marry him and have his babies if you want to, which really makes no sense to me.

Graphics 6/10 The graphics have improved over the last Sims game but they still look very cartoon-ish. Many of the houses seem very bland and the load times are terrible. Instead of a loading screen, your Sim will drive down a long stretch of street which seems to drag on for miles and all the houses seem to be in neighboring cities.

Sound 4/10 If you're familiar with other Sims titles, the Sims speak their own language that consists of inaudible gibberish. Some people find it cute, I find it downright annoying. I can't even describe the sound the Sims make when they get angry that you woke them up, or when they get sad and start crying because they urinated themselves again, which happens way too much. If they were real people they would be locked up in an asylum somewhere. I have to put the game on mute.

Buy or Rent Rent it first, see if you like it. If you're a fan of other Sims games you'll probably like it.

Lasting Impressions If you like to decorate and enjoy watching other people doing mundane tasks repeatedly or if you're just a weirdo who enjoys watching video game characters take showers and use the toilet and having "fun" with each other this game is for you. Otherwise just leave it alone and get yourself something violent.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/05