Title: ‘The Sims 2’Genre: Reality Video GamePlatform: PCPublisher: Electronic ArtsPrice: $49.99Rating: 5/5

In many ways, ‘The Sims 2’ is just like life-it’s complex, intriguing and it’s impossible to stop in the middle.

The new game from EA and Maxis is the sequel to ‘The Sims,’ the best-selling computer game of all time. ‘The Sims 2’ is graphics-heavy and slightly more complicated, but well worth the added loading times and lengthened learning curve. Those who enjoyed the concept of ‘The Sims’ will be fascinated with the sequel.

Like the original, ‘The Sims 2’ allows the user to play god. It vastly improves on the first version, however. The new game provides guidance for running a sim’s life, allowing the player to assign the sim an aspiration such as ‘romance’ or ‘career,’ and providing the sim with desires and fears. The sequel also offers what almost all fans of the original were waiting for: sims who are born, age and die.

‘The Sims 2’ is just as addictive as the original, keeping the player involved but not overwhelmed. It also improves on the old version with more life-like details, allowing a player to be even more drawn into the game.

The game can be confusing, however, especially at first. It’s easy to forget the potpie a sim put in the oven, and rather disappointing when it catches fire, killing the sim on the first day. It’s also rough when the neighbor a sim has been flirting with slaps him for trying to ‘woo-hoo’ too soon. But as they say, live and learn. With practice, most players can manage the lives of all the sims in the house.

Once a player has figured it all out, the multitude of options provides hours worth of things to try. Bored with being a doctor? Get the sim fired and try the ‘slacker’ career path. Tired of a sim’s wife? Divorce her and check out that chick next door. The variations in the game are endlessly entertaining.

With a little imagination, ‘The Sims 2’ can be like controlling a reality TV show, and the cast can be as diverse and as realistic as the player wants. Few things are more entertaining than trying to recreate true life.

One of the few downsides to the game is that the system specifications are pretty high-tech. It’s not ‘Doom 3,’ but many players will have to buy more RAM and a new video card just to get the graphics of ‘The Sims 2’ to operate on older machines. In making the game life-like, the creators may have made it too state-of-the-art for the average gamer.

On the whole, however, ‘The Sims 2’ is well worth a new video card and a few hours on the phone with tech support. Once it works, it’s engaging and enjoyable enough to play for a lifetime-a sim’s and a player’s own.

Published on September 26, 2004 at 12:00 pm