When The Sims
started out on the PC it was interesting to see it branch out to other consoles
and even more so when the series had gone portable. Oh The Sims looked
good on mobile phones but this is the year Sony introduced the PSP while
Nintendo brought us the Nintendo DS. The Sims 2 for the PSP is not a
direct port of the amazing PC version but with interesting new twists worth a
glance or two.
A vast departure from its
PC original and even the most recent console version, The Sims 2 on Sony’s
portable takes you on a trip into the familiar New Mexico-like township of
Strangetown. You start the game by creating your character (going back to the PC
game’s character creation and not the console version’s awful character
generator) and then watch as said character drives down the dusty road that
leads into town. Suddenly a flash of light catches your eye and swerves up into
the sky. Is it a UFO? Is it some strange government test plane? As you ponder
these things your car hits something sharp and your wheel pops and suddenly your
car starts smoking. Luckily you’re close to a garage and an eccentric mechanic
named Oscar starts working on your car. You’re stranded in Strangetown, a place
where the supernatural and the otherworldly go hand-in-hand and the people are
as strange as the town’s name.
You’ll meet a number of
the town’s wacky inhabitants from a gas station convenience store clerk who
claims she can tell fortunes to Bella who not only sells you her mansion
(complete with maid) for what little change you have in your pocket just because
she can’t take the ghosts or the alien abductions anymore. The game plays like
an adventure game but also manages to squeeze in The Sims-styled gameplay
(you still have to eat, take care of business in the bathroom and take showers).
Sure you’ll have the same nonsensical conversations (complete with symbols) but
unlike the original the game tosses in some actual text dialogue that’s actually
both funny and nicely written.
Many of the many
differences between the PC and console versions is the fact that both games
feel alike but they play differently so the same can be said about this
version. The first thing you’ll notice is that befriend a character in the game
you’ll have to play a sort of chatting mini game. It is here that the character
you want to befriend will flash an image of a topic he or she is interested in
and you’re given three choices with either the same image or an image that
matches the other character’s topic of interest. For example, the town Sheriff
might flash an image of a rocket ship and if there is no image of a rocket ship
among your choices you might want to pick the image of the astronaut since
they’re both related to the topic. Of course, the mini game is timed so you’ll
have to pick fast in order to double your chances.
Like The Sims 2
there’s life aspirations and personality traits you’ll have to satisfy. You can
satisfy them by completing a set of tasks you’ll find on the left side of the
screen. If your life-long aspiration is to gain as much knowledge you’ll have to
discover many of the town’s secrets as well as the secrets other characters will
confess to you. You will also be introduced to the Sanity Meter that you’ll have
to keep pretty high or risk going crazy bananas. Your character’s sanity is kept
in check by successfully completing aspiration goals but it’s not going to be
easy. There’s still the usual necessities you have to take care of such as going
to the bathroom, making money to live on, eating and keeping entertained but at
least flirting is a breeze thanks to the chatting mini game. There’s even a way
to intimidate a character into giving you information!
There’s also a number of
mini games that help break up the adventure game element. For example there’s a
whack-a-mole-styled game that has you using a shovel to smack zombies on their
heads (remember, this is Strangetown we’re talking about) and even a dancing
mini game that has you line dancing. These games are actually pretty fun and
kind of make up for the fact that the game lacks a real multiplayer mode
(although you and a friend can share secrets and characters with each another).
The other bad news is that the game doesn’t run as smoothly as it should thanks
to its constant load times. There’s a load time for everything you do including
checking out your Sim’s stats. The result is that the framerate will stutter to
the point that you might not push the right button on time and thus adding a
negative score to a mini game you’re playing. This is not only frustrating but
it also takes away from the experience in a most noticeable manner.
The Sims 2
is a sharp-looking PSP game that looks a lot
like the other versions of the game. The characters are wonderfully rendered and
so are the game’s environments. It’s impressive to see so much detail in the
compact PSP screen. The only real bad part is that the characters might not
convey the right reactions to a given mood. Your Sim might be smiling and
blowing kisses at somebody you’re threatening or pointing a finger at somebody
defiantly when you really want to drown the person with kisses. This doesn’t
happen in every conversation but it does show up many a time.
As for the game’s sound
it’s pure Sims fare and it all sounds wonderfully detailed. The same
gibberish you might expect from the characters is found here and so are many of
the distinct sound effects that play throughout the game. You’ll know a ghost is
around because you’ll hear the spooky ghostly sounds that play when one is
floating around. Turn on a radio and you’ll hear a number of different tunes
that contain the same gibberish but actually sound a lot like actual music.
One of the most original
and delightfully well-conceived Sims game available for a handheld,
The Sims 2 for the PSP is plagued by too many glitches that get in
the way of the gameplay. This is too bad, really, since this is actually a fun
game with a lot to offer. If you’re a fan of Maxis’ gibberish-talking Sims then
you might just enjoy this enough that you’ll be able to ignore its problems. If
you can’t tolerate painfully obvious glitches, though, you might just want to
skip this and buy the far more superior PC game or the fun console version.
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#Review |
Gameplay: 7.5
It looks like a Sims game and
it even plays like it … until you come across the chat mini-games and the
entertaining story that has you exploring the peculiar town of Strangetown. The
game introduces some interesting concepts with the Sanity Meter and selling a
friend’s secrets for money. Many of the mini games are actually fun. Too bad the
game is hindered by long and frequent load times and framerate stutters.
Graphics: 7.9
The game looks a lot like the
console and PC game and that’s a really good thing. The character models are
nicely detailed and look sharp in their detailed environments. There’s the
occasional pop-up but the bad part is that oftentimes the body language doesn’t
match the intended emotion.
Sound: 8.0
Ah, but the Sim-speak is back
in all its gibberish glory and there’s some great sound effects that come out of
the PSP speakers. The real highlight, though, is the number of interesting tunes
that range from the Sim version of alternative rock to the recent mix of
hip-hop and reggae. Its good stuff just made better on the PSP.
Difficulty: Medium
The art of successfully flirting has
become less of a guessing game and more of a timed mini-game. Many of the
puzzles are no-brainers but fulfilling your Sim’s aspirations and keeping your
Sanity Meter high can be a bit tricky. The hard part, like in real life, is
earning enough money to survive.
Concept: 8.0
Imagine a game that takes your
created character into the familiar locale that is Strangetown and then
exploring five different areas while getting a job and befriending many of the
town’s wacky inhabitants and you get an idea what the PSP version of The Sims 2
is like. Building relationships is a mini game of its own and the character
creation is better than the console version. There’s multiplayer but,
disappointingly enough, it’s not what you might think.
Multiplayer: 5.0
You and a friend can connect
wirelessly and import created Sims, trade learned secrets, perks, potions and
even inventions so if you were looking for multiplayer action this is a real
disappointment. Couldn’t we have at least played the various other mini games
with a friend? EA you really want to see this Sims fan cry, don’t you?
Overall: 7.6
On the one hand, The Sims 2
is a charming PSP game that doesn’t lack most of the familiar gameplay elements
while adding some fresh ones but then again its most troublesome glitches are
just too bothersome to ignore. As a fan of The Sims you might just love
all the things this game has to offer but for those who are just casual admirers
this game just doesn’t sparkle as brightly as the PC and console version.
