The Sims 2: Castaway

"Where's Tom Hanks?"

Who doesn't love The Sims? Almost everyone, young and old, have had their fun with the series, especially the original computer games, the expansions, and the sequel. I myself have put hours upon hours into those games and I even enjoyed some of the console versions of The Sims, but I was pretty sure I would loath this DS version of The Sims 2: Castaway. The whole idea seemed kind of stupid to me and I didn't think that the game would translate well to the DS and while the game doesn't pull off any amazing gaming achievement, it is actually pretty fun.

As the game starts you have to make your character and there is a surprising amount of options available to you for a DS game (Tony Hawk's American Sk8land could take some lessons) to make your character unique. After all of this, you start your adventure on the mysterious island.

You build your shelter out of some generic items, but I was kind of disappointed that the game didn't use the touch-screen for this. The game does, however, take advantage of the DS's unique capabilities while building a fire. To build a fire, you must rub the stylus on the middle of a stick until some smoke starts to show up and then you have to blow into the microphone to get the blaze going. I'm a sucker for anything in a game that takes advantage of the touch-screen and microphone so I obviously loved this.

As you travel around the island, you will definitely recognize the puzzle element of the game as being influenced by many old PC adventure games. You need to get past a certain obstacle, but you don't have the right tool. So, you'll have to scour the island for the pieces to the tool and then create it. I love this element in video games and I think it should be included in pretty much any adventure game. But wait a minute, I know what you're thinking now, how can you consider a Sims game an adventure game?

Well, that's because Castaway doesn't play like a normal Sims game. Much like the console Sims before it, there is much to it than just building your family and getting promotions. There are actual goals present, which can be bad or good depending on your tastes. You still have to fulfill your Sim's needs by eating (which is usually bugs in this title), sleeping, and keeping your hygiene up by washing in the ocean or another water source. Honestly, the game would have been a little better without having to maintain all of this, but I guess the developers had to include it for it to be an actual Sims game.

Yes, you still have to start friendships in Castaway, but you really don't have to work at them much besides talking to them every once in a while or giving them some worthless item you found. The people you can make friends with are other people on the island that usually have something for you to do, which helps you progress through the game.

Now more of you are probably going, “Why in the HELL are you collecting items in a Sims game?!” Well, like I said before, it really doesn't feel like an actual Sims game. Some items you collect are pretty much useless and you can set them up around the island, but I don't know why you'd want to. You can collect bugs by moving rocks and poking as many of them as you can before they all crawl away, but the most addicting little add-on I found was actually your ability to paint, which is actually a ton of fun for some weird reason.

With all this adventuring, it would be a real pain in the butt getting back to your shelter for sleep, but thankfully Castaway takes a lot of the hassle out of this back-tracking by giving you an easy to use map that lets you travel to any area you've ever been to, which makes figuring out what you need to do next really not that bad.

Since the PC Sims games have about zero story, you wouldn't expect Castaway to have a story either, which it pretty much doesn't. The game substitutes story for a simple backdrop that you are stranded on an island and you need to get off. That's about it, but some of the other castaways are kind of funny, but not even noteworthy as actual characters.

In a surprising twist, The Sims 2: Castaway actually pushes the DS somewhat graphically-wise. There are some minor water effects that are a nice touch and the character models don't look as lame as they do in other DS games, which is very refreshing. However, the game does suffer from a fatal glitch that won't let you continue if you do a couple of things out of order which can REALLY piss you off, trust me.

Unlike the graphics, there's nothing that impressive about the audio. There is still that meaningless gibberish from all of the other games, but the background music is painfully forgettable and kind of takes away from the overall experience of the game.

What is wrong about this game? What is the biggest fault that will turn some gamers off completely? Well, the fact that this game is very short, that is, if you can figure out what to do without any problems. The game has practically no replayability since it is not set up like a traditional Sims game, but it's still a lot of fun if you give it a chance.

If you are a fan of the original Sims games, I probably wouldn't recommend that you play this game. Castaway is a game that incorporates so many different elements that are unlike anything seen in the original games that it practically isn't a Sims game, except for the fact that you have to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, etc. This game is pretty good, not great, but it's great for a quick gaming fix, especially if you are a fan of adventure games styled like Castaway.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/08

Game Release: The Sims 2: Castaway (US, 10/22/07)