Better controls this time, but it lacked quite a number of features that most fans of the franchise crave for!
User Rating: 7.5 | The Sims 2 PS2
When The Sims 2 came out on the PlayStation 2 a few years ago, i was VERY excited, since i was a big Sims fan after giving it a try on the PC a few years back, as a pre-pubescent human being (and i was also a Slimline PS2 owner). And, after scanning the game cover and marvelling at all those cool-looking Sims (i was especially interested in the alien in the upper right corner), i just had to go out and get it. The first time i played it, i couldn't part with it. It was hard for the controller to be pried out of my hands, because my left thumb, in particular, was nearly permanently attached to it. And that was all because of the game controls. Yes, the in-game controls this time allowed your Sim to be more flexible, and it was easier to do tasks this time around. It even felt like playing on of those Tony Hawk games, a little, but that's not the point. I discovered it was easier to make my Sim run around in circles, jog, run and so on, but more importantly, with the new controls, i could cover a lot of ground, get more work done in the game. At the time, it seemed like a huge leap in the Sims franchise. For my young self, i thought it was quite revolutionary. But i've grown up and learnt to weed out the weak points of this game, too. The PlayStation 2 version lacks a lot of cool features, unfortunately. Even though most of it could just be the little things, in the end, i felt a little bored, even after unlocking new areas and i when i feel like playing something, this game is not one of those games that i'd just play to get my fix. For example, the TVs in this console version lacks additional channels. The cooking channel is non-existent in this one, no matter how expensive the TV is. Another very, VERY crucial feature that's lacking in this version: The ability to reproduce. I mean, c'mon!! All Sims 2 fans who i've symphatized with and who also own both versions of the game have all agreed that this factor was the main weak point in the PS2 version of the game. Sometimes i do think that without this feature, The Sims wouldn't really feel like The Sims anymore. It's somewhat impossible to compensate for this, no matter how many additional characters the game throws at us, it still wouldn't feel the same if our Sims couldn't make babies. No matter how many times i got my Sims to WooHoo!, i still couldn't get the female Sim to bring a new Sim into the Sim world. No matter how many times i got my male Sim to be unwillingly kidnapped and, um, "violated" (for lack of a better word) by aliens, no matter how many times that Sim of mine puked, i still couldn't get a baby Sim in the game. That was pretty dissapointing for me, and also for most other Sims fans. On a more positive note, the in-game music is pretty good with tracks by big names like Paramore and MxPx, just to name a few. Some aspects of the game that try to maintain the "fun factor" are the in-game cooking features, such as the one found in the PC version, that are quite entertaining. It is also notably easier to move around with the metal detector in this PS2 version, due to the previously mentioned game controls. The story in the story mode, isn't totally entertaining, but it does rope in some pretty interesting characters with equally interesting stories too. The new locations are comically designed, and each location is totally unique, It isn't so much of a story mode though, your Sim will just be going from place to place, switching between different characters ( another plus point, toggling between different characters ) and helping them out as you go along, to achieve more points and also to unlock more items and etc. The gameplay here isn't very difficult, it's quite linear and it's really simple too. The objectives are simple, but as with all Sims games, the real challenge is to manage your time and your Sim's life as best you can, to ensure that your Sim doesn't screw up in life. This game is rather easy to pick up, and you could convert people into fans of The Sims with this. But, of course, to convert more people, you need the PC version, heheh. The clothes, accessories, and hairstyles in this game are much better, to keep up with the times. It is indeed a far cry from the totally spartan selection offered in the first Sims game and it's also much better than Bustin' Out. I had quite a bit of fun dressing up my Sim. Overall, The Sims 2 for the PlayStation 2 is a solid game, but it really could've been much better if it didn't lose so many features from the PC version, particulaly the most important one of all. 
