The Sims 2 (PC DVD)

The Sims 2 is the next generation of the bestselling PC franchise. For the first time, players control their Sims over an entire lifetime from womb to tomb. Every choice you make has a relevant and dramatic effect on the life of your Sim. More life-like Sims, all-new gameplay and the ground-breaking addition of genetics gives players a more vivid and in-depth Sims experience.

Guiding your Sims through "Life`s Big Moments" takes on new importance, as players now get a "Life Score" to measure how well they are playing each individual Sim. The decisions that players make throughout the lifetime of their Sims now have an impact on their long-term success or failure. A choice made as a toddler has a direct effect on the teen and adult Sim they become. Will players be able to successfully lead their Sims through such important events as a first step, first crush, or marriage proposal, all while the clock is ticking?

The Sims in The Sims 2 are more aware and responsive to both other Sims and their surroundings. Sims truly come to life expressing moods and feelings through more realistic body animations and for the first time facial animations. They form complex relationships and are able to distinguish between family and friends, platonic friendships and romantic love. Sims in The Sims 2 now have DNA. Passing along physical characteristics and traits to their offspring, Sims both resemble and behave like their ancestors. As in real life, the appearance of the Sims now changes over time. In addition to getting older, a Sim that spends too much time on the couch will develop a paunch and a Sim that works out will enjoy rock solid abs.

An entirely new 3-D engine makes the world of The Sims 2 more life-like and dynamic. The Sims 2 will also introduce an all-new "Create-a-Sim" feature. This allows you to customise the facial features of your Sim with a few simple clicks, to a level of detail never realised b

Amazon.co.uk Review
The original The Sims is the best selling PC game ever but after four years and seven expansion discs it's finally starting to look a bit long in the tooth. As the first official sequel almost everything in The Sims 2 has been expanded and improved on from the original, even if the basic idea remains the same: to create and control the lives of your virtual characters.

The entire scope of the game has now increased--your characters age and give birth to children. Sims remain children only for a few weeks, before spending most of the game as adults and then eventually dying and the game carrying on with their children and grandchildren--if they have any. Another big new feature of the game is the introduction of specific "aspirations" for your sim, which can be anything from a specific career to marrying a particular person. Each sim also has their own "fears", which can be anything from living alone to losing their hair. Which of these situations end up coming true becomes the main influence on whether your sim is happy, the attainment of which is the only true goal in the game.

Apart from all these new features the graphics have been severely overhauled are now in full 3D and more in line with the recent console spin-offs. This is a must buy for anyone that's ever enjoyed the original titles, but the new features should also be enough to entice sceptics to the fold as well. --David Jenkins