'The Sims' tweaked to 'Get a Life' for PlayStation 2
By Marc Saltzman
Gannett News Service
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(out of 5)
The world's best selling PC game of all time has now made its way to Sony's PlayStation 2, the best selling game console. While the core elements of the game are the same, the developers have tweaked "The Sims" to look and play better on a console, rather than a computer.
Unless you've been living under a dusty copy of Windows Solitaire for the past few years, you know game play in "The Sims" involves micro-managing little simulated people known as "sims," each with his or her own personality, desires and motives.
The game is considered a virtual soap opera, in which the sims can pursue a number of career paths, interact with other characters and decorate a house from top to bottom.
Get a life
The PlayStation 2 version of the game contains the same open-ended "Play The Sims" mode as its PC predecessor, but this new version also includes a more linear and level-based option called "Get a Life." Some of the objectives here include borrowing money from your mother, getting a job promotion, throwing a swinging house party and renovating the house to increase its value. Completing objectives will unlock new items to furnish your domicile.
During the game, objectives must be completed in a timely fashion (a clock ticks continuously), but players will need to pause this "live" mode in order to enter the "buy" mode. Here, appliances, furniture and other items can be placed in or around the home.
And unless you disable the game's "free will" option, don't be surprised if your sims don't have the same taste in furniture as you do. One of my housemates, "Julie," crossed her arms and refused to sit at a new breakfast table I purchased.
Once the single-player game has been completed, the multiplayer version of the "Get A Life" mode is unlocked, pitting two gamers against each other to see who can finish specific challenges first.
Two players also can manage a house together in the main "Play The Sims" mode by cooperating instead of competing.
While the game isn't going to win any awards for its graphical achievements, "The Sims" enjoys a clean 3-D look and a clever "camera" that can smoothly rotate around the environment and zoom in and out when needed. Using the camera is a bit more difficult than it is in the PC version of the game.
PS 2 bonuses
The interface has also been tweaked for the PlayStation 2, so players can now move a vertical cursor around the screen to highlight objects. Pressing the X button over the TV, for example, will bring up a menu offering choices such as "turn off TV" or "change channel" and so forth.
The ability to save a sims profile on a memory card and bring it to a friend's to import into another game is another PlayStation 2 advantage.
Kudos to the developers for including a new game mode, multiplayer options and more suitable visuals to the console debut of the "The Sims."
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a hot-tub party to tend to.
