Gameplay

In a game like The Sims 2 the only real consideration is the gameplay. When looking at other genres many different items will come into play, but not something as quirky as this one. That being said, the graphics and sound are really nice and are easy on the eyes and ears. In this one department, The Sims 2 is easily better than its predecessor in every way. So, if it’s graphics you’re after, it ain’t gonna get any better than this in a simulation game. As for gameplay…

In the original Sims, all you really do is control a family of virtual characters as they go throughout their natural lives. However, in The Sims 2 your character can die of old age and can also have children who grow up and have their own children. Each sim, for instance, has their own DNA that can be combined with other sims to form a child and so on. It’s quite an interesting process. These children can grow up and have children of their own making the family tree grow and flourish. Well, that and fertilizer.

Aging in this game is a real tough subject because people don’t really want to see the characters they made die. After all, they’ve spent hours upon hours with them, taking care of them in every way. There’s no easy way to say goodbye. This can be combated with the addition of a few interesting little additions to the overall formula that I must explain before we continue the aging debate.

In The Sims 2, Maxis decided to add wants and fears to a characters life. This ties directly in to the aspiration system, which is the choice you make for your sims overall life theme that is represented by a bar on the sims information panel. The aspiration bar also determines how well certain actions are realized based upon how positive or negative the characters aspirations currently are. Performing the actions associated with the characters wants and fears affect the bar in either a positive or negative way.

The wants are random things that he or she wants, such as a kiss from a mate or a new couch or whatever. When these wants are filled, the character will gain points. Fears work the same way except in the opposite direction. Fears are just how they sound, they’re things that if they happen to a sim it drops their aspiration meter and lowers their overall purchasing points. Fears among sims go from being snubbed by a loved one, to fire, to the loss of a relative, and everything in-between.


Once a character has a certain amount of points, he/she can then use a special menu to buy unique items with these points. One of the items that can be bought is a water cooler full of the Elixir of Life. Each time a character takes a drink of the elixir, depending on if they’re high enough on the want meter, they’ll either gain or lose three days of life. This is the only legal way of keeping sims alive forever.