Seldom do you find a game that is so much in it's own perspective, yet it does so little to raise the hoops...
The Sims franchise.... Where do you even begin to tell the story? I grew up with this gameserie and I've spent numerous hundreds (yeah, wasted or not, that's the amount of time you spend on something when you are hooked on it) of hours on it, and the money I spent while I was in electronic LaLaland? Way, WAY too much. Gives me a little buzz of anxiety, now that I think back. Goes to show how easily you get soaked up in something as simple as a videogame, especially if you are merely looking through the eyes of a child.
The Sims was a phenomenon, if you look at how many people it actually captured in it's sharp, creakling claws. Everyone played it. It was just such a brilliant balance between creativity and... Well, the fact that it was simply just a game, and Will Wright was just a very, very lucky person who managed to time it perfectly. Could this possibly have been a fail if the choices would have been made differently? Yeah, of course. But hey, this review is about The Sims 2, so I'll get back to business.
To be 100% honest, I always expected more from the second installment of The Sims franchise. Creativity is something that should be treasured greatly, and in The Sims 2, I felt as if I had to make my characters according to their outlines, to what they felt was the way to work with imagination. It wouldn't have taken much to fix this problem, sadly. Just a little tad more, just enough to keep me reeled in, like I was with the first game. To my dissappointment, I never found that little extra as I played The Sims 2. I remember the crazy storylines I made with the first game, the mysteries I left unsolved and the plots I put so much energy into evolving, it was like my own little book.
Everything felt so user-friendly in The Sims 2, it almost got me sick to my stomach. You wanna make a mano-depressive guy trying to work his way back to a normal life? Make a good, exciting storyline with plots and twists? Too bad, everyone's always smiling in every picture looking like all american applepie (Including in Make-A-Family mode!), and it will take alot of imagination (almost to the point where it gets too demanding) just to give it an ounce of darkness.
The clothes in the game? No comment. Clearly, they took all their influence from the west side of the world and dropped the european looks completely, which left everything looking a bit pale and a bit dull, when you got so little to work with. No earrings, no accessories, no tattoos, no piercings, no nothing. Not even shoes (!). A handful of facialhairs and glasses. About four dousins of hairs and hats (some of them looking just straight out goofy!). If you want to get the most out of the fashion/accessory side of The Sims 2, check out The Sims Resource on the net, or simply look around for some neat downloads, it's definitely worth a try.
Furniture within the game actually surprised me a bit, because I never thought they would "last" that long. There aren't that many of them, and most of them greatly resemble the one's in the first game. Still, it took me a while to get bored with them. Eventually though you will, if you don't decide to download new stuff that is, end up using the same furniture over and over again.
And yes, I am comparing The Sims and The Sims 2 simply because they are alone in their league, and to make an honest judgement. I know from a fact that people will, the minute the third game comes out, start comparing the The Sims 2 with The Sims 3, it's just the way it is.
To be honest - spare yourself from buying the expansion packs. They add very, very little to the game, except maybe a new feature and some new things ( That in my oppinion should have been there from the start or should be free to download!). And since the game itself was a bit above mediocre and not that much of a "must buy", hold on to your wallet and wait for The Sims 3 ( I sure know I am!), and hope that it's worth your money.
I give this game 7.0 simply because the fact that it is, after all, The Sims. And even though it may not be as shiny and original as the first one, it still has it's golden moments that will definitely give you that rush of creativity you yearn for.
Viva La Vida!