This game definitely improves on its predecessor.
Very Addictive
Good Graphics
Hard to get bored
Plenty to do
The Bad:
Can be unstable
Can take time to like it
Different to its predecessor which can be bad
The basic game (with no expansions) doesn't offer much.
The Ugly:
Don't get full benefit of graphics with a low end PC
Can be expensive to buy all the expansions and packs
No online play
Well I think everyone has played or even just heard of The Sims, more importantly The Sims 2, unless of course you have been living in a hole for the past 7 years.
The original Sims has matured a lot The Sims no longer have square shaped heads. The pixels are less obvious and its just basically got better. The Sims 2 is the official sequel to the original The Sims obviously. Its been going for around 3 years now and has I think 5 expansion packs, a new one being released in the middle of September this year. So onto the actual review, as I said The Sims has come along way Graphically, Soundly, Everythingwayly Of course no game is perfect I always say. If your dont know what The Sims universe is all about then it is basically a game where you create a person (a sim) and you guide him through his/her life. Ordering them to eat, sleep, work and mate! The Sims 2 has many new features, the first of which is the Aspiration System. This is a system which gives your sim wants and fears and if you complete a want, for example getting promoted, you get some aspiration which increases the mood and allows you to buy aspiration rewards. Of course fears are the opposite and a common fear is having a fire or a burglar and if this happens you loose aspiration and your sims mood drops. Also a new feature is the aging system, where in other games you choose the age gap, baby, child or adult. The sims now have there own aging, they start off as baby then to toddler then child then teenager then adult and finally elder (If the university pack is installed then a young adult becomes available) The time it takes to grow up varies on the stage the sim is at, it takes longer for a adult to age then a child for example. The game like its predecessor is very addictive once you start playing. You suddenly want to make your sim the best ever, get him to the top of the career ladder everything like that. Now with the introduction of the various expansion packs sims can buy there own car and drive to community lots and work. However they still cant visit other sims houses which I feel is a big let down and if this was introduced it would improve the game drastically. The graphics of the game have been improved as I said the characters are a lot smoother, everything has a better looking style to it; there are brighter colors all that stuff. The animations of characters have also been improved although the path finding has left much to be desired! The sims arent clever enough to realize how to get to a chair which is too far from the table for example. And if something is in the way the sims go crazy and start moaning. But still its good but can be improved. The sound is the same as far as speech is concerned just higher quality, still the same `simlish` language unlike some people I dont care about the language difference mainly because it would be twice the size if they recorded real English conversations and the game would cost a lot more. The sounds from the objects are interesting; the music from the Hi-Fi is real songs just the lyrics are converted into simlish. The TV is also in simlish but still has the sounds from normal TV, police chases explosions all that. Again I know its a long review but everything been said this game is a good game but it still needs some improvements, but it is still worth a try but to get the full benefit you need to buy the expansion packs. This could set you back a few pounds (or dollars, whatever your currency is!)