The Sims 2 DS review

Ok, let me start this review by saying I love both versions (and some of the expansion packs) of the Sims on PC, infact I played so much of Sims 2 on the PC that I could be classed as a “#1 Sims Fan” if you were so inclined to label with that name. Now imagine me as a “#1 Sims Fan” and my joy to play one of my favourite games on the move. You should be imagining me dancing around my living room uttering incomprehensible phrases in Simglish, right? No, Wrong!

One Is The Loneliest Number

Sims DS was not what I was expecting at all. The title's main mode is basically a story divided into a number of chapters. This mode offers very little open-ended options for gamers as it tells you what you must do and guides you through it every step of the way. You will only control one Sim over the course of the game. Thankfully you can create and name this Sim but the customizable options and sets of clothes leave much to be desired.

When you start you are placed in an almost abandoned hotel in the town of Strangeville of which you become manager of. Then the game sets you the goal of reviving the hotel from its rundown state. From this moment on you begin on a relatively boring adventure doing certain tasks that the game sets you to advance the story, get some more money and make the hotel better. That’s it! That’s all the DS version of Sims 2 offer the gamer! I don’t know how to express my anger other than using expletives so rather than this review containing a few dozen words starting with “f” and “s” and featuring lots of “***” I will continue on to some of the other features the game offers.

Events Occur In Real Time!

Another change for the Sims franchise is that Sims 2 DS does not used the compressed time seen in the other version of the game, instead it uses a real 24 hour clock. This clock could have added some good features to the game but instead it seems like it is just there to stop you completing the game in a few hours. The clock actually forces you to wait for events to happen in the game such has having a room built and having to wait a full real life 8 hours before it is built, this is not something I would call fun.

Other annoyances come in the form of having to sleep, shower, wash and go to the toilet many time each day to fill you sanity meter. If I had a real sanity meter in my life it would be very, very low due to the stress this game has caused me. I must say that Some nice features have been added that make used of the DS’ other abilities such as vacuuming and metal detecting but that is scraping the bottom of the barrel in trying to find something to praise about the game.

Touch Me and I’ll Scream!

I will admit that the game's interface is very well laid out and is a breeze to use. The bottom (touch screen) is full of buttons which let you perform various tasks depending on where your Sim is situated. These buttons are well thought out and are placed in such a way so you won’t accidentally hit something you don’t want to do. Due to the use of the touch screen for some parts of the game this brings up another problem the game has.

That problem being that you have to use the d-pad, face and shoulder buttons to move your Sim around which leads to lots of swapping between both version of control which can lead to your hands getting very uncomfortable after a few hours of playing the game. This leads me to believe EA just used the touch screen for the hell of it without really thinking how it would alter gameplay and how people would play the game.

Eh, Hey

EA has gone down the 3D route for Sims 2 DS Nintendo but in my opinion it obviously does not work. Everything about the graphics is pixilated and hard on the eyes. Most of the characters look square and oddly shaped. The supposed large selection of clothes all managed to look the same and uninspired.

The music while not much better than the graphics manages to have a few plus points, its main plus point is the music creator that allows you to create some nice but pretty basic composition to listen to. The Sims voices themselves are as standard as standard can be with “Eh, Hey” been on of the few words they ever utter.

Poor Mans Crossing: Sad World

Now after reading all of the above you may be thinking I dislike the game a tinny little bit and you would be right. The main reason behind this hate is that it is not really a Sims game; it is more like Animal Crossing abet a condensed striped down, featureless version of it. Although your first instinct would be to applaud EA for trying something new with its high selling franchise it has to be said that something new really wasn’t needed.

The old saying “If it is not broke don’t fix it” is very prevalent while playing Sims 2 DS. I believe EA could have created a very nice 2D/Top down view version of the game to suit the DS but instead it thought that a liner mission based structure would be more fun for the player and in my opinion they could not have been more wrong. What’s the opposite of open-ended? Whatever it is that’s what the DS version of Sims 2 is. Avoid.