EA and Maxis managed to capture lightning in a bottle with The Sims franchise for the PC, where the game exploded into the mainstream to become the best-selling series on that platform, ever. Since then, developers have been trying to capture the same magic on consoles, with varying mixes of free-form or directed gameplay. Sims 2 veers more in the direction of the PC title, with tons of open-ended customization. This will be the last time we mention the PC version in the review: the console titles need to stand on their own merit.

At the end of the day Sims 2 may not be a must-have for your game library, but once you get used to its quirks and limitations, it's enjoyable in its own right.

Home Sweet Simulated Home

As with the other games in the franchise, the idea with Sims 2 is to create a unique digital person (a Sim) and guide him or her through the ups and downs of life. You have to take care of the mundane stuff, like eating, sleeping, or going to the bathroom. You also have to take care of each Sim's wants and dreams: some Sims might have social aspirations, demanding a lot of friends, while others might have business aspirations where they want a lot of money and nice things. Balancing the two, while slowly improving your Sim's skills and living arrangement, is the heart of the game.

Only the most logical of Sims will be able to take down ... the checker-playing chicken.

Sims 2 gives you direct control of the individual Sims, so you can run around and interact with things firsthand. This is a more natural way to play console games, although the controls can sometimes be frustrating (it might take you two or three tries to get through a doorway if you're running full speed.)

The "free play" mode of the game allows you to create a virtual family, build a house from scratch, and then guide them through their tiny on-screen lives. The "story mode," however, is where the meat of the game is. There, you'll start in a small, pre-furnished suburban home, and by completing various goals you'll be able to "move up" in the world, moving in with different families in nicer and nicer places. Before long you'll need to jump from Sim to Sim, completing various goals for each character before unlocking the next location.

At first, the game seems to crawl along. Your poor Sim seems to constantly be hungry or tired, and you're always running to the bathroom in between naps. I imagine a lot of players will get frustrated early on, but it's worth it to stick around. A couple things alleviate these problems. For one, you soon learn to hold down the shoulder button to fast forward through boring bits. For another, your Sim can learn skills to make life easier. Soon, the food you cook fills you up more, and your comfy new bed gives you a full night's rest quicker. The game gets easier to play the longer you stick with it.

While the object is to complete all the goals in a stage to move on to the next level, one great thing about Sims 2 is that you're not tied down to that. You can linger in a stage as long as you want, or visit old homes to hang out. In the meantime, you can work on whatever goals you set for yourself -- like discovering new recipes with the food system or maxing out your career so that you can rake in the big bucks. Meeting your Sim's wants will dish out rewards to you over time, unlocking nicer furniture, cooler toys, or new fashions. The pacing of the game feels about right: it seems like every few minutes you get some sort of new reward, which keeps you glued to the controller.

Next: Trouble in SimCity...