The sims
Review by : Sxe_sk8
Format : PC
Type : Simulation
Players : 1
If living your own life wasn't screwed up enough, now you are given free reign over virtual people. It begs the question: Are we really living our own lives or are we just virtual pawns in a screwed up universe controlled by 12 year old boys? That would at least explain why Urkel is famous. Anyway, aside from philosophical Matrix-esque questions, The Sims is finally going to break down the barrier between those who hate sim games and those who love them. The Sims is a must have for all players.
Sim games have appealed to many anal-retentive control freaks since they appeared on the PC many years ago. To hear them say it, there is something very satisfying about "creating" destiny for ignorant lifeforms. Games like Sim City allowed you control and manage a fledgling town, Populous and Civilization allowed you to play "God" and create communities, all the while dealing out justice with tornadoes and floods. Now The Sims takes that one step further and lets you play God, Martha Stewart, Bob Villa, Bob Barker, Richard Simmons and Dr. Laura all at once. Good luck.
As the overseer of this "life" sim, you'll be able to create not only what your "sims" look like, but how they will act and interact with others. Should he be nice, outgoing, active, playful or neat? Or maybe varying degrees of each? It's up to you. Should he wash his hands after going to the bathroom? Should he buy the big screen TV? Should he get a job? Should he eat dinner? Maybe he should talk to that woman he lives with since she won't let him sleep in the bed anymore? Maybe she should clean up the dishes or take a shower? The choices are seemingly infinite and hilariously entertaining. Of course, these folks aren't completely dependent on you. They'll go to the bathroom or fix themselves a snack with or without you. You may be surprised what these people can do. Who knows, they might even be able to program their own computer "life" simulation and control a set of "virtual people" on their computer. Still think "The Matrix" was far-fetched?
You'll start the game either by learning the ropes with the tutorial or by jumping and creating your own "family". I'd recommend spending some time with the family provided so you can learn the basic day to day interactions. Once you are ready for the "real" thing, create a family (I'd suggest starting with one or two people at first), buy an inexpensive house so you'll have lots of cash left over for the necessities of life: fridge, stove, dining room table, couch, beds, TV, telephone, smoke alarm... and the list goes on. It would seem that your creations are very materialistic and will be happiest when faced with a growing house of life-enhancing possessions like the big-screen TV and jacuzzi.
You'll control the action from a ż perspective that allows you to see all of the goings-on of the household. You can choose to view the walls or have them completely cut away. You can also rotate the view of the house and zoom in for maximum voyeurism. As you may have guessed the game is mouse based and all you'll ever need is right at your fingertips. Want to interact with an item? Simply click the character you want, then click on the object and your creation will eventually make his way over there. Depending on the object or person you want to interact with, there may be several courses of action you can take. If you click on your co-habitator you may be able to hug, tickle, tease, talk or even slap them if your relationship is on a downward spiral. Reading is a great way to increase your labor skills, that is if you bought the bookshelf... You'll even be able to interact with your neighbors, but be careful, flirting in the virtual world causes just as many problems as it does in the real one. So unless your Sim wants to nap on the couch instead of getting a good night sleep, I'd lay off the touchy-feely wink wink "Oh you are just SO funny" stuff with the guests. Of course, it's all up to you.
If you are wondering what the point is, you might as well just try figuring out the meaning of life while you are it. Okay, okay The Sims does have a point; maximum efficiency. How is this achieved? That's all up to you, but let me say this: It has a lot to do with comfortable furniture and no walls in the house.
Complaint Dept. Although there isn't much that can detract from The Sims, a few inconsistencies and limitations in the game will make you scratch your head and wonder. Why is it that in a game that strives to emulate human life, weekends don't exist, people don't grow older (although babies turn into kids after 3 days), Sims can't really leave the house and go visiting? And for heaven's sake, where are the pets (fish don't count)? Of course, these may be implemented in future releases of the game or in a follow-up, but being able to "relax" and socialize on the weekends at other peoples homes, would have made the game just that much more interesting. As it is, I can see some people going whole hog on The Sims for a few days and burning out really quickly. It would seem that staying at home for a few days straight is just as boring in the virtual world as it is in the real world. If you play the game the way it was meant to be played, you'll enjoy it for a long time to come. Overall though, the biggest disappointment was the outdated graphics. Not that they are "bad"; they are just so 1995. I expected Maxis to overhaul this one, but I guess they felt differently.
I doubt any of you Maxis fans are going to ignore this one. I have never played a real Maxis "Sim" game in my life, but I rushed out and bought The Sims on day one. That's right; this wasn't a freebie; I actually paid for this one. That's gotta tell you something right there. "Hmmm, Doe hates sim games and he actually bought this one. Right-O, I better haul ass to the computer store." In a nutshell, you'll dig this game no matter if you play it for 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months or 3 years. With the large level of support, (check out www.thesims.com for cool downloads like the face creator, new houses etc.), The Sims could keep you busy for the rest of your life and the rest of your virtual life. Also, if you can find one, EB was giving away a special disk called the Character Pack (and Strategy Guide), which I was able to obtain but possibly at the expense of Kyle's job at EB... sorry man, I didn't mean to cause any harm! Micro-management doesn't get any better than this. And who knows, it may help you in your real life relationships... Case in point: My wife started leaving the dishes all over the floor in the kitchen so I bought a 62" television. Screw it! Now that's living!
Sound :
7/10
Gameplay :
9.5/10
Difficulty :
4/10
Graphics :
7/10
9/10
Overall :
Review by : Sxe_sk8