The Sims

Since 2000, when The Sims made its debut on the PC, players have been fascinated by creating virtual life and seeing how happy and well-balanced they could make become in this environment. It was a simple idea but amazingly original in the game world, and one that has been hugely successful. The Sims has become the best-selling game in history. Now, the game is available on Playstation 2 with all of the features that has made it so appealing in the past and a few pleasant surprises tossed in to keep it fresh.

Create a life and don't mess up

Bathing required if you expect to keep your friends.

The basic idea is players control the lives of animated computer people, known as "sims", who function very much like us in real life. The open-ended game lets players create entire families of people and take control of their lives or simply sit back and watch them interact with each other. Players must cater to their sims’ wants and needs – from taking a bathroom break and watering the plants to hauling themselves to work everyday and buying items to fix up the house.

Now The Sims has made the jump from computers to the PS2, complete with a new 3D engine and new single-player and multiplayer modes.

The familiar and the new

Not tinkering too much with the concept, the PS2 game has additions and a few improvements. Overall, however, there’s nothing revolutionary to the basic gameplay.

If you are new to The Sims, the social interactions and behaviour is captivating, while the character "flaws" are maddening – for example, naughty roommates who refuse to clean up after themselves and leave messes all around the house.

For those who have played The Sims before, PS2’s new single-player "Get a Life" is interesting and challenging, and the multiplayer modes add something different to the gameplay. But The Sims for the PS2 is still similar to the game that’s been around on the PC.

Now with a tutorial

Mom can be a real pain, when she leaves her mess for you to clean up.

The PS2 single-player game starts out with one challenge, called “Get a Life”. This functions as a tutorial and also builds on seven different missions. As players become familiar with the game’s control setup, they also learn about their sims’ wants and needs; namely eating, sleeping and using the bathroom. In the grand scheme of things, players' sims will need to move out of Mom’s house into their own house, find a job and make new friends. At first, however, the game is about mandatory activities. And, it can be frustrating, when sims must stop an important task to take a bathroom break, or they simply collapse on the floor when they are overly tired.

Interaction intrigues

Pacj your house with friends and fun and watch your "social" happiness rise.

The “Get a Life” mode serves only as an introduction to the game and allows players to unlock hidden bonuses, such as special furniture and different play modes, like the traditional game of the Sims. Past “Get a Life,” players get into the core of the game, where they can create a virtual household of one or more sims – complete with player-chosen looks and personalities - buy a house and furnish it with a vast array of appliances and furniture, and maintain a daily life, including work and parties.

As with previous sims’ games, the intrigue of the gameplay ranks among the best of any game as players interact with other sims while trying to better their jobs, build up skill points that make them better workers or more handy around the house. Social interaction is also vital to The Sims. Friendships and rivalries abound, and unless players take special care to nurture their social skills, they can end up sobbing on the couch, too depressed to do much of anything.

To forget or not to forget

Part of the fun is decorating your house with furniture and objects.

To add to the fun, The Sims allows players to customize their own characters and houses, right down to designing the architecture and picking out the wallpaper. For those players who haven’t played The Sims before, the frustrations of the original version linger. Sims’ behaviours can be extremely irritating.

For example, players can issue of list of activities for the sims, but sometimes the characters get distracted or simply forget, what they are to do and stand in the middle of the room instead. Often, the sims will pause before following any kind of order, which is irritating if someone is knocking at the door or the telephone is ringing.

The Sims features simple controls that allow you to interact in many ways.

The PS2 game has an option which allows players to disable “free will,” so the sims will not act independently and more control is shifted to the player. This is a mixed bag, especially when a sim is overdue for a bathroom break and has an accident on the kitchen floor, because the player has neglected to pay attention to their bladder needs, for example.

The game’s controls are easy to learn and function smoothly. Players can quickly find motives, skills and relationships through access to different menus. One of the best features of The Sims is its replayability. And, on PS2, players won’t be disappointed. The game reinvents itself as soon as players create a new sim.

Fully 3D with multiplayer options

A great camera system lets you zoom in and out, as well as scroll over your environment.

The Sims is fully 3D and players control the camera to quickly zoom, scroll and rotate around the sims’ environment. The PS2 version also offers two different multiplayer modes that let players play cooperatively and competitively.

The competitive multiplayer is rather simplistic and direct. On a split screen, players vie against each other to cook faster or clean up quicker than each other, for example.

The cooperative mode is more interesting, as it permits two players to play the standard game of The Sims together. This means, players can divide chores and jobs and help each other to thrive.

Sharp colours, customized details and gibberish

You can customise your character with hair, body shape, clothes and more.

The Sims for the PS2 has taken up the PC game's graphics several notches. While the PS2 version still features rather simplistic houses and furniture, players can really get into creating individual sims with different hairstyles, eye colours, body shapes, clothes and accessories.
The Sims features good sound with fun music, hilarious sound effects and the vintage, expressive gibberish language that the sims speak to each other.

Players used to The Sims might recognize the sounds, primarily because they are recycled from the PC version. On one hand, the original game features unique and humorous sounds. On the other hand, for players who have played the game before, more creativity and different sounds would have been welcomed.

Few novelties

The PS2 version of The Sims follows the adage, “If it’s not broke don’t fix it” with a few novelties tossed in. It sticks to the original gameplay which has made the game one of the most successful ever, while adding new features that add extra value to the game.

With the good comes the not-so-good however, and players who have played before won’t find the game’s shortcomings improved upon.

Don’t expect the PS2 game to have the same impact as the original PC entry in 2000, especially because new games varying on the theme have been released through the years. However, The Sims for PS2 is a solid, intriguing game, and for newcomers it will not disappoint with its original concept. And, for players who are already fans, the PS2 version offers new challenges with “Get a Life” and multiplayer modes, while delivering the standard classic game.