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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strangest Game Ever, 12 Feb 2003
You shouldn't like this game, there's no explosions except maybe a cooker catching on fire, there's no big cars or planes, there's no jumping from platforms or battling with demonic creatures. Yet somehow, you're hooked within the strange little existence of The Sims.The experience can only be described as like watching Big Brother but with you in control of what happens as you move each of your characters to perform quite mundane tasks like going to the toilet, have a shower, make dinner, watch tv, and sleep to name the most common few. However, performing such tasks are vital to the happiness of your Sim and leaving the bladder meter to go to low for example will result in the Sim wetting themselves, is not a pretty sight, or if you don't let your sim sleep they will simply fall over. It's all quite comical and is the equivalent of a light entertainment computer game, but it's what the game does to the player is what amazes as you begin to care about their welfare like they're some kind of fragile pet and it's then that you realise you have to get out some more. It's not all about bodily functions though, there's a level based mode curiously entitles 'Get A Life' (you can't help but feel this a note to the gamer) and through this you have to complete certain missions like looking after mum or getting off with a party girl at a roomies party etc which all lead to you unlocking some great products which you can buy for your dream home. If you don't want to bother with that simply complete some of the missions and start on the general game which allows you to create your own sim family and build their dream home from the little money you have. Once your sims show their disgust in your cheap taste in wallpaper it's time to get them a job and make some cash by building up points such as body, logic, charisma, cooking etc by using the domestic appliances you can afford. For example a bench press will build muscle, while a cook book will steadily increase your cooking expertise, so if you want a promotion at work and more money say as a Counter Intelligence Officer then get playing chess to improve your sims logic. This does add another dimension to the sims that is slightly less mundane as you the sim now have another purpose rather than going to the toilet and eating a lot. The game is slightly more easier than the PC version and in my opinion a little better, there are many items, though for obvious reasons none which you can download from the internet which limits it a bit, but there a few more problems, like with the sim only being able to build a house with one floor, and then there's the time issue, as the 24 hours pass rather quickly trying to benchpress and keep awake can be difficult, and then there's the chore of trying to have a social life and keep a job, it's a juggling act that can irritate. The Sims will not be to every gamers taste but those who enjoy watching soaps and Big Brother can in some ways create the gaming equivalent as the story of each sim unfolds. Even though I'm convinced The Sims is a government experiment and not a game those who still want a break from the noise of guns and explosions will be able to sit back and chill out to the strange little world of the sims.
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