by Matt Bird

Created on: May 04, 2009

The Sims titles are something of a what if scenario. What if these two people lived under the same roof? What if they, rather than hating each other's guts, actually got along? What if they had a baby together, and somehow, that baby turned out to be an alien?

Sounds like a stretch. Yet alien babies aren't out of the ordinary in this title.

The Sims 2 is yet another chance to play god with a bunch of hapless sims. After opening a pre-existing neighbourhood or making your own you're presented with a list of families, and, one by one, you can enter the homes of those families (or make a new one from scratch) and manipulate every facet of their lives. Get them a job, buy them new stuff, force them to make friends - what you do with them is up to you, though if you want to succeed you'll generally want to do things that please the sims. (Unless you enjoy the suffering of your playthings, in which case there are lots of options for making their lives miserable, too.)

The idea behind The Sims 2 is basically the same as The Sims, yet there are tons of innovations to the original engine that make the sequel immeasurably superior. The graphics, for starters, are much better: extreme close-up shots no longer look like polygonal nightmares, and the actions of each sim are consequently much more life-like. Furnishings have received a dutiful upgrade as well, with many more to buy than the original with more color schemes to choose from than ever.

But it's not all just visual. The sims are now more closely attuned to real life: rather than being stuck as teens or adults who never die, these sims grow from babies to elders who eventually kick the bucket. There's no way around it, really, unless you end up with a job amongst the paranormal - in which case you risk resurrecting your beloved as a zombie. Each sim also has more personality, with Aspirations that determine what they want out of life on a given day. Fulfil these Aspirations and they'll be much happier as a result, or do the opposite and make them horribly miserable.

More than ever, though, The Sims 2 presents a feeling of communal interaction. While it's true that the first game had neighbourhoods, these newer versions are much more expansive, infinetly more customizable and filled with NPCs with whom you can interact and, potentially, turn into PCs. Even the mailman or maid can potentially become a husband or bride with enough effort. Toss in an armful of expansion packs and loads of custom content created over the years by diligent artists and programmers and you've got a game with near infinite replay value.

Yet there are still some areas in which The Sims 2 could improve, and part of that stems from the custom content. While you can't blame EA for not making too many efforts to accommodate unsanctioned skins and mods, custom content is fairly difficult to install and make work, an instability I hope will be addressed in the next game. Beyond this content the sims also tend to be a bit stupid at times, not giving up on activities you'd love to see them move away from and ignoring your entreaties to do as you want them to. The AI is supposed to be finicky in its representation of human nature, I know, but it goes too far at times.

Despite the snags, however, The Sims 2 is a hopelessly addictive experience. Even if only for a little while you'll obsess over your digital world, watching with glee as your sims live, love and suffer through all the trials and tribulations which we similarly must endure - and lord knows it's nice to alleviate pressure on one's self by watching it hoisted on the back of another.

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