The Sims 2

THE BAD:
No kids
Single floor houses
Story mode is kinda storyless
Random sim generation is a problem for some

SUMMARY:
The sims is a great game. But it's only a great game for the right kind of person. If you ever owned a sims game before, this game is an obvious choice. If you haven't, this is as good a time as any to give it a chance. Improving on the classic sim formula, as well as on that of it's pc sequel, the sims 2 is a wonderful next step in the sim lineage. For those of you that owned the ps2 version of the original, the same control as before is availible. But a great new option exclusive to this version is direct control, allowing for the first time a player to control every movement of your sim, giving one the ability to finally be an active part in your sim's life. The new creation of a sim is both good and bad depending on preference. You have your sim randomly created by a set of grandparents and parents, but the new in-depth creation system lets you edit them so much it hardly matters what they originally look like. From layered clothing to body shaping, your sim is more your creation then ever before, straight down to the color and style of their clothing. Speaking of creation, the new food creation system is a wonderful way to personalize your game, allowing you to use fridge ingreadients as well as harvested foods (anything from food trees, to aquariums and couches hold food) that you mix together and alter using stoves, blenders, and other things to make a food truly your own creation. Some food even has properties such as aphrodisiacs, to vomit potions. Try them out, there's limitless possibilities. For some of us, murdering sims (you and neighbors) is a large part of the fun. Not only is there new, creative ways to slake your bloodlust (as well as the old classics starvation and burning) but when your done, you can bring that sim back to life by confronting the grim reaper and paying him, or a funny surprise i won't give away. Funny surprises are a large part of this game, and it delivers in classic sim fashion with oddities like sock puppets, prank calls, and entire songs from real bands, re-done in simlish. But, such an awesome game is not without it's flaws. For those of you that love having chlidren, that feature is oddly gone.(I hate sim children, so it doesnt bother me) Also, houses, as on the ps2 port of the original, are stuck at one floor. Budding architects will still enjoy the in-depth creation system anyway. Sadly, the story mode, though complete with odd locations and goals, sadly skimps by way of story...Oh well, least it can be played entirely with 2 players, and there is alot of great stuff to be unlocked (read: ALOT) But why bother reading such a long review...play it. Trust me, it's worth the slightly reduced price of 40.00, and is a wonderful game compared to the pc game or as a standalone game. Unless your totally hung up on the lack of children, the sims 2 is an absolute must have for any sims fan. It has to be good, I can't remember the last time I've written this much (or anything) about a video game.