Sims 2
The ultimate in shopping and hairstyle sims.
Tags: Sims 2 Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Brad on Nov 30th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sims 2 (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Simulation | No | ||
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There have now been a grand total of 100 Sims games released into the arms of their adoring fans since the series’ inception. That number is, of course, an exaggeration, but not an obvious one (counting expansion packs, compilations, etc.). As a celebration of the series’ centennial milestone, I’d planned on reviewing the game in the form of a treatise on the non-existence of free will and the delicate balance between our aspirations and fears as it relates to major furniture purchases, but then esteemed editors Dan and Jake stepped in and threatened to set my knees on fire. You have them to thank.
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Maxis and Electronic Arts have granted us a different sort of experience when it comes to Sims 2 on the home console systems. Last year’s PC release of the blockbuster sequel made many great strides, introducing birth and death and stunningly brilliant AI into the Sims framework along with new character and animation systems that brought the babbling things to life. While some of those elements have gone absent in the jump to the Playstation 2, EA has filled in the gaps with new things that sometimes work and sometimes don’t.
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First, the basics for the uninitiated: As a player of the Sims 2, you’ll take control of one or a family of Sims and then monitor and control their lives, directing them to execute upon their every wish, whether it be cooking, sleeping, lifting weights, going to the bathroom, chatting up the neighbors, having sex with said neighbors, and having very awkward conversations with those neighbors the following morning. Where this was once managed with a simple mouse interface, EA has given you a choice this time around. You can either direct your Sims’ lives through an analog-stick-driven cursor, or you can jump in and drive the characters around as in your everyday adventure game: left stick moves them, right stick directs the camera.
For creating such a radically different control system than the game initially had, I give Maxis due credit. They managed to make something that is both intuitive to gamers and simple enough for non-gamers to get a hold of. At the same time, the inclusion of the original control system is a pleasant handshake with an old friend. The Sims 2 is very elegantly designed.
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The social interaction between Sims is one of the main focuses of the game. By reading the body language of a neighbor or roommate, you’ll get a pretty good idea of the sorts of things they like in conversation. Get them into a close-up chat and the rest of the background blurs away, leaving you and your neighbor to exchange garbled witticisms and physical humor gags in private. The better your relationship, the closer you stand, friendly and smiling. Slap a person around or insult them and they’ll act standoffish, leaning back and shaking their head. Along with the physical cues are the convenient statistic numerating your friendships and a colored filter on the conversation setting the mood between romantic and hostile with reds, yellows, and pinks. As interesting as the social interaction is, however, there are precious few options available and you’ll find yourself repeating the same animations over and over again, be they balancing a vacuum cleaner on your nose or setting a sock puppet on fire. While the animations are top-notch, they do become a bit of a grind after the first dozen times.
That repetitive grind is actually somewhat of a theme to the Sims. After a while the daily routine of eating, sleeping, going to work, cleaning the house, showering, using the toilet, and maintaining a relationship with your roommates becomes boring. You’re so busy keeping up with the immediate needs of your Sim that there is precious little time to explore their greater goals in life, learning and achieving. In that sense, the Sims is more successful as a life simulator than it is as a game.
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Sims 2 on the PS2 boasts two modes: Freeplay and Story mode. The former is more akin to the old Sims gameplay. Start up a family in a new neighborhood and direct their lives at building up their household. As you progress you’ll discover more of your neighbors and better your own lifestyle. One of the major drawing points to this game is the extensive list of goods you can buy to fill out your domicile to your liking. The list is actually quite impressive, and you’re in a near-constant state of unlocking new toys to play with. Because of the sheer number of animations included, your Sims will interact with their surroundings in realistic, funny ways. Add to that the great sound work of the Sim-speak and the Sim-spoken lyrics to the boppin’ background tunes and you’ve got a great visual and aural environment.
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The Story mode is not so much a story as it is a directed training mode. You build your Sim using what may very well be the best character creation mode ever provided. It starts you off with a slot machine of genetics, randomly picking the parents and grandparents that determine your initial appearance. From there comes plenty of opportunity to tweak your look using a fantastically large set of faces, hair styles, clothing, accessories, and so on. Sim bodies, no matter the settings, are still of the “pretty” set, making it impossible to create a grotesque or obese person. I’ll let you handle the social commentary there (as I am under contract to avoid it on the condition of fiery pain to my knees). You’ll also determine some basic personality traits.
Now, the personality traits are interesting in Story Mode because they don’t so much direct how the AI will behave in a given situation. In fact, the AI seems relatively dull and relies on you for constant direction. On one hand, this is rather the point of the game, but on the other hand it makes those quirks seem nearly irrelevant. What’s the point at setting your character as anti-social as possible if they’re going to behave the exact same way when forced into conversation?
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Rather, the personality traits direct your character’s goals and ambitions, their wants and fears. These are the things that drive the tutorial portion of the mode. You’ll be given a sort of task list; things that your Sim wants to accomplish most in life before moving on to the next one. The problem is that most of the time those tasks seem to have little to do with the personality traits you assigned. Precisely what the driving ambition to take a shower or jump on a trampoline have to do with becoming a world-class artist, I have no idea. The point is that Story mode boils down to the constant pursuit of meeting your character’s goals and avoiding their fears during the scant spare time you’re allowed between doing your daily routine tasks. As far as that amounts to the mode, if viewed as a game in and of itself, is not all that much fun.
If, however, viewed as training for the Freeplay mode, the Story mode becomes a little more acceptable. One can hardly expect Maxis and EA to develop stories for every iteration of character that can be created within their game, after all, and in doing so they would wreck the freedom of behavior that is the game’s whole purpose. In short, if you’re a fan of the series or are particular about your free will in a game like this, you might want to shy away from Story mode.
So are the new mode, character creator, and control scheme worth the sacrifices the game made in its transition to the PS2? Are they worth the exclusion of a particularly brilliant AI (the one that remains in your roommates is actually quite dull), the loss of the aging/death/birth cycle?
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I’d have to say no. While the Sims 2 obviously enjoys the highest of production values and is good for a laugh or three, those two of the largest advancements to the series are sorely missed here. While what you’re left with still looks and plays great, it is bereft of absolute greatness and is instead a shell of forced routine that is almost too much like life to be the escape we expect from our games. Sims fans might want to stick to their PCs on this one. Yes, there’s a lot of new stuff to buy in this game, a lot of extra toys and animations, but it’s just not enough in this case.
Kudos to Maxim and EA for putting together a fantastic example of the outer trappings of a game. It looks, sounds, and controls great. Seriously. Brilliant. But there needs to be more game at the heart. The PC version had it. The PS2 did not. Great job on the character builder, though. That was hours of fun in itself.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Great Character Creation system + Smooth, easy control in new or classic modes + Tons of stuff to buy and try |
7.8 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- AI seems a bit dim - Too much time spent handling the daily grind. Not enough time for fun. - Character goals are often arbitrary, don't always mesh with the created character. |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Not quite up to the level of the PC version. The substitutions made for missing features aren't as good. | |
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Tags: Sims 2
Posted by Brad on Nov 30th, 2005 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
