The Sims 2 review (PC)

CNET Editors' Rating

4.0 stars Excellent
Review Date:

Average User Rating

4.0 stars 11 user reviews

The Sims 2 is a great sequel and a great game in its own right, and it's recommendable to just about anyone.

If you were wondering, The Sims 2 is a great sequel and a great game in its own right, and it's recommendable to just about anyone. For some, especially the devoted fans that have enjoyed the first game's open-ended gameplay, which was all about controlling the lives of autonomous little computer people, this is all that really needs to be said. But considering that The Sims 2 is the sequel to what is reportedly the most successful computer game ever (and that's not even counting its many expansion packs), the new game almost seems like a victim of its own success. Yes, it introduces plenty of new features that enhance the gameplay that was so popular in the original game, but it doesn't drastically refresh it. It also features plenty of options to play with, but it seems like it could've used even more content. Then again, you could simply say that EA and Maxis are making sure the game has room to grow with future updates--and there's no denying that The Sims 2's additions will give dedicated fans of the series plenty of stuff to do.

The Sims 2screenshot
You can make a highly customized family, even if all you want is a bunch of Nerds.

In the most basic terms, The Sims 2, like The Sims before it, lets you create one or more "sims"--autonomous characters with distinct personalities and needs. You then create a virtual household of one or more sims (you get to decide whether they're roommates, spouses, or parents) and move them into a house and a neighborhood that is either prebuilt or built from scratch. Your sims interact with each other and with their neighbors, children leave the house for school each day, and employed adults head out for work to earn a living in one of a number of different career paths. However, the sequel has several new options, including an enhanced neighborhood editor that lets you import custom cities from Maxis' own SimCity 4, if you have that game installed. Plus, there are expanded building options that let you build a much bigger house.

But the most significant additions in the new game are probably the enhancements made to the sims and the ways they act. While they still have specific personality types determined by their horoscopes and individual characteristics like neatness, niceness, and playfulness (which you can still adjust to your taste), sims now have some notable major new features (some of which are more important than others), like memories, customized appearances, genetics, aging, and the new aspiration/fear system. Memories are generated by important events that occur in sims' lives, like getting married, having a child, or having a loved one pass away. Memories impact your sims' future behavior (though not to any huge extent), and they can also be used to build out a highly customized neighborhood with its own background story and photo album if you're so inclined, though they don't add much more to the basic game.

The sequel also features enhanced appearance editing tools that let you customize your sims' clothing, hairstyle and hair color, and also let you make many adjustments to their facial features. Oddly, the editor doesn't let you adjust your sims' height or their build (beyond making them "normal" or "fat"), but it, along with the "body shop" utility, should let most players basically re-create whatever characters they want to from their favorite TV shows or movies.

The Sims 2screenshot
Nerd family genetics at work. Parents pass on their traits to their children in The Sims 2.

The appearance editors go hand in hand with genetics, which takes the ability to create a family of sims and builds it out further, though what you get out of this new feature depends entirely on what you put into it. Essentially, this new system lets sims pass on genetic information to their children. When creating a new family, you can have the game randomly generate that family's children based on the parent's appearance and personality (and you can further edit the child's appearance and personality however you like, if you prefer). Depending on your preferences, you may find yourself messing around with the genetics system in other ways. You might try to carefully re-create a real-life couple or family to see what kind of genetics they pass on. Or, you might toss some alien DNA into the family tree to see what happens, as The Sims 2 also lets you create aliens from outer space that you can marry off to humans, if that's what floats your boat.

More importantly, sims maintain their family ties (assuming you don't have any dramatic family squabbles), so if you decide to really hunker down and build out an extended clan, you can start with a carefully designed family or group of families, let them get married, and let them have children. You can then watch the children grow up and move out into their own places. And since sims are still autonomous and go about their lives even without supervision, you can expect to later receive visits from doting grandparents (or mooching grandchildren, depending on whose household you decide to control). Again, like memories, these are features that will reveal their rewards with the extra time and effort you choose to spend on them.

In The Sims 2, your characters actually grow old and even die of old age (or other causes, if you're into that kind of thing). Like with the original game, sims can and will die from neglect and extenuating circumstances, and if you're one of those sadistic players that enjoyed making your sims suffer, you'll still be able to do this in the sequel. However, if you're the sort that might really get involved in your sims' lives and history, you may look at aging as a way to build a rich and storied life for your sims. Yes, it can take several hours of play to age a sim from a baby to a senior citizen; however, if you're really looking to create an entire life for your sims, you'll find that as senior citizens your characters will not only look older, but will also look back on a long string of memories and possibly a large family tree filled with weddings and grandchildren before they eventually pass away, to be mourned (or not) by their children. It might also be worth mentioning that even though you can go through different generations of your sims' families, the time period of The Sims 2 never changes, so you won't see any technological or chronological progression. That is, you won't go from horse-drawn carriages to jalopies to modern-day sports cars--all your sims will still be watching plasma screen TVs and playing SSX 3 on their home computers, regardless of how many generations you've gone through.

The Sims 2screenshot
The Grim Reaper poses the age-old question, 'Can you hear me now?' Sims can still die, but now they can grow old and have a family tree.

Then again, you may also look at aging as a challenge, because The Sims 2's most significant gameplay addition, the aspiration/fear system, can actually help your sims stave off old age. The new system gives your sims one of five aspirations from which to choose (in addition to their personalities, memories, and personal relationships), including building a family, earning money, seeking knowledge, experiencing romance, or being popular. These aspirations boil down to four simpler goals that are clearly displayed onscreen, as well as three basic "fears." Each sim has an "aspiration meter" that fills up whenever you complete a goal and empties out whenever your sims' worst fears are realized. These goals can be as immediate as throwing a party where everyone enjoys themselves, or as long term as eventually winning another sim over as a best friend or spouse. These fears can be comparably straightforward or long term, such as being rejected from trying to make a romantic advance or getting fired from work.

If your sims realize enough fears, their aspiration meter empties out into the red and they go temporarily insane until a friendly therapist usually shows up. During this period of time, they're completely unresponsive to any orders you may give them, and their loved ones may also become distraught at the sight of them. However, if your sims successfully complete their goals of (for instance) buying refrigerators and making best friends, they earn "aspiration points" that fill up their meter, which successively becomes green, gold, then platinum--and the longer and more often it hits platinum, the longer your sims remain "normal" young adults. Buying a new fridge might net you only +500 aspiration points, while making a best friend will net you a cool +3,500--you'll need to lose a few thousand in order to go insane, and you'll need to earn several thousand more to fill up your meter, though. In addition, you can actually use aspiration points to buy exceptionally effective furnishings for your house, like a money tree that periodically grows extra cash or an electrical tub that invigorates your sims and fulfills nearly all their needs. In addition, The Sims 2's career system has been slightly enhanced. It still lets your sims follow a career path and get promoted by practicing certain skills, but it now features brief text choices while you're on the job that can make or break your sims' next promotion.


Member Comments

Add Your Comment

Conversation powered by Livefyre

Quick Specifications

  • Release date09/14/04
  • ESRB Teen
  • Developer Maxis
  • Genre Virtual Life
  • Elements Virtual Life
  • Context Realistic
  • Number of players 1 Player