Sims 2: Face Lift of the Original

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Sims 2: Face Lift of the Original

by Lore Sjöberg

The Sims, first released in 2000, is the best-selling PC game ever. Somehow all the laser-blasting, fireball-hurling and zombie-mashing games on the shelves have failed to match the pleasant addiction of ignoring your own real-life needs to look after the needs of fictional digital people.

With The Sims 2, Maxis updates the Sims formula for a new generation of PCs. The result is more of a tuneup and a paint job than a brand-new game, but with a classic like The Sims, that's all it takes to make the old seem new again.

The key word here is "detail." The Sims 2 offers a lot more detail than the original game, both in gameplay and in graphics. To begin with, the character models are better-looking, and the character-design tool gives you an incredible amount of control over the appearance of your Sim, right down to the curve of the forehead and the tilt of the nose. The interface isn't the most intuitive, but if you're patient you should be able to create a Sim version of anyone, at least from the neck up.

Once in the game, the graphics don't disappoint. Even with the textures and curves set to medium quality and the camera pulled in fairly close, the models look nice and include some nice touches, like stray wires at the back of the smoke detector.

The gameplay is more detailed as well. For instance, where in the original game you could only read a newspaper, recycle it or use it to find a job, The Sims 2 lets you do the crossword or make a paper airplane. New choices like these are scattered liberally throughout the game.

Family life is much more involved, too. Kids in The Sims started as babies, grew into young children, then stopped aging. The Sims 2 gives your Sims a complete life span, from infancy to old age and eventual death. (The game manual, however, provides an anti-aging cheat code for those who find the idea of an inevitable trip to the Sim Cemetery too depressing.)

The original Sims skirted controversy by having infants appear out of nowhere and limiting affection to hugs and kisses. Even so, the game made no distinction between affection between characters of the same or different sexes. The Livin' Large expansion added a vibrating love bed that allowed Sims to fool around under the covers. The Sims 2 takes things a step further by adding marriage (or "joining" for same-sex Sim couples) and making sex (euphemistically called "WooHoo") an option in any double bed (and some other places).

It also depicts pregnancy by giving the parent-to-be a growing belly and a waddling gait. Sex is always obscured by blankets or other means, however, and actual childbirth is accomplished with a pirouette and a whirl of music. Nonetheless, these additions have led some parents to post to the official Sims 2 board asking Maxis for a patch that will let them excise WooHoo from the game.

One of the most notable additions to the gameplay is the Aspiration Meter. Each Sim has four desires and three fears that change over time. Desires include activities like chatting with a friend, and goals like finding a job in the medical profession. Fears can include such things as the death of a loved one or setting the house on fire. The Aspiration Meter rises and falls as the Sim fulfills aspirations and sees fears come true. A Sim with a high Aspiration Meter can end up in a euphoric mood that helps with work performance, as well as simply making it nicer to be around. Low-aspiration Sims sulk and sob.

The Aspiration Meter is the single greatest improvement to the game. Because your Sims are much more self-sufficient than in the original -- they can generally manage to eat and go to the bathroom when they need to -- you're freed up to help them out with their aspirations, which puts you more in the role of a benevolent guardian angel than an invisible day-care teacher. Moving the focus away from bodily functions and toward hopes and dreams is a subtle but important improvement.

People who hated the original Sims won't like this one any better, and anyone expecting a brand-new game designed from the bottom up may be disappointed with the familiarity. People who loved the original game so much that they bought all the expansions might be let down as well: A lot of the material from the expansion packs didn't make it into The Sims 2. If you wanted spiral staircases, dozens of career tracks and a pet dog, you're going to have to wait (and probably shell out some cash to boot) for the inevitable expansions. For those who haven't yet given the Sims franchise a try, or those excited at the prospect of an excellent upgrade to a groundbreaking game, The Sims 2 surpasses the original.