EA has had an incredible showing over the last couple of days. So many people absolutely hate them, due in no small part to their near-monopolistic domination of the third-party market and their exclusive rights to the NFL’s namesake. Even I, an unbiased reporter type, saw this type of thing as a bit of an annoyance. However, after what I have seen of their stuff so far this week, there isn’t another company out there that I would rather have as the powerhouse third-party developer, and this is largely due to The Sims 2 for Nintendo DS.
The story, as explained to me by an EA representative, is essentially something you might see either in an episode of the Twilight Zone or a B-movie at 2:00 a.m. on the Sci-Fi network: your character’s car breaks down in the middle of the desert and walks to the nearest town, where everything seems just a little bit off. The paranormal is abound, even if it is not entirely apparent.
So, your character does what any sane character would do: he buys a hotel in the town. In your spare time, you can wander around the town playing mini-games and attempting to get to the bottom of the town’s secret, but first things first: you are there for business. You have to take your hotel and turn it into a five-star resort (and why wouldn’t you?), using profits to increase its aesthetics and luxuries in order to keep your tenants, employees, and guests happy. Indeed, this is a daunting task—and that’s where your game-playing skills come in.
As usual, everything is customizable in The Sims 2, from the characters’ faces and clothes to the art in the hotel’s art gallery and its ten (count ‘em, ten) fully interactive guest rooms. Essentially, even just a casual fan of the computer version of the original Sims will notice a drastic increase in customizability and game-play features. The good news, though, is that it is still definitely a Sims game, with animations pulled directly from the previous PC versions and thrown into the DS incarnation. Long-time fans of any games from the franchise will be pleased, and the new features will definitely bring in a new audience.
Did I mention the entire thing is presented in glorious 3-D? Gone are the days of the 45-degree-angle overhead shot, and the results are nothing short of amazing. Though early in production, the graphics are incredibly sharp and (for a Sims game, at least) realistic. The whole thing looks and plays like a typical action/adventure game just as much as it looks and plays like a simulation—which, incidentally, is a good thing, as essentially the game is a cross between the two genres.
The problem that arises is that a casual handheld gamer is interested, generally speaking, in a quick thrill rather than a long and involved simulation that basically never ends. This problem is rectified with the introduction of (side)quests and mini-games found around the town and within the hotel. Players can go out in the desert with their metal detector to find hidden treasures, which they can then sell for money in order to buy new things for their hotels, they can solve mysterious puzzles around the paranormal town, and they can interact in any of the hotel’s activity rooms. These rooms include a music room, in which players can compose a four-track overdub with synthesized keyboard effects (played brilliantly via the DS’s touch-screen); a casino, in which games of rummy are played (with some pretty cool pirate-themed animations); and an art gallery, which allows players to save (and possibly, via wireless connectivity, trade) artwork to display.
This brings me to interaction between characters, which is a much more important part of this Sims than in previous editions. Each of the NPCs has a mood bar, displaying how they are feeling at the time, replacing all the need bars from the previous Sims games (though those needs are still present behind the scenes, and if any one of them gets too low a warning will pop up to warn the player). Everything that your character does will stir different reactions from the hotel’s patrons—invariably, in the music room and art gallery, for example, some will like the music and art, and some will hate it. Also, interaction is much more complex in this go-around, as timing is very necessary to keeping diplomatic relations high and the former point-and-click interface is gone. For example, while I was playing I had my character walk up to greet a hotel patron. The patron thought it necessary to pass me a high-five, which requires you to tap the touch-screen at just the right moment to sync up. I missed that moment several times and the character was put in a bad mood and gave up.
The game is quite amazing for what it is. Simulation fans will absolutely adore it, and casual gamers should at least enjoy it. Keep reading for more details on this game, and what the heck, you might as well start saving to be sure you can buy it when it is released.
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