Sims 2: This is my Life

First of all, let me say that it is very difficult for me to bypass anything that Maxis publishes. It is a sort of symbiotic relationship for me. They make Simulation games and I buy them.

When Life Stories first came out, I actually was able to refrain because the advertising made it very clear that Sims 2:Life Stories was aimed at lower end machines and was basically a pared down version of the full game...with a twist.

The ever-popular life simulation game, The Sims 2, is a visually demanding game that can cripple a mid-range computer. Sims 2:Life Stories bears in mind that not everyone gives up food and rent to buy high end graphics cards to play Sims.

Sims 2:Life Stories
What it IS

It is The Sims 2. Most of what we've come to love about our Sims is here in this game.

It is similar in style to the console versions of the game in that there are two goal-based story lines to pursue. There is also an open mode, but more about that later.

It is geared toward laptops and other computers with lower-end or integrated graphics cards.

It is designed and aimed at a whole new market that may not have been able to play Sims before.

It is portable! With the new lower system specs, many people can now play Sims 2 on their laptops, making it possible to take your Sims with you where ever you go.

It is fun!

What it is NOT
It is NOT an expansion pack. Life Stories is it's own game, loaded and run completely independent of the original base game and it's 5 (so far) expansion packs.

It is NOT compatible with the original game.

It is NOT something new aimed at current Simmers to grab and enjoy.

My Sims
So, now, with that out of the way, what did I, a veteran Simmer from the beginning of the Sim universe, think of the game?

Let me start with a little background and why I bought it in the first place, knowing what it is and is not.

I have been playing The Sims since it came out in 1999. I had the original Sims and all 7 expansion packs. I bought them all on the day they came out. Some time later, when we moved from Tennessee to Maine, I lost my binder with my CD's. So I bought them ALL again.

Enter The Sims 2. Yep, I bought it the day it came out...and the same is true for all 5 expansion packs and 3 of the 4 stuff packs that came with it. Suffice it to say I love my Sims.

About 2 months ago, I had a little episode that landed me in the hospital. All I had for entertainment was bad television (which I never watch at home either) and my laptop. I fired up the laptop and, lo and behold, I found that one of the nearby houses to the facility had an unprotected high speed wireless internet connection. I leached on and sought out the EA website, where I purchased the download version of Sims 2:Life Stories.

I began with Riley's story. Playing this way is a bit different from my normal game, but I soon got into the goal-based play.

With Life Stories, you chose one of two stories (more to be sold later). When you enter the lot, you are given a bit of the "backstory" to get you interested and then you have to direct your Sim accordingly. The traditional Want/Fear bar has been replaced with a bar that shows one goal and 3 wants. The goals are simple milestones along the way...eat dinner, change clothes, flirt with X, etc. They get progressively more challenging through out the story.

Once you've achieved all the goals, you have basically lived Riley's story for her (or Vincent's as the case may be). Upon achievement of the final goal, the neighborhood is then open for unstructured play that is very similar to the standard Sims game.

If you aren't into story mode, you can jump right in to open play, which is similar in style to the standard game. In open play, custom content and cheat modes are available just like the standard game, as well.

So How Was It?
In all honesty, I liked it. I haven't played open play enough to catalog all the differences between this and the standard game, but I thoroughly enjoyed Riley's story and look forward to playing Vincent's. I can foresee that some of the creative talent in the Sims Community might create custom stories to add to the game.

The game ran very smoothly with no stutter or lag on my Dell laptop. I have a 1.6Ghz machine with 512mb memory and an integrated ATI video card. The machine is no powerhouse, by any stretch of the imagination. I typically play the standard game on my desktop computer, which has been upgraded specifically to play The Sims 2 with ease.

But I also have to share sometimes with the family, and I do travel on occasion. I don't like to be far from my Sims...I'm somewhat of an addict. I find Life Stories to be a perfect gap-filler for those times when I can't be at home, or can't be on my own computer. It satisfies my "Simming" needs and offers a lot of fun along the way.

Another "plus" for me was the ability to get my mother into the game. She has a computer, but not a particularly powerful one in the area of graphics and she has not been able to play Sims 2 on her computer. I was able to get her into Life Stories, though, and she's having a ball!

Summary
Overall, I think Life Stories is a good addition to the Sims family. It's kind of the kid-sister to the main game, but it fills a niche and fills it nicely. I look forward to the upcoming expansions to this game, offering more stories, vacations, and pets to these Sims.