The
Sims 2 University is the first expansion
pack for The Sims 2.
University adds a
brand new age group to the game, "Young Adult", which surprisingly enough,
comes between Teenager and Adult.
A Teen Sim can choose to go to College/University
whenever they (or more accurately, you) want, or even just not to (Sims who
don't go to University will skip the Young Adult stage and grow straight
into an Adult).
If and when they do decide to go to Uni., they need to
choose which one to go to. The game comes with three universities:
Sim State University,
La Fiesta Tech and
Académie Le Tour. A University contains dormitory buildings, shops, a
library, a gym, parks and more. You can also create your own University, the
same way you'd create a neighbourhood.
When they've chosen a University, they've then got to
decide where to stay. There are multiple dormitories in each University to
choose from, each with a different number of rooms. Living in a dormitory is
quite similar to living in a normal house, except building tools are
restricted, and some computer controlled Sims are living there too.
When
they arrive, they become a Young Adult. The
Young Adult stage is very similar to Adult -
Sims at this stage can do just about anything an
adult can do, and can perform most social
interactions including woo-hoo with both
fellow young adults and adults.
When your Sims are not in classes, they can do odd jobs
such as working in a bar or serving food at their dormitory's canteen to
make money, so they can eventually move into their own house. That is, if
they'd prefer to get away from the hustle and bustle of a busy dorm.
Sims can pull lots of "outrageous" pranks and even
streak across the college grounds!
If you choose the right major (out of Psychology, Drama,
Art, Philosophy, Biology, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, History,
Physics and Political Science) to study, you can start the appropriate
career from as high as level 8 if you graduate! Graduating also unlocks four
new careers that are otherwise inaccessible - Paranormal, Show Business,
Artist and Natural Scientist.
The developers behind the game have done an excellent job with their
first expansion for The Sims 2. They already had a
brilliant game to begin with, and the aspects they have added
with University only work to increase that brilliance.
As a complete package, then, Sims 2
University delivers in a big way.
There's a staggering number of new things to
do and new ways to interact with your Sims.
Apparently Maxis’ developers don’t listen to
too much Steely Dan, because you can go back
to your Sims’ old school with Sims 2
University, which earns its fun factor
degree with high honors.
Overall The Sims 2 University does add some
depth to the gameplay of The Sims 2,
although you can’t help but be left with the
feeling that there could have been a bit
more to it. You won’t spend all of your sims
time at the university, but you’ll have some
fun when it comes time to send one of your
teens to an institution of higher learning.
As far as expansion
packs go; The Sims 2 University is a great
addition to the main game and one that just
adds more goodies to explore. While
the Sim campus life is pretty tame in this
game you’ll still find enough to see and do
in this game.
This is definitely a good expansion pack.
There are a lot of really great additions to
the core game. What's especially nice is
that many of these translate pretty directly
into the regular game.
There is a real pleasure to having one more voyeuristic step in
your Sims life, as they seem that much closer to a real family
that you get to play in the sandbox of. The expansion neatly
captures the frenzied pace of college, the numerous things you
can discover and do, the strange secrets every campus is rumored
to have, and of course, streaking.
The Sims 2 University preaches to the converted. Fans should go
ahead and get it. There's nothing transcendently brilliant here,
but there's enough new stuff to keep you happy.
Perhaps it also comes down to playing style,
my main motivation came from building up
skills in the original Sims 2 and the focus
is again on that in Sims 2 University so the
gameplay is wearing thin fast for me.
Ultimately, University is a fine expansion
with fun locations and seductive
opportunities, but it needs a bit more
gameplay balance before graduating to the
"real" world.
Players who love the strategy and management
elements of The Sims 2 will find loads of
intriguing new options and challenges as
they lead their sims to fame and fortune. A
deceptively deep strategy game just got
deeper.
Look my point is that in the game, you are
supposed to take your college assignments
quite seriously, yet you never get the right
feel about the university nor experience the
right sort of atmosphere. But at least you
get to enjoy all of the things that made the
original fun.
While the new equipment and options integrates well with Sims 2
and one of four new specialist career paths can be opened up by
graduating, Sims 2 University seems best thought of as a unique
object.
Thanks to
Metacritic for pointing me to these reviews
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