OUR RATING: 8.9 GREAT About our ratings

TANGIBLES: Gameplay: 9 Visuals: 8 Audio: 9 Value: 9 Quality: 9

Why you should buy it: Not Available Why you should rent it: Not Available

UNIQUE RATING: 8.9 SUGGESTION: N/A

Objective: Create a sequel to the best-selling PC game of all time. Maxis and Electronic Arts have more than proved themselves capable of accomplishing the task, and have already released no fewer than seven expansions to The Sims. Now, with The Sims 2, Maxis has taken their addictive life simulation and snazzed it up with a fully 3D engine, the addition of some neat new gameplay elements, and a brand new story mode that lends an organic feel to the dry neighborhoods of the past. They were smart enough not to tinker too much though, and we are happy to see that all of the charm remains intact, from the new Simlish voice acting to the flies buzzing around old trash. The result may not offer much that is really all that different from the original, but gamers'who loved The Sims will feel immediately at home - and those'who wondered what all the fuss was about the first time around will have plenty to keep themselves occupied with for quite some time.

As in the first title, the concept of The Sims 2 is rather simple: you play a simulated individual or family and guide them through the ordinariness of everyday life by keeping an eye on such needs as comfort and hunger, socializing with other sims, and earning simoleans with which to purchase items, household upgrades, and services such as pizza delivery. Such a humdrum description is a disservice to the complexity within, however: from purchasing items of increasing effectiveness in true role-playing fashion to managing your sims' bladders, fans of the series can testify to the wealth of content to be discovered. While there are some subtle changes, the interface remains mostly the same: point-and-click your sims through their activities while keeping an eye on their meters below. The Sims 2 also provides more social interactions than ever, letting you build and destroy interpersonal relationships as you see fit. In fact, your sims will bring workmates or schoolmates home for a visit from time to time, in addition to the usual invitation-making and party-throwing, which are always just a phone call away.

The game ships with three neighborhoods with plenty of lots from which to choose, and several community lots to visit. Much to the delight of our sandbox instincts, you can now create and customize your own neighborhoods in a manner that reminds us of Maxis' scrapped Simsville project from a few years back. Not only can you place houses and build community lots in your neighborhood, but you can add decorations like trees, rocks, flocks of birds, and rainbows, and even change the layout of your roads (a la Sim City). As with the previous game's expansions, you can also call a taxi and visit a community lot, where you can visit other sims, meet various needs, or shop for food (you now must replenish your refrigerator) or new clothes. In build and shop modes, there are some nice improvements, such as furniture fashions that come in a variety of colors, and the ability to group home improvements by style, as well as room or item type. Sadly, you are still stuck arranging your items on a grid, keeping aspiring interior decorators as frustrated as before. To help make up for this, newly-created sims can be customized in countless ways, allowing you to tailor their faces and appearance to specification, and even letting you designate sleepwear and workout clothes.

While the passage of time works much the same as before, how it affects your sims is new, both in terms of their age and their work. Finding a profession is pretty much the same: search the paper or the computer for a job, and the carpool will arrive at the predesignated time of day and cart you off to your job in the slacker career, the medical career, or so forth; increasing your skills in certain areas then allow you to get promotions, and with them, more simoleans. As an added bonus, as you progress at the job, you can also earn work aspiration points, with which you can purchase unique job-related items. Now, you get two predesignated days off, so there is less need to risk missing work and getting fired. You do, however, accumulate paid vacation days as the game progresses, so if you need to take an extra day off, you can simply use your vacation to focus on your sim's needs without missing a day's wages. Your sims now age: infants (who inherit the personality and physical traits of their parents, with impressive results) become children, children become adults, and adults become elders. Your sim's lifeline is now part of the mostly familiar interface, and yes, your sim can die of old age, although there are some pretty clever ways of cheating the grim reaper. Elders don't go to work, but still receive pension based on their job standings upon retiring.

Some of the greatest additions to the gameplay itself give the player more structure without removing any of the freeform options that made The Sims so appealing. The primary enhancement is that of the wants and fears system, which gives you a few major goals and fears at any given time, based on your sim's personality and the basic aspirations you choose for him upon creation. For example, a romantic sim might have a hankering for the girl next door, so one of his wants may be to flirt with her. On the other hand, being rejected for the same flirt may be one of his greatest fears. Fulfilling wants will grant your sim aspiration points, which can be used to purchase all sorts of goodies, from money trees to a fountain of youth. Having a fear rejected will subtract aspiration points, and in severe cases, your emotional reaction may warrant a visit from ' the therapist, of course! One of our sims was so traumatized by a fire, that not only did he lose aspiration points, but the therapist dropped down via umbrella in Mary Poppins style to counsel our sim until he felt well enough to move on. Cassandra Goth (yes, the Goths are back, although the Newbies are conspicuously absent), shattered by a rejected marriage proposal, was reduced to a blithering mess. This should please the sadistic instincts of the fans who delighted while their sims died of starvation or wet their drawers. How well you are fulfilling your sim's needs and avoiding his fears are measured by the aspiration meter, which you will want to keep high, lest the use of your reward items cause some nasty side effects. Your wants and fears are subject to change from day to day, although you can right click them to hold onto them, if you wish to keep them static.