Ick. Maxis, the creator of Sim City, one of the most highly addicting game's there is, made a Virtual Life game that allows you to create a family with or without children, move them in, and control their lives. This game would receive an award for being the best PC in 2000 and led to many expansion packs from there. However the game is really overrated and I found it repetitive and boring, even if it wasn't at first. Still, the discs would sure make a nice frisbee for my dog :)
The game is rated T for Teen for some comic mischief and some suggestive themes.
Story N/A
There's really no story to it. You create people called Sims and control them. That's all.
Graphics: 7/10
The graphics aren't sharp and choppy; they're nice and smooth. The people who made this game did indeed put detail in the people and objects and the animation wasn't jerky or anything. However I felt they could have improved the graphics on this game a bit more. Even some games on the Genesis and N64 looked better then this.
Music/Sound: 8/10
One of the high points in this game; Maxis sure made the sounds clear, realistic, and touching .The sounds of the Sim's talking in their "own language", the TV going on, the sound of splashing as Sims get in or out of the bathtub, and outside sounds like dogs barking, birds chirping, and the sound of crickets at night make you feel this is an actual neighborhood. The music is okay, nothing special. There are music stations you can listen to like Jazz, Country, Rock, etc.; however they are not anything you'd hear on today's radio stations. Fortunately you can add your own music to it instead of listening to the game's default music.
Control: 4/10
The controls are not that great. The cursor moves slowly and you have to move the cursor to the edge of the screen to get the screen to move. The Sims themselves also move very slowly unless you set the clock to hyper speed, which would make the game VERY difficult to control. (And it's not just my computer that does this, mind you.)
Challenge: 7/10
The real challenge of this game is to get enough money to built a house (or use one the expensive houses already there), buy objects, and be happy. When you start a family, whether a single person or a family of 8, you always start off with $20,000. A lot of dough, right? Sorry, not in this game. The lots to buy are expensive, taking away over half (or more) of your money. The most you'll be able to buy is a SMALL house and maybe a couple cheap objects. You eventually build enough cash but takes a very long while.
Gameplay: 2/10
This is where it falls apart. You make
a family of as many as you want. You can include adults and kids of both
genders and of different skin colors, as you desire. You can also set their
personality, like neat/messy,
outgoing/shy, active/lazy, serious/playful,
or nice/grouchy. Unfortunately, the Sims don't seem to respond much to
the personality you pick. The choice of outfits is very limited unless
you buy one of the numerous expansion packs, which I'll cover in a minute.
Then you pick or build a house with your pity little money, buy furniture
and stuff with the little money you have lefy, and get a job (or several)
to earn money. Then buy even more furnishings and other stuff. Too bad
that the excitement only lasts a mere 20 minutes.
Another thing is the Sims in this game have the IQ points of that of a Koopa's shell! If, let's say, trash is on the floor, most of the time the Sim will refuse to take it out unless you direct them to. In other words, you have to constantly babysit them every day and tell them to do this and that. If their bladder is "low" sometimes they will stand and suffer despite the fact there's an open toilet. Eventually they will take a "leak" on the floor. As you can see, Sims rarely they make wise decisions. Even when meeting other Sims, your Sims will play dumb and if left alone, your Sims will have enemies before you know it.
Also, your Sims, or more accurately, you do almost the same thing every day, which seems to consist of: Get up, go to your job, eat, take a shower/bath, do some sort of fun activity, talk, then go to bed. Repeat everyday with little change except maybe every now and then with some new toy. Why would anyone want to simulate real life when they go through it almost everyday?
Fun Factor: 5/10
Okay, it has some FUN Factor to it. I had fun with this game for about maybe an hour because it seems addicting at first, but since you practically do the same thing every day (well almost) it gets old quick. You can spice things up with one or more of the seven expansion packs out, which supposedly contain new outfits, skins, objects, building materials, and other goodies. However, the expansion packs get old quick like the original game, plus you must shell out $20-$30 each and they'll eat up more of your PC's memory.
Replayability: 3/10
I wouldn't play this game again for a long while. The only way you'll enjoy it is if you like doing the exact same thing over and over and over. Even with hundreds of downloads, every cheat, and a family of any size you want, the fun won't last long.
Overall: 4/10
The game is way overrated in my option. However, if you to like to control and mess around with people's lives then I suggest you give it a try and maybe you'll like it.
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