The Sims 2: Nightlife adds sections and items that probably should have been included in the original game. While Nightlife is much better than the first expansion, University, it won't change your overall opinion of the game. If you loved the Sims 2, you'll enjoy Nightlife, if the Sims 2 isn't really your cup of tea, there is nothing here to change your mind.
(Reviewed using a Pentium 4m, with 1GB of RAM 600MHz, 256MB ATI Radeon Mobility 9600, 2-Channel sound).
GAMEPLAY: 8
If you enjoy the Sims, the Nightlife expansion is definitely a welcome improvement to the Sims' world. It is substantially better than the University expansion, and includes a good amount of new objects. Included are many party-related items that will allow you to have better parties and allow your sims to have more fun. Managing their moods is much easier with some of the new items.
Nightlife adds a new neighborhood to each “simcity” within the Sims 2. This neighborhood is “downtown” and adds bowling alleys, nightclubs, restaurants, clothing stores, a museum, a shopping center, and a grocery store to the Sims 2. This adds considerably to the gameplay, as your sims are no longer just stuck around the house. The nightlife downtown adds several different locations that are much improved over their “Sims 1” counterparts. Furthermore, your Sims now get cars and garages, so waiting for taxis and carpools is a thing of the past.
Most importantly, Nightlife adds better relationship tools and actions to the overall gameplay. Nightlife adds a “chemistry” element to your relationships, giving you information on your sims' relative attraction to one another. You will not have to “talk up” other sims you want to date as much before making your move provided you both have the proper chemistry. You also get to choose turn-ons and turn-offs for your sims, and they will react to others along those turn-on/turn-off lines. Nightlife also introduces a Leisure aspiration, rewarding your sims for enjoying themselves.
Nightlife continues in the quirky Sims tradition, and allows for some laugh-out-loud moments. The lighthearted gameplay makes the player feel an affinity for his or her sims even while putting them into difficult situations. The interface is streamlined, and easy to use, and the updated gameplay elements and items fit seamlessly into the interface.
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“The lighthearted gameplay makes the player feel an affinity for his or her sims even while putting them into difficult situations.” |
All that being said, Nightlife still includes some of the minor infuriations that came along with the main version of the Sims 2. First, the Sims pathfinding can sometimes be horrible: sims sometimes get stuck forever in a narrow section of terrain. They also can be unbelievably slow, taking several minutes to walk from point to point. Selecting sims or actions with the mouse can be difficult as the pointer is too sensitive to lock onto a sim for enough time to click on him or her. Scrolling can be too slow to catch up with events on screen, and zooming in to the closest one-third of the zoom extents creates useless views--as if the camera is aimed at the horizon rather than the events in front of it.
Again, none of this is news to previous players of the Sims 2. If you could work through the strange camera and slow scrolling without frustration previously, you'll be able to deal with it in Nightlife.
GRAPHICS: 8
The graphics can be vibrant and beautiful, but they are not particularly technically impressive. They get the job done, but there isn't anything particularly spectacular. There is some blockiness and some aliasing where there shouldn't be, but the animations are smooth and the colors bright. Most importantly, the Sims themselves are great looking, and animate and work in such a way to make them really feel lifelike.
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“Most importantly, the Sims themselves are great looking, and animate and work in such a way to make them really feel lifelike.” |
This being said, Nightlife does not improve on the performance issues of it predecessors. Even without tons of action happening on screen and with the graphic settings dialed down, unwelcome slowdowns are rampant. Sure, the game is calculation-heavy, but having slowdowns in a Sim-branded game is becoming an EA/Maxis trademark.
SOUND: 9
The sound in Nightlife is great. The different downtown locations all have an ambiance of their own, thanks in no small part to the sound effects and the music of each setting. The music in the dance clubs has an appropriate house beat, and the fancy restaurant has a nice classical soundtrack. The spoken language--simlish--effectively conveys your sims' moods without actually being actually understandable. The sound effects are wonderfully done as well: splashing water, flushing toilets, pins dropping in the bowling alley, even the ding of the microwave, are all just like their real-life counterparts.
REPLAY: 10
This is as replayable as it gets. Nightlife--as is the Sims 2--is completely open-ended. There are neither set levels nor set tasks, just milestones to meet. Your early actions drastically effect later gameplay, and it would be impossible to have the same experience with Nightlife twice.
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“This is as replayable as it gets. Nightlife--as is the Sims 2--is completely open-ended.” |
BOTTOM LINE: 8.5
A good expansion to a good game that feels like it should have included with the original release. Nightlife is fun and injects some much needed life into the Sims 2. If you liked the game before, it's worth the money. If you didn't it's not--it really boils down to that.
HIGHLIGHTS:
New downtown section
Better relationship options and actions
Sims can drive!
LOWLIGHTS:
Continuing control issues
Continuing performance issues.
