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PC | Simulation | The Sims 2

Boxart for The Sims 2
The Sims 2 27 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 5.0
  • SOUND: 5.0
  • CONTROL: 4.5
  • FUN FACTOR 5.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.6
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.6
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: The Sims 2

Review by Boba Fatt | 10/14/2004 | 14:07:25 PM PST

The enormously popular people-making game returns, but is The Sims 2 an evolution or a revolution?

The Sims started a gaming revolution when it was released in 2000, managing to reach a vast audience of non-gamers en route to becoming the top selling PC game of all time. The overly simple, nonviolent title with open-ended goals and no endgame was off-putting to many hardcore gamers, but The Sims 2 will probably change a lot of minds.

Time May Change Me, But I Can?t Trace Time

The Sims 2 improves upon the original in subtle, organic ways that deliver tremendous impact. The biggest one is that your Sims now age through five stages of life, then they?re off to the ol? database in the sky. The challenge is to help your Sims realize their aspirations, like becoming a rock star or having a giant family, before the grim reaper comes calling. Families can have or adopt children and the next generation grows up to pursue their own challenges. If you can?t stand the gravity of watching your beloved characters grow old and die, you can always turn off this feature and just sim away with eternal youth.

The Sims Rejuvenated

The Sims 2?s vibrant new 3D engine delivers a spectacular amount of detail. Zoom in to find ticking clocks, zits on teenagers? mugs, and even a realistic portrayal of SSX 3 on the TV (which even goes into split screen mode when two Sims play). But it?s the Sims themselves that are truly the stars of the show. The Sim creation tool offers a remarkable level of detail, from eye shape to hair color to clothing, for a variety of occasions. Your characters? emotions and disposition play out on their expressive faces and even their physical appearance. If you don?t keep your sim in shape, they?ll develop a beer belly. Keep them spiritually cleansed through yoga and meditation, and they?ll hold onto their youth longer. Tease their innermost desires and they?ll snap: One lady, unlucky in love and childless, started carrying around a flour sack as a surrogate baby.

Completing the fantastic audio video package, The Sims 2?s charming sound effects expand the characters? ?Simlish? outbursts that convey their personality, while the chipper, relaxing music sets the scene for a classic family sitcom.

Come Sim Away

The interface is the only stumbling block. Despite intuitive camera controls and user-friendly expanding windows, some commands and features are inexplicably hidden in arcane locations, like buying a baby?s crib or asking parents for help with homework. Still, this is a fantastically complex game and, with a multi-tiered tutorial, the learning curve is virtually nonexistent.

A strategic challenge, a living soap opera, and an interior designer?s dream sandbox, The Sims 2 elaborates upon the original and many of its expansions (although there?s still room for improvement, since there are no pets yet). Far more than the original, this truly is a game that can be enjoyed by anyone, and should be tried by everyone.


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