The Sims 2 Review

The Sims 2 has finally made the jump from PC to Xbox but the results aren’t nearly as good as we would have liked. Key features of the PC version such as advanced AI and being able to have kids are missing here which makes the overall experience pretty dull. Without smart Sims reacting to all of your actions or interesting goals such as raising children, The Sims 2 is just a lot of collecting junk and going to the bathroom and not a whole lot else.

Gameplay

The Sims 2 puts you in control of little people and it is your job to guide them through their everyday lives. This includes feeding them, going to work, going to the bathroom, and so on. You can build your dream house and then fill it with all sorts of furniture, plumbing fixtures, electronics, and other goodies. And all of these items you put in your house are interactive in a number of different ways. Like I said, though, you have to take care of your sim and make sure it is happy by keeping it fed, entertained, clean, and well rested. The real magic of The Sims has always been the interaction between the sims living in your little fantasy world, though, and socializing is the most entertaining part of the whole experience. You can talk to other sims in order to make new friends or even enemies and you have a large number of conversation options that allow you to direct your relationship with a particular sim any way you want. You can even eventually get married. On top of all of this is a new cooking feature in the console version of The Sims 2 that allows you to collect ingredients at the various locations you can explore and then use them to make meals or even secret potions to use on other sims.

I know that all sounds like a lot of stuff to do, but unfortunately it is all rather boring when you are actually doing it. Aside from moving your character around, all of the interaction in the game is done through bland menus and then you just get to watch your sims do everything. Now, this is the same as in the hit PC game, but the difference here is that the AI in the console version is extremely dumbed down so watching the actions and reactions of the characters isn’t all that entertaining. Also, there is a decided lack of direction. I understand that is kind of the point, but why do I want to watch a videogame character pay bills and work and eat and go to the bathroom when I have to do all of that in the real world. You have specific goals you have to try and achieve, but the game never goes anywhere beyond you just making a certain number of friends or buying a new piece of furniture. A key feature in the PC version was that you could have kids and watch them grow up and actually have a whole family with goals and different personalities. Not so in the console version and the result is a game that is bland and repetitive and nowhere near as fun and interesting as the PC version.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, The Sims 2 isn’t a spectacular looking game but it is pretty nice overall. The characters and objects in the game world are all 3D and everything is nicely detailed. The animations for all of the different things your character can do as well as the reactions of other characters are well done and there is a lot of variety in the 60 plus social interactions.

The sound is also fairly well done. Sims speak in the babbling language the series is known for, but it gives the game a unique charm. The soundtrack (which you can listen to when you buy a stereo for your sims) covers a wide range of music to keep you entertained while your sim spends an hour taking a shower.

Bottom Line

The Sims 2 for Xbox isn’t a bad game, but it definitely lacks the magic that makes the PC version so fun. The sims you interact with are a bit on the dumb side and some of the best features of the PC game are mysteriously absent here which makes the whole experience pretty boring. You never really feel attached to your sims in this game for a number of reasons – you can’t choose genetics of your sim, you can’t have kids, shallow goals, etc. – which means you ultimately don’t care about them so you aren’t compelled to play. This is just a very average version of a good PC game so it is pretty hard to recommend. Hardcore Sims fans have likely already played the PC version and there isn’t much here that will impress newcomers to the series. It makes for a decent rental since you’ll have to take it back at about the point you’ll start to get tired of it, but I wouldn’t recommend The Sims 2 for a purchase.