I am Them and They are Me

Sit back with a bag of popcorn and a 20oz. of Coke because

I'm about to take you to the neighborhood of the magical

people known as the "Sims". Upon entering this neighborhood

you will laugh and scream and maybe cry when you see the

lives of tiny simulated people unfold in front of you. My experience 

with them has been something that only one other game

as ever presented me with, Super Mario 64. When starting the 

game you are given a set amount of money that you must 

be frugal with in order to survive the treacherous life of a sim.

First you must decide if you want move into an existing house

or build one from scratch. I preferred to build my own house

because I am a control freak. After that decision it is common

place to choose the floor and wallpaper and make them

color coordinated for a light and spacious feel. If anything after

playing this game you will feel 12% more gay because of the interior

design process. But fret not there will be a time when you can hit

on all of the ladies you want but until then it's time to choose

what furniture to sprinkle through your house. At first it will be

very difficult to obtain the desired furniture because of the

limited cash flow but it will not hamper your sim in any way.

After this it is time to find a job. A good job to get at first will

be the position of the soccer coach which has very little pay

but will get you off of your feet.  It's important to get a phone

incase you need to order a quick meal or repairman. The sheer

depth of this game is enough to call in sick for work. Nothing

can compare to the complexity and fun of this damn game

and I for one will be establishing a holiday for it which will get us

all out of work and school.

Control

Simple enough. If you've played any Sim City then you understand

the basic principle here. Just point and click and keep all of the sims

busy and above the water. All the commands are easy to reach

and when things get chaotic it's only a matter of pausing the game

and finding a unique order to everything.

Game Design

Is there a game better than the Sims? Well that's debatable.

But this is the best game that I've played on PC so far and it

seems to get only better with the add-on and soon to be

released multiplayer feature. Every item in the game has a

purpose and will enhance the longevity of the experience.

Take time to enjoy all the little extras thrown in to the game 

because it really make it that much impressionable. 

Sound

The sounds of the trash compacter and telephone will make 

you look around your room wondering if that's coming from

your house or the game.  When each character interacts with 

one another they use a special gibberish that only they can

understand but you will be informed of what they are talking

about by thought bubbles above their head. You can switch

on the stereo anytime you please but it's much better to play

your own music during gameplay. The rest of the sounds are

pretty standard and nothing special.

Graphics

Although the game has pretty polygonal characters it offers

nothing spectacular. Little details like bugs running around the

house are nice but once again this game is really about its wonderful

concept.

Overall: 85%

-Evil Romero