After playing "Civilization II" for the umpteenth time (when will world domination ever become boring?) I decided it was time to embrace a new game. I had heard great things about "The Sims," mostly from my non-computer-game loving friend, who gave it high marks. So I plopped down $39.95 for the game and gave it a try.
Initially "The Sims" is highly addictive. To start the game, you may choose the "Newbie" family, who guide you through the tutorial, or set up your own. I created a family modeled after my own (imagine my horror when the "mom" inexplicably keeled over!). If you choose to create your own Sims, you choose not only their appearance but also their personality, including traits such as "niceness" and "neatness." These traits can ultimately be cultivated through activities in which your Sims participate. At any rate, once you've established your Sims, you then choose their home, furnish it, manage their finances, their friendships and careers. All the while making sure they eat, sleep, shower and use the bathroom. Initially this is very fun and challenging, but after awhile it gets repetitive.
After the mom in my initial family perished, I started a new game, imported a couple families from the EA (Electronic Arts) website (which, incidentally, has great downloads for the game), and set up my own "bachelorette" home. Since I had already mismanaged my first family, I knew what to do and it wasn't long until my Sim was married, had a great job and had expanded her small home into a palace. There wasn't much further to go after that. The bulk of the game is managing the Sims daily tasks - eating, bathing, keeping happy - which is pretty similar to real life. But after awhile the routine of the game became the very reason why I play computer games to begin with - the break up the dailyness of life!
A few things that are interesting about the game: The Sims speak "Simese," an incomprehensible blend of gibberish and images which allow you to (kind of) understand of what they are speaking. Their gestures are also very entertaining - my 7 year old especially loved the "mad dash" to the bathroom once their bladders were extremely full. It is also fun to design and decorate their home and add cool things, like the hot tub, piano, basketball hoop and pool.
On the downside, after a few Sim-obsessed days, the game wears thin. Although the characters supposedly have Artificial Intelligence, you cannot teach them anything, so the repetitiveness becomes somewhat dull. It would also be fun to see them age, and see the children grow. As far as computers go, I would also suggest you have a newer computer with a faster processor, as the game is pretty graphically intensive and may not be as effective on an older computer.
Although initially really fun, I have abandoned "The Sims" and returned to "Civilization II," anxiously awaiting the release of "Civilization III."
Get one last chance to buy The Sims 3 Collector's Edition this holiday season! This limited edition re-release has all the extras of the original Coll...More at The Official EA Store
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