Yea! My Sims finally have pets again!

I've been a fan of the wildly popular game, The Sims, and its equally popular follow up, The Sims 2, for some time now. Though I've pretty much shelved my Sims game for the graphically enhanced Sims 2, there were some things about the original game that I really missed. I was a pretty happy camper when, last year, the powers that be at Electronic Arts released The Sims 2 Pets expansion pack. Now my Sims could finally, once again, enjoy the company of pets... dogs, cats, birds, and a guinea pig-like critter called a womrat, just as they had in the original Sims game.

As you might have guessed, The Sims 2 Pets opens up yet another aspect of playing The Sims 2. This expansion pack, which won't work unless the original Sims 2 CD or DVD version of the game is installed on the computer, allows players to create their own unique pets. Players can choose from a wide variety of cat and large and small dog breeds to create new breeds, which can even be registered as breeds in the game. Pets can also have jobs in the Showbiz, Security, or Services sectors and earn Simoleons, the Sims' special currency.

This expansion pack includes lots of new pet friendly items, including beds, food dishes, toys, cages, and houses, as well as some cool wall hangings and space aged kiddie furniture. There are also some new features in the build mode, including the sledgehammer, which allows items to be deleted, diagonal roofing, and octagonal rooms. Players who have Open For Business can also have their Sims open their own pet businesses. And those who have managed to create cool pets can upload them on the Web to share with other Sims 2 enthusiasts.

Specific aspects of The Sims 2 Pets

Sims can adopt their pets from a service or purchase them from a pet store. Or they can adopt stray pets who wander onto their lots and make friends. Of course, pets can also be created along with new families. I had a lot of fun creating a dog that looked just like my late beagle/husky mix, CC. I gave him bright blue eyes just like CC's and beagle coloring. The pet creator allows users to determine the size and shape of their new pets, the roughness or sleekness of their coats, and to some extent, their markings. This is a big improvement over the pets in the original Sims, which all pretty much looked the same. And the pets can pass their genetics on to their offspring, too.

Players can customize their pets' personalities, deciding whether or not they'll be smart or stupid, lazy or industrious, friendly or hostile. And Sims can interact with the pets, teaching them new tricks and skills and telling them whether or not they should breed. Of course, the pets also have minds of their own and can be very destructive if the Sims aren't careful. Pets have to be trained not to destroy furniture, dig holes, or roll around in filth.

Pets grow up in stages, just like their human Sim counterparts. When new dogs or cats are born, they spend five days as puppies or kittens and Sims can start giving them rudimentary training. The puppies and kittens all more or less look the same. Then, they grow into adults and take on more individual characteristics. Small dogs and cats are adults for 25 days, while large dogs become elderly at 21 days. Pets can also be elderly, and they do eventually die. Households are allowed a maximum of six pets, but if your house is full of Sims, it will be pretty hard to take care of that many animals without using cheats.

True to the Electronic Arts' history of introducing the surreal into its Sims games, the Sims 2 Pets includes werewolves. Players may come across a large dog with bright, glowing, yellow eyes. Sims who make friends with these "special" dogs may find themselves turning into werewolves. I've had this game since it came out back in October and I have yet to have any of my Sims get close enough to a wolf to become a werewolf. Maybe I'll work on having that happen today!

System requirements

To runs the Sims 2 on your machine, you'll need the following...

Windows XP, ME, 98, or 2000 operating system.

1000 MHz (1 GHz) or faster processor.

256 MB or more RAM.

At least 1.5 GB of additional hard drive space.

Supported T&L-capable video card with at least 32 MB of video RAM.

Additionally, here's a list of supported video cards. If you've ever played The Sims 2, I'm sure you already know how important a good video card is!

Supported Video Cards:

ATI Radeon series 8500 or better (7x00 models no longer supported), All-In-Wonder 8500, 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800, X300, X600, X700, X800, and X850.

NVIDIA GeForce 2, 2 GTS, 3, 3 Ti, 4, 4 Ti, 4200, 4600, and 4800.

NVIDIA GeForce MX 420, 440, and 460.

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200, 55500, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, and 5950.

NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5300, and 5900.

NVIDIA GeForce 6200, 6600, and 6800.

NVIDIA Quadro, Quadro2, and Quadro4.

Intel Extreme Graphics 82865, 82915, and higher.

How do I like this expansion pack?

Well, to be honest, I feel kind of lukewarm about Pets. I was thrilled to see this expansion pack come on the market. I really enjoyed the Unleashed expansion pack in the original Sims and looked forward to liking Pets just as much. I guess what I didn't initially like about this expansion pack is that it really complicated the game somewhat. Now, instead of spending a lot of time on my Sims, I also have to look after the pets. They require time and attention and that's if I don't take the time to design them myself in the creator! Also, this expansion pack was a bit buggy when it first came out, although EA games has come out with patches to help fix the glitches. I enjoy having pets in the game, but it's not as much fun as I thought it would be.

Should you buy this expansion pack?

Given a choice between Pets and the recently released Seasons, I doubt I'd pick Pets. I'm not sorry I purchased this expansion pack because I do like letting my Sims play with their pets. But I also think some of the other expansion packs have more to offer than Pets does. Still, this pack is far from being a disaster and I definitely recommend it for Sims 2 enthusiasts who love animals.

For more information, check out http://www.thesims2.ea.com/pets