Quick review: The Sims 2
Sep. 20th, 2004 03:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhal[gacked from my reply Kaiyrru)
It's sucking away my brain. Basic gameplay is the same as the original, but enhanced, and I'm not just talking about the pretty 3-D engine it's running on now. The new Sim creator system is overloaded with features, to take advantage of your sims actually having facial expressions to show their emotions. I'm talking at least six levers just to determine the shape of their chin or nose (or forehead, or mouth, or eyes. Not mention makeup. The clothing selection only seems skimpy because of all the original's user created add-ons that have been done)
Personal interaction is also more enhanced. Your sims are smarter (no more watching them pee themselves without your direction), and have more options for interacting with other sims (and in a nod to Reality TV, there are more options for 'Hot and heavy' actions.) Also, adult sims can "teach" their children, choosing to enhance desireable behavoirs (or bad ones), and sims literally age, grow, and die.
One of the niftier new features is the traits, desires, and fears functions. Essentially when creating a sim, you choose from five very broad life interests (earn money, have a true love and a family, gain knowledge, have plenty of friends, or just sleep around and party as much as possible.) These lead to a sim's desires, which are related to their interests, and the desires get more complex the longer you play the sim (ex: a sim who's goal is Wealth might start just wanting to get a job. Later on he'll want promotions, earn a specific amount of cash, or get neat furnishings for his house. Knowledge seeking sims will want to enhance their skills at first, then want to get abducted by UFOs or see a real ghost.) Achieve a goal and your sim earns points, which can used to purchase odd items like the Water Cooler of Youth (drink from it and your sim lives longer) or the Money Tree (keep watering it, and it literally spouts simoleans).
Of course on the opposite end of things, if you like torturing your sim and fufill his fears he can get really, really screwed up in the head... [evil grin]
It's sucking away my brain. Basic gameplay is the same as the original, but enhanced, and I'm not just talking about the pretty 3-D engine it's running on now. The new Sim creator system is overloaded with features, to take advantage of your sims actually having facial expressions to show their emotions. I'm talking at least six levers just to determine the shape of their chin or nose (or forehead, or mouth, or eyes. Not mention makeup. The clothing selection only seems skimpy because of all the original's user created add-ons that have been done)
Personal interaction is also more enhanced. Your sims are smarter (no more watching them pee themselves without your direction), and have more options for interacting with other sims (and in a nod to Reality TV, there are more options for 'Hot and heavy' actions.) Also, adult sims can "teach" their children, choosing to enhance desireable behavoirs (or bad ones), and sims literally age, grow, and die.
One of the niftier new features is the traits, desires, and fears functions. Essentially when creating a sim, you choose from five very broad life interests (earn money, have a true love and a family, gain knowledge, have plenty of friends, or just sleep around and party as much as possible.) These lead to a sim's desires, which are related to their interests, and the desires get more complex the longer you play the sim (ex: a sim who's goal is Wealth might start just wanting to get a job. Later on he'll want promotions, earn a specific amount of cash, or get neat furnishings for his house. Knowledge seeking sims will want to enhance their skills at first, then want to get abducted by UFOs or see a real ghost.) Achieve a goal and your sim earns points, which can used to purchase odd items like the Water Cooler of Youth (drink from it and your sim lives longer) or the Money Tree (keep watering it, and it literally spouts simoleans).
Of course on the opposite end of things, if you like torturing your sim and fufill his fears he can get really, really screwed up in the head... [evil grin]
