The Sims 2: University
Score: 90% ESRB: Teen Publisher: EA Games Developer: Maxis Media: CD/2 Players: 1 Genre: Simulation
Graphics & Sound: The first of what is sure to be many The Sims 2 expansion packs, The Sims 2: University introduces a new period of life for your Sims to experience: the hazy, academic, and party laced time known as college. As is usually the case with expansion packs, The Sims 2: University doesn’t do much to improve the graphics. Instead, the focus is to give you new college-themed items and areas to place your Sims in. Among the new items are instruments for creating your own college band, MP3 players, and arcade games. Also included are the new college campus environments and a new dwelling – the dorm room. However, these dorm rooms are not the closet-sized holding cells we remember. Dorms are the size of most apartments and would make great swingers' pads (which they actually end up becoming after awhile). A new set of design options are also available and let you decorate your dorms in various themes like a medieval dungeon or 60’s themed pad. A few new musical styles have been added to fit the “college life” the game tries to mimic. All of the original tunes from the first game are around and joined by college rock and jazz. The songs are still little more than a catchy hook and some Simish sung lyrics; however, they fit within the overall game.
Gameplay: One of the many additions to The Sims 2 was aging. As the game progressed, your Sim would get older. However, a major part of life was missing. Sims went from adolescence into full-blown adulthood. With The Sims 2: University, you can now send your Sims off to college and have them experience a whole new way of life. First off, you don’t have to send your Sim to college if you don’t want. However, that would defeat the point of buying the expansion in the first place – so it’s better to send them. Sending a Sim to college doesn’t just add new ways for you to play, but also allows your Sim to get slightly better jobs and an improved salary once they graduate. Campuses are set up similar to neighborhoods in the original. In addition to the dorms, you also have the student union, library, and gym. The wide-open layout was one of my few concerns with the game since it pulled away some of the small community feel found in college. Its not so distracting that you’ll lose interest in the game, but it would have been fun to try and bolt across campus to try and not be late for class... again. A draw of University is the “college life” element the game introduces, which include things like parties and pranks. The in-game experience, however, isn’t quite the “Animal House” experience some may have hoped for. While you’re sure to come across a blurry streaker or two, pranks are harmless, and are limited to things like water balloons. You can still hold massive keggers, but you’ll serve juice instead of beer. Sims can also participate in discrete campus sex, but this is shown in the same pixilated view as in previous games.
Difficulty: The Sims 2: University doesn’t add much in the way of difficulty – or at least it doesn’t really change anything. Managing a successful life is still the core of the game, and how well you can prioritize things still plays a major role in how easy, or difficult, the game is. If you’re a long-time Sims fan, then you already know what to expect. Newcomers will probably have a rough-start, but will soon get the hang of it.
Game Mechanics: College isn’t all about partying though. Just as in real life, studying is a major component of the game. If you don’t make the grades, it’s back to flipping burgers. All classes are handled off-screen, so you don’t have to worry about listening to boring Sim-lectures while playing. Sims have 11 majors they can choose from, which means its probably a good idea to know what job path you want your Sim to travel – unless you want them to be a professional student working on their 9th degree. Grades are just one of the new concerns tied into the expansion. Your Sims also have to worry about popularity and getting a part-time job (college isn’t cheap). The option of starting a band has also been added. After picking up an instrument, Sims can learn to sing and have the option of starting a band. Although how good you are will still depend on some of your Sim’s attributes, joining a band isn’t a bad way to take care of the popularity and part-time job concerns in one hit. In the end, The Sims 2: University does nearly everything a good expansion pack should do. There are tons of new things to do and it extends the life of the game, making it even deeper than before. If you’re a Sims fan, you can’t go wrong with going back to school.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Minimum System Requirements: Windows XP’/2000/Me/98, 800 MHz or faster, 256 MB RAM, 32 MB or greater video card (Radeon or GeForce2 chipset), 3.5 GB HDD space, DirectX 9.0, The Sims 2 Installed   Test System: Windows XP, Pentium 4 1.7 GHz, Radeon 9100 128 MB, 40 Gig HD, 640 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0
Star Wars: Republic Commando Star Wars: Republic Commando