The Sims Review

The Sims have been around for a while on the PC.  Long enough, in fact, to become the biggest selling PC game franchise in history.  Now The Sims is available on the Xbox, and although it's been through a few changes since appearing on the PC, it's pretty safe to say that it is the most unusual game to appear on the system.

The Sims can best be described as a life simulator.  You guide a simulated person, or sim, through its daily life, making sure that its needs are met and that it is happy.  I use the word "guide" because you don't have complete control over your sim.  You can specify a series of actions for your sim to perform, but your sim can veto you if it's not in the mood.  Your sim has the same needs as a real person and if these needs aren't met, its happiness plummets and it becomes quite uncooperative.  This is not hard to understand - after all would you follow an order to play a game of chess if you haven't been allowed to use the restroom all day?

I know what you're thinking and the answer is "yes", sims have to use the bathroom.  They also need to eat, wash to maintain hygiene, sleep, relax, play, and socialize.  Therein lies the challenge in the game; there are only so many hours in the day to meet all of these needs.  Balance these needs and you get a happy, productive sim.  Neglect them and your sim will become depressed, and may even suffer the embarrassment of soiled pants, collapse on the spot, or even die.

The autonomy from your total control is what gives sims their character and makes the game interesting to watch.  The game is filled with objects with which your sims can interact, but the real fascination lies in their interaction with other sims.  Like real people, sims can hit it off and be friendly towards each other or have personality conflicts that lead to a lot of bad blood.  You can select from a myriad of actions when your sim is conversing with another, from basic ones like greetings and jokes to more intimate ones such as backrubs, kisses, and even marriage proposals.  You'll constantly be surprised by the results of these actions as they are affected by a number of factors such as the sims' relationship to each other, their current moods, and their compatible interests.  Like a real relationship, you'll need to do a little work to try and elicit the reaction you're looking for.  If you invite a bunch of sims over for a party you'll be in for a show as you watch them all interact.  Sims talk to each other in a combination of gibberish and thought balloons, and it's funny to watch the topics of conversation.  Sims will also react to the actions of other sims around them, so expect to see love blossom and jealousy bloom during the more wild parties.

The PC version of The Sims only has a single mode of play, the life simulation in which there are no goals other than keeping your sim happy and advancing it as far in its career as possible.  Promotions at work lead to more money which can be used to buy more interactive objects for your sim's home, giving the game's life simulator a dollhouse aspect.  That's all a part of the Xbox version of the game, but you also get a new mode of play that actually gives you concrete goals to achieve.  The Get a Life mode presents you with a series of increasingly difficult levels that require you to complete a set of goals.  The goals are structured so that they emphasize a certain aspect of play, which makes this mode also serve as a trainer for open-ended play.  For example, you may be required to repair all of the objects in a home, receive a promotion at work, or throw a party.  Completing a goal will unlock a new object for use in the game, and completing all of the goals for a level will unlock the next level for play.

The Sims on PC relies heavily on mouse control, something which doesn't always translate well to consoles (just look at how well real-time strategy games have made the transition to consoles in the past).  The developers have done a good job in this case of reworking the control scheme to fit an Xbox controller.  A cursor that looks like a yellow beam of light is moved around the screen to highlight and select objects, and then actions can be selected by using the buttons to select from a context-sensitive list of available actions.  The directional keys can be used to pop-up status information that lets you monitor your sim's needs, social network, skills, and job performance without obscuring the the action taking place on screen.  The camera can be freely rotated and zoomed with the control sticks, but the game's zoom level stops a little too short to let you get as close a view of things as you'd probably like.  The control scheme works well for the most part, but it can be problematic at times when in the game's build mode.  This mode allows you to add object's to your sim's home and to add and decorate walls, floors, and rooms.  The wall tools are easy to use on the PC, but on the Xbox it seems that they don't always align things quite right and you can end up papering part of your living room with the kitchen wallpaper you were putting up.

The aspects of the game that make it so interesting to many players can also make it very boring for others.  There are stretches in the game where you'll need to concentrate on managing your sims needs and you'll face game day after game day of telling your sim to eat, shower, and go to the bathroom.  The game's voyeuristic nature will not be enough to substitute for its lack of action for plenty of gamers.  Even the game's multiplayer levels can't come close to matching the excitement of a deathmatch or a sports event.  When you're competing to make the most friends in the game you and your friend will be doing a lot of sitting on the coach and watching the game play itself after you give a few orders.  Taken for what it is, The Sims is a very different kind of game that will certainly add variety to your game library.  If you're unsure of how you'll take to managing a sim's life, though, you'd best give the game a rental run first.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 85%.  A unique life-simulator that is definitely worth a look for its novelty alone.  Be careful though, you just might find yourself helplessly hooked on The Sims.