The Sims2 for the personal computer, released in 2004, the next generation of the popular EA Games franchise of the Sims. From a perspective of a long term player going back to the early Sims I can truly say that Sims2 was quite a great step up. Far as reviewing it there is much to say, the interface is a new generation, stepping up to third dimension game play. Thereby offering you a new and different perspective on an already interesting game. Let us look at each aspect of the game and explore the potential of it all.
First the interface, clean and functional, not to bad on the eyes, very similar to the earlier games except for a series of new interactivity in being able to have full range of motion, completely three dimensions up, down, side to side and floor up and floor down.
The creation process, one of the things that I very much enjoy about the Sims from the earlier versions to today's, as well as the up and coming sims3. The ability to establish a lot and to build on it, landscape it, customize it. You are fully in charge of the building process and every aspect of the game. It is in the building, in creating what could be your dream home, in the third dimension no less. The building tools are straightforward, you play around enough you can build some pretty complex structures in putting together each aspect. The mouse movement becomes important as you play through the game and there only a few keys you really use on the keyboard.
The music, not bad, the nice option is with a little resource you can put together your own stations by moving some of your favorite songs to specific directories. In these directories is the music for the radio, for the building mode, and the buying mode. It is nice to have that level of customization and that is only the beginning. As I am only exploring one aspect in this paragraph the game itself just as it's predecessors also enables using what is called skins, of just about every aspect of the game.
The skins, are another level of interactivity, community based, as the Internet should be. There are literally millions of skins available throughout the Internet, to change just about every aspect of the Sims. Considering when you first start playing the game, the Sims pretty much look the same, exact height and the such, and the blur can be easily removed, and if it is removed they are just like animated barbie dolls. Ken and Barbie taking to a new level. So these community based skins and lot builds give you an opportunity to explore how others have put together there own simulated communities. The ability to be creative in that aspect is something you do not see as much these days. EA Games has also taking the time to put together a nice community, and an exchange, so it goes beyond the game. You can pretty much spend countless hours building and tweaking each character on each lot. The point being even though it seems one sided, you just go check out the forum on the EA Games site. Talk with real people, and just have conversations giving you a feel for the community which improves the experience beyond measure.
Overall this is only a brief exploration of what is a very unique game, a game which you can experiment with, and relate it to life. The ability to simulate your reality without limits opening your eyes and expanding your mind to the possibilities. Sims2 is and will continue to be very successful, the next big thing is expected to be Sims3 with a possible release date of 2009 specifics are not offered yet. EA Games has also put together a teaser site for sims3 and from the looks of it, will be an immense step forward. Giving the player the ability to explore the neighborhood, instead of limiting the Simulated Person to the lot called home. Sims2 comes highly recommended and I would offer the same, it is truly a new level of Simulated Game Play, along with each expansion it gets better.
In closing Sims2 may only be one aspect of EA Games business plan, yet is surely a big one. Besides the option of integration with SimCity 4000, which you can use to create your own neighborhood. Surely a winner we shall see in the future if The Sims2 Franchise will continue to grow and expand.