Here EA - take more of my money. I wasn't using it anyway.
I'm a big fan of The Sims, and as someone normally inclined to play an untra violent FPS or hack and slash fantasy game y initial thoughts on seeing The Sims was:
"That is the dumbest idea in the world for a game. I hate it just thinking about it."
Well after several gaming friends insisted up and down I'd love this game I gave it a try and by God they were right! I can't explain it fully but there's something intoxicating about playing God with virtual people; you find yourself doing things and succumbing to impulses that many would consider repugnant were it not simply a game.
The ability to literally create virtual people with unique desires and ambitions, guide them through their lives and control them as though you are Master of the Universe is irresistible to me and every time I think I have grown tired of this game I think of new ways to indulge my most nefarious impulses.
That said there are aspects of The Sims gameplay that become repetitive and even tedious once you've mastered the ins and outs of the system. For example despite the fact that each Sim has a choice of career paths, they all feel much the same and the minor differences in aspiration rewards and promotion requirements feels superficial. All of the Sims pretty much look the same and act the same way, and respond to the same stimuli.
Married, single, male or female any Sim can be seduced, pulled away form their partner, coerced and controlled with very little effort, making the universe seem rather cookie cutter in nature. To this end (and no doubt for financial considerations as well) there are numerous expansions available for the game and The Sims franchise has made better use of marketing expansion packs than perhaps any game in history.
University allows you to send your SIms to college - an entertaining diversion that adds several new career paths and opportunities for your characters to pursue but also becomes rather repetitive over time.
Nightlife allows your Sims to go on dates - which sounds like fun but really isn't. When on an outing the other Sims' desires are apparent to you so pleasing them becomes sort of a boring, connect the dots experience that I only wish I could replicate in real life. What I would give to be able to take a girl out to dinner and know EXACTLY what she wanted me to do at all times.
It's the little things that Nightlife adds to the experience that make this expansion worthwhile. Your Sims now have chemistry - both positive and negative - and individual turn ons and turn offs can now be changed and are more crucial to your Sims' development than before. Adding a small degree of color to your Sims' relationships does breathe a little life into the game and make it a little more interesting.
Your Sims may now purchase and drive automobiles, which up to now was something you needed a hack for. This may seem like a small thing but it does seem silly that the only way any Sim could get around was to call a Taxi or wait for a carpool to work.
Other lots are now visible when you are engaged in playing your Sims' lot and you can click and transfer to other lots without going back to the neighborhood screen. Again a small thing but it does make the game a bit easier to play.
Oh, and there are also Vampires, for some...strange...reason. So if you missed out on the Buffy/X-Files/Anne Rice/Vampire Conspiracy craze of the 1990's or simply want more of it then, well there you go.
The issue for me here is that while University and Nightlife both offer intriguing additions to the Sims universe - and they DO improve gameplay the question is whether it improves gameplay by a factor of thirty dollars.
Considering the fact that many features offered by The Sims expansions probably should have been present in the original game you get the feeling you are being nickel and dimed into spending more and more money to get what should have been a more complete offering to begin with.
In the end, looking at the array of Sims 2 expansions available I would say that unless you're a die hard fan, an obsessive compulsive or just have money to burn you may want to stop at University and Nightlife - after buying the original game and then spending $60 on two expansions you have a fairly complete game that is satisfying to play, but is still going to get old fast.
But until it does you'll fine The Sims 2 - and whichever expansions you choose to add - immersive, imaginative and rewarding game play, if only for a while!