Lost in translation but still coherent

• Graphics: 6.5/10
• Sound: 8/10
• Gameplay: 7/10
• Replay Value: 8/10
• Overall: 7/10

Several problems persist in this PC to console port but it can still be fun, especially for first timers who have never laid their hands on a Sims game.

For several years now The Sims has been one of the most successful and popular series for the PC allowing you to, in essence, create your own virtual reality show without the clever editing and commercials. You work, you love, you party, you clean the house - not what some would call jaw-dropping intense action. How on earth did a game so seemingly mundane become so incredibly popular? A good combination of gameplay, intelligent A.I. and character challenges made The Sims not only popular but also completely addictive.

For those who have somehow avoided this behemoth on the computer is a chance to live a virtual life on the console. Electronic Arts has made a couple of attempts previously to port some versions of The Sims to the console but those attempts (Bustin Out, Urbz) have left keyboard gamers wondering what happened. The essential problem is that when you have a franchise so well made for play on a computer it's hard to replicate the intuitive control and game elements to a console. EA takes a gamble with Sims 2 and hopes this time they get it right.

Well they did … sort of.

Anyone trying Sims 2 without ever having played previous incarnations on the PC will have a fine time with this game and it would seem like that's EA's target audience. The character creation gives you lots of options despite the initial family tree set up. Once created, your character spends time fulfilling his/her/its wants and needs, and the game gladly guides you through some of this. For example you'll get pop-up suggestion prompting that you need to get a job or propose to your girlfriend. In addition your wants and need meters are easily accessible to point out what you're lacking. Sims 2 also throws in some new features not available on the PC version like socializing and cooking (yes cooking).

The social mode lets you rate and build your relationships with other virtual characters. The cooking mode creates this mad scientist type scenario where you brew up different concoctions, which ultimately help you in your love live and improve your skills. Also new is the direct control of your Sim rather than the classic PC control of plotting your moves (you can still employ the PC style movement with your controller if you so choose). Now you can move around your character with the left thumbstick and interact with other Sims and your environment much more easily. Combine the huge amount of wants, locations and a freeplay mode, in which you create a family, and you get a game that will keep your Sim life going for quite some time.

The graphics really haven't improved beyond the clunky, blockish looking characters and backgrounds. This isn't necessarily all that terrible since the game was never popular for its graphics, but you would have hoped for some improvement since the PC version came out a year ago.

Then there are the load times. They take way too long for a game like this. Even the simple process of starting the game has you looking at two load screens before playing. Console gamers will also lose out on the smarter AI that existed in the computer realm (those Sims were more populous, remembered past gibberish conversations, and lead their own lives, etc).

The console version directs you to conversations with characters, which in turn will unlock parts of the game or new items. Beyond fulfilling their wants and needs, you go though the game sort of following one path to get to the next path. These simplistic controls and game guidance are all well and good, but this seems to take a little away from the intuitive free-roaming feel that veteran Sim players are used to. The freeplay mode, where you build a family, basically seems like a lesser version of the story mode except you have a build a house on top of everything else. While we're on the subject don't be mislead by the "story mode." The story part is what you end up doing with your Sim and not an actual story with a plot.

So there you have it. On the console Sims 2 is still interesting and very simple, has some new bells and whistles and can still be fun. Hardcore Sims fans may be disappointed but newbies and casual fans of the franchise may welcome some time away from the PC monitor. EA still has some work to do but they're definitely moving in the right direction.