Let me start off by saying that Sims 2 is a much better PC to Console port than the first Sims game, or the console based Urbz. It’s fairly simple to get into, allows quite a bit of customization for your own personal Sim, looks very nice, and has that general Sims feel to it. That’s not to say that a few things have been lost in translation though, because believe me, they have.

Sims 2 offers a few different modes of gameplay, the two most notable being Story Mode and Freeplay. Both being fairly self explanatory, I’m going to focus the majority of this review on Story Mode. Freeplay is an attempt to port a similar style of the PC experience to the consoles, and it just doesn’t work that well. In fact, it really feels like a stripped down version of the Story Mode, with very little to differentiate between the two. Also, there’s no multiple save file to be had here. If you want to play Freeplay, and have a Story Mode save file, you better have another memory card or be ready to erase whatever Story Mode progress you’ve made so far. If I have any type of gaming pet peeve, its games that refuse to allow you to save multiple files, and Sims 2 strikes out thoroughly when it comes to that.

Story Mode puts you in control of your own created Sim. Gone is the PC feature of crafting your Sim from a long line of descendents however, instead you get a random “dice roll” of sorts that selects your Grandparents and Parents for you to give a general build of your Sim. From there you can customize things further, such as clothing, hair, etc. It’s a shame they didn’t include the family tree selecting for the player though, as that was one of the first things I experienced in the PC Sims 2 that I really enjoyed.

After you craft the look of your Sim, you’ll then select what their personality and aspirations will be. You can select from the preset astrological signs, or mess around a bit and switch out stat points here and there, and the computer will decide which sign you fit under. Your aspirations will dictate your characters long-term goals and weaknesses, all of which play a heavy part in the actual gameplay. If you think you’re going to be more interested in social interaction than say, reading books, then you’ll obviously go for the Popular route as opposed to Knowledge.

Once you get thru the character creation progress, you’re plopped down in front of the house that you’ll be sharing with your two roommates. You get one girl and one guy to share your abode with which gives you everything you need to get started in testing out your Sims responses and behaviors. And here in lies a major problem for me with the console port. The AI of the Sims around you seems to be, well, very predictable. Once you begin a “conversation” with a Sim, after a few interactions you can pretty much figure out which way things are going to go. There’s no randomness, and the stripped down reactions for both parties makes the process pretty dull after only a couple hours. This is a real shame, as this makes up a large portion of the appeal of the game for most users.

Besides character interactions, you’ll also spend some time filling out your house with possessions. Some of these purchases will be goal oriented stuff, such as buying a bed when starting out, and you’ll probably just end up buying things because you think they’ll look good in your house, or in my case, because there’s not a whole lot else to do. Maxis does a good job of filling up the inventory of things you can purchase, however, so those that enjoy unlocking more and more items will get a kick out of everything that’s been put into the game for that purpose.

Eventually you’ll progress your Sims life more and more, taking on a job, getting hitched, finding more and more friends, new locations, etc. Some of the things that are left out from the console build, however, are the aspects of aging and child rearing. I think that’s a bit of a shame as well, as those were a couple of the more interesting features found in the PC version, but with the lack of significant social interactions (and a somewhat sparsely populated environment) I’m not sure that those two options would have made that much of a difference on my feeling of the game though.

One of the newer features found only in the console build, however, is the ability to use recipes to create your own food. By opening up the fridge in your house, you’ll be sent to a menu screen that will allow you to access recipes and different types of food. Once you’ve purchased all the necessary ingredients, you can go about making the food according to the recipe. As the game progresses, you unlock more and more recipes, and certain dishes will also create special effects for your Sim and any other Sims that partake in eating the concoction. This actually ends up being a fun and neat feature, and a step in the right direction when it comes to differentiating the Console Sims experience from the PC build.

The game looks pretty much how you’d expect a console version of the Sims to look. It’s never been a visual intensive game, so the console builds look very similar to the what’s available on the PC, and the music you get to select from is fairly diverse and should allow you to find something that appeals to you regardless of the type of music you like. If you’re not much of a PC gamer, but have been thinking about delving into the Sims, this is definitely your best bet. It’s a marked improvement over the original Sims port, and Urbz: Sims in the City, and you might find it to be right up your alley. If you’re a fan of the PC version, or own it even, you’ll be all right sticking to what you have. There are a few things in the console version not to be found in the PC, but there are also some significant losses when it comes to playing it on the consoles too, so unless you’re a major Sims freak, you won’t be missing much.