The Sims 2

THE GOOD:
~Many options are available. You can get a job, socialize, go out and party, decorate your house, throw parties, and much more.
~The Create-A-Sim area allows for extensive customization of characters, and creation of original ones.
~Nearly unlimited playing time, as families grow and move into their own households.
~Creative details include using "Simlish" instead of actual sound bytes.
~Addictive playing style will keep players glued to their computers for hours.
~Players can control the age group for each member of a family.

THE BAD:
~Sometimes, clunky, uneven animation occurs.
~Most of the best options must be bought with expansion packs, which can be costly.
~Houses and community lots can take quite a while to load.
~The learning curve for the game can be high, as there are a lot of options available, which can overwhelm.
~The online site requires that you spend more money on downloads, which can annoy.

SUMMARY:
As only a handful of games can accomplish, The Sims, when it first came out in 2000, was revolutionary. Never before had there been a simulation game of such a large scale, and people everywhere immediately became hooked on it. Teenagers, especially, loved the "no rules" style of the game. It quickly became the top-selling PC game of all time. It was so popular, in fact, that in 2004, a sequel appeared - The Sims 2.

In my opinion, there's no better way to spend time stress-busting or just playing around. The game starts with three pre-made neighborhoods, in which you can play the established characters and continue the story that was already written. Those are fun, but there's another option which makes this game even more addicting: the Create-A-Family option. In it, you can make your own Sims, designing everything from their face and makeup to their outfit to their personality.

After that, you can build a house, move the family in, and furnish the house (while paying attention to your currency, Simoleons, of course). Then, the real fun begins. You control the family as they go through their daily lives, with actions like eating, sleeping, going to work or school, socializing, partying, falling in love, getting married, having children, and anything else that you can think of. The options are so extensive that it's guaranteed that you will have to play for quite a while before you can find them all. At the end of the road, your Sims pass on, and it's time to make new ones.

The graphics are amazing, in complete 3D and with plenty of detail. Sims make faces, textures are surprisingly accurate, and things look "real", for once. It's an amazing feat. Some problems do exist, though, even with the quality of this game: camera angles can be awkward, and pixel lines and errors do occur.

One thing that most players would advise you to avoid, however, is the online custom content store. it's really very unnecessary, what with all the "stuff packs" (collections of, well, stuff), and many users claim it's expensive and really not impressive. As always, to each his own, but be warned.

Audio is something that is fairly interesting. Obviously, what with the game being such an international success, the creators needed the Sims to speak a language that everyone could understand. So they created their own language, "Simlish". It's always easy to see what the Sims are implying through thought and speech bubbles that pop up over their heads, and it's a funny language to listen to, overall. It's been so featured in the game, in fact, that it's even possible to buy a stereo for your Sims and listen to the radio in Simlish!

Controls, thankfully, are fairly simple. You use your mouse to click on objects, select actions, and cancel actions out that you don't need. There are also Rotate and Zoom options, which are useful for getting in on all the action.

One failing of most simulation games is that they get repetitive after a certain amount of time (one example would be the popular Harvest Moon games). The Sims 2, however, almost never gets boring. There's always something new to do, and even when you get bored of one family, you can always start another one. The option is always open. This also makes the game last a long time, as the possibilities, as the phrase goes, are endless.

The first Sims game was great, but it was made before major advancements in 3D technology were made. Therefore, The Sims 2 adds more features and situations, while keeping the original spirit of the game alive. This game doesn't copy off of its predecessor, which should make most gamers happy.

The game has its quirks every now and then, but the biggest of all isn't a "glitch", per se, but a little something left over by developers, called "Boolprop". With Boolprop, you can essentially cheat on the game (get more money, delete NPCs, etc.), but you also risk the chance of crashing the game, which has caused a hot debate among gamers as they decide whether or not Boolprop is "safe". As always, better to play the game fairly than to cheat, I always say.

As you can already guess, I have found this game incredibly enjoyable. It's entertaining, lets you be creative, and never ceases to amaze. There are always new territories to explore, and even when you've found them all, there's always a new Sim to be made. So, don't wait, buy the game and a few expansion packs (but not too many), and I'll see you in the Sim world!